Drivers passing Piccadilly Plaza on Shrewsbury Street have likely noticed something missing lately: the shopping center's famous sign has been covered over, sparking questions about what's happening at the longtime Worcester landmark. The answer, according to the property's owner, is simpler than the mystery suggests — the sign is getting a facelift as part of broader renovations at the plaza.
Dusty Burke, whose family owns the property through American East Coast II, told the Worcester Telegram that the sign needed work and that the facade requires different siding. Dusty Burke III, Dusty Burke’s son, said the sign was starting to rot, prompting the current repair effort. Once the work is finished, the sign will again display the large Piccadilly Plaza letters at the plaza near Route 9.
Renovations Could Outlast the Sign Repair Timeline
The sign work could actually take longer than the rest of the plaza renovations, Burke said. Those broader renovations include improvements to both buildings on the lot as well as parking lot upgrades, and construction crews were seen working on the half of the plaza nearest Route 9 on Monday. Burke said he expects the overall renovation project to wrap up by the end of November.
Despite the visible construction, business at the plaza appears steady. Burke III said Piccadilly Plaza is currently 95 percent leased, a sign that the shift away from redevelopment and toward renovation has paid off for the property's tenants and owners alike.
From Demolition Plans to a Facelift
The current renovation marks a reversal from a much larger overhaul the Burkes once pursued. The family, through American East Coast II, bought Piccadilly Plaza for $3.2 million in 2020, with the company based in Franklin. By 2022, the Burkes had drawn up plans to raze the existing buildings entirely and replace them with a DCU Bank, a drive-thru Starbucks and a retail building — a proposal that, per Spectrum News 1, called for a 5,032-square-foot bank, a 2,225-square-foot Starbucks and a 3,000-square-foot retail building alongside 17,200 square feet of landscaped area and 85 parking spaces.
Those demolition plans hit a wall in 2024, when the Conservation Commission rejected the Burkes' redevelopment proposal. Rather than pursue a new version of the plan, the Burkes shifted to renovating the existing plaza instead. That pivot followed the City of Worcester's decision not to approve the drive-thru plans at the site, according to the Worcester Business Journal, which reported the purchase price as $3.2 million in January 2021 — a date that differs slightly from the 2020 purchase year cited elsewhere.
A Shrewsbury Street Fixture Since 1987
Piccadilly Plaza dates to 1987 and was originally anchored by Piccadilly Pub, a name that still lingers in local memory even as the plaza has evolved over nearly four decades. Earlier reporting indicated the renovation plan also included bringing in new tenants such as Churrascaria Tropeira’s Grill, an upscale Brazilian steakhouse, and a fitness studio called Sculpt Pilates, filling out the plaza’s roughly 15,831 square feet of commercial space.
For now, the covered sign remains the most visible sign — pun intended — that change is underway at the plaza. Once the facade siding and sign repairs are complete, the familiar Piccadilly Plaza letters are expected to return, closing out a renovation saga that began with plans for a bank and a drive-thru coffee shop and ended with a simple refresh of a Shrewsbury Street staple.
