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In Brockton, a large new development brings some hope

The Enterprise Center in downtown Brockton.Allan Dines/Courtesy of Trinity Financial

BROCKTON — During the 14 years she's operated her Exclusive Styles Unisex Hair Salon on Main Street, said Olguine Claude, she's seen this city's downtown slide downhill.

On Thursday the 53-year-old gazed out her shop window at something completely different: a sprawling, new living and work space.

"All of it,'' she said, "can help."

"It" is the Enterprise Center, a $100 million commercial and residential project developed by Trinity Financial. The project includes space for artists to both live and work, 113 apartments that are already fully leased, and more than 50,000 square feet of office and commercial space, officials said.

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Inside the apartment complex, new tenant Jewerritta Cartwright, 29, a longtime Brockton resident, said she's seen the city's housing at its worst, once living in a mice-infested apartment. The new project, she said, "gives people hope."

Kate Uchal, 36, who's lived in the city since 2007, owns a yoga studio in Roslindale that she hopes to relocate to the center. To her, the project seems a necessary first step to getting more businesses and working people into the downtown area.

Like many others interviewed on Thursday, when city and business leaders held a ribbon-cutting for the center, she said she hopes the new development can spark a brighter future for the neighborhood and the city.

City officials were considerably more upbeat.

"This is a great day for the City of Brockton, our community and residents," said Mayor Bill Carpenter. "Enterprise Center is a tremendous development with outstanding amenities that is attracting new businesses, individuals, and families to our great city.

"Brockton is a community filled with tremendous energy and new investment, and Enterprise Center is the catalyst that will lead to even more dynamic growth," he said.

The project, located near an MBTA commuter rail stop, embraces the smart-growth model of development, which seeks to replace sprawl by concentrating jobs, shops, and housing near transportation.

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"The more people you have walking around and doing things, it just it brings life to the city," said Uchal. "It brings money to the city, and I think it's a good location. You've got the commuter rail right here."

Gary Leonard, a manager at Brockton 21st Century Corp., a nonprofit established by the city to try to turn its fortunes around, said he has lived in Brockton for all of his 61 years and witnessed its transition.

"I've seen it very vibrant when I was a youngster, then fizzled away once the high school left downtown," he said. "And that's when downtown started to slow down, then came to a complete halt; hence the reason we have so many vacant buildings.

"Now, you can see,'' he said, standing at the new development, "we're creating our own foot traffic and vibrancy."

Obi Oparah, 27, of Atlanta, who was in town visiting his father, said downtown Brockton struck him as a "pretty depressing spot." But the Enterprise Center has made a difference.

"Definitely,'' he said. "I don't see it hurting at all."


Ella Torres can be reached at sara.torres@globe.com. Follow her @Ella_RTorres.