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Speculation Abounds as Hampshire College Campus Hits Market

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Commercial Real Estate

What Comes Next?

The Hampshire College campus covers roughly 800 acres, and there is already widespread speculation about the many potential future uses of the property.

“Stay tuned. This is going to be fun.”

With that, Barry Roberts, a developer who has reshaped downtown Amherst and handled projects across that college town, summed up what most are thinking about the announced sale of the Hampshire College property.

Elaborating, Roberts said he is expecting this to be an intriguing sale process, and one that could impact this community in many ways depending on who buys the property and what they do with it.

The college announced last month that it was selling the 800-acre campus property to pay off creditors; the school currently carries about $25 million in loans. In response to a series of questions sent to the school by email, a college spokesperson would say only this:

“As part of its transition to closure, Hampshire College is working to sell its land in order to satisfy debt obligations and steward an orderly teach-out process. The college has retained Region as a broker, and the college’s board of trustees is preparing to review any and all offers that enable meeting Hampshire’s fiduciary obligations.”

Region is a West Springfield-based commercial real estate firm led by the father-son team of Mitch and Ben Bolotin (see related story on page 28). Region is preparing a listing for the property, and while it was not available at press time, it was to be available ‘soon,’ according to that college spokesperson.

When asked to speculate about the sale and what might happen with the property, Roberts, who has been involved in retail, housing, and office projects in Amherst, said there has been plenty of talk, and there will be more in the weeks and months to come.

“They would like to get some tax money out of the property, I know that. It will be interesting to see who comes forward and what kind of deal they can work out with Hampshire.”

He told BusinessWest that town officials have expressed interest in “putting the property back on the tax rolls.” Colleges like Hampshire do not pay property taxes, but generally make in-lieu-of-tax payments. Most other uses, other than education and nonprofit initiatives, do pay taxes.

“They would like to get some tax money out of the property, I know that,” he said. “It will be interesting to see who comes forward and what kind of deal they can work out with Hampshire.”

He said there should be ample interest in the property, as there was for a 20-acre strip of Hampshire College-owned land near Atkins Farms that came on the market late last year. Roberts noted that his company submitted a proposal for that property that was under consideration by the school when “the clock ran out,” as he put it, and the college announced it would be closing.

Roberts didn’t want to speculate on whether the campus would be sold as one block or whether it could be subdivided and sold that way. Overall, the site comprises 600 acres in Amherst and 200 in Hadley, he said, but only a few hundred acres are developable, with the rest being wetlands.

And while the development community waits for the listing on the property, there have already been a few proposals forwarded for potential reuse.

One is called Hampshire Next, a coalition comprising alumni, students, families, staff, and community members. Its goal is to raise $21 million by September to retire the college’s bonds and ensure its financial stability.

The initiative’s website explains its mission — “to organize and secure a future where a new expression of Hampshire’s mission can be nurtured under the direct guidance of its community” — and motivation.

“It either stays with the community, or it could become the next data center,” organizers wrote on the site. “If we don’t act, Hampshire’s campus may be used for purposes that have little connection to what Hampshire made possible. Hampshire taught us to think critically, act boldly, and build alternatives. Now we are applying those values to ensure the campus continues to serve Hampshire’s mission through a future that is not yet fixed, but firmly rooted in its purpose.”

“It either stays with the community, or it could become the next data center. If we don’t act, Hampshire’s campus may be used for purposes that have little connection to what Hampshire made possible.“

Another proposal forwarded by Jerome Segal, a philosopher and former candidate for president, calls for a plan to refinance the school’s debt while merging it with his newly created Peace Institute into something that would be called the Advanced Hampshire Institute for Peace, Plain Living, and Conflict Resolution Training.

Whether either of these proposals gains any traction remains to be seen. In the meantime, input from the public will be paramount in the discussions about future uses and what will be permitted there, said Jeff Bagg, Amherst’s director of Planning and Economic Development.

“It’s important for the community to submit their ideas, questions, and concerns,” he said. “Given the size and complexity of the news about Hampshire College closing, the town manager has begun a series of meetings with various stakeholders to understand immediate impacts to students, faculty and staff. We are also taking into consideration the needs of the existing nonprofit organizations and businesses on or adjacent to the college campus,” he noted. “After some of the immediate issues are addressed, the town of Amherst expects to facilitate and be part of broader discussions about future uses of the land.” 

As Roberts said, this should be fun. So stay tuned.

Monson Residents Approve Planned Village District for Former MDC Property

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Commercial Real Estate

Vote of Confidence

Plans to redevelop the long-idle former Monson Developmental Center took a big step forward recently as town residents resoundingly approved a vote to establish a planned village district (PVD) for the sprawling property.

The plan creates the zoning framework for the redevelopment of approximately 108 acres of the former state hospital campus, enabling a future that includes housing, economic development, open space, and a “renewed sense of place on a historically significant site,” said Jeff Daley, president and CEO of Westmass Area Development Corp., which has been tasked with redeveloping the property.

“It is important to Westmass, the town, and its residents that this redevelopment supports needed housing and regional economic development in a tasteful, responsible, and community-focused way.”

The district also creates pathways for light industrial, research, and commercial uses, reflecting the site’s potential as a hub for economic activity alongside its residential program, Daley noted.

The PVD establishes two subdistricts tailored to the character and potential of different parts of the campus:

• Subdistrict A, 48 acres, allows multi-family housing, office, retail, restaurants, neighborhood-serving commercial uses, and select light industrial and R&D uses at densities appropriate for a walkable village center — up to 15 dwelling units per acre.

• Subdistrict B, 60 acres, calls for a quieter, pastoral setting for single-family homes, townhomes, and cottage cluster developments, with flexibility for up to six units per acre for attached housing types.

Together, the two subdistricts create the conditions for a diverse, mixed-income community that honors the history and landscape of the former MDC campus while opening the door to significant private investment and new tax revenue for the town.

“I am grateful and excited that the town of Monson voted in favor of creating the new Village District Zone and approving the zoning change for the former Monson State Hospital property,” Daley said. “For too long, this former state-owned property sat dormant, creating an eyesore and safety concern for the entire community. With the Westmass team prepared to move forward with demolition of the buildings on site, we can now begin the next phase of predevelopment work and thoughtful planning for the property’s redevelopment.

“As I have said many times to Monson residents, Westmass is committed to developing this site with respect for the town of Monson and the fabric of the community,” he added. “It is important to Westmass, the town, and its residents that this redevelopment supports needed housing and regional economic development in a tasteful, responsible, and community-focused way.”

Demolition work is expected to cost roughly $16 million, and after this phase is done, there is considerable infrastructure work to be undertaken — everything from new roads and utilities to a new, wider bridge over Sawmill Brook, which runs through the middle of the property, to work to repair and upgrade the water tower on the campus (there is no pumping station that can supply water to the higher portions of the campus).

The goal, Daley explained, is to be done with the cleaning and demolition by 2027, with the infrastructure work to follow. Like other projects to redevelop former state properties, such as Northampton State Hospital and Belchertown State School, he expects this initiative to take time and play out over the next
10 to 20 years. 

Region Real Estate Brings Together Father and Son Mitch and Ben Bolotin

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Commercial Real Estate

It’s Now a Family Business

Ben Bolotin was working in Boston, handling office leases and coping with the many forms of turmoil that came with the pandemic, when his father, Mitch, called and said he was busy, in a mostly good way, and could use some help.

So Ben headed west — “back home,” as he put it — to provide that help to Mitch, then a principal with Colebrook Realty Services in Springfield. The two worked together at Colebrook for a few years before Ben decided to start his own firm, which he would call Region.

Mitch stayed at Colebrook, where he had been a fixture for more than 30 years, but came to miss the way he and Ben worked together, so he eventually decided to leave and join him at Region.

That’s the condensed version of the story of how the two are building this emerging company together, assembling a diverse portfolio that includes a wide array of industrial, retail, and office properties; former churches; and, most recently, the Hampshire College campus, which recently went on the market in one of the region’s most closely watched stories.

The client list is intriguing and includes the owners of Tandem Bagel, who continue to add locations across the region, including the most recent addition in South Hadley, as well as ServiceNet, PeoplesBank, and myriad others.

“I had such a positive impression of my dad’s work. He was selling and leasing commercial real estate, but I also enjoyed the people he worked with, the people who were making things happen for Western Massachusetts.”

Region is an intriguing business story, one that has a number of starting points, if you will, beginning with a young Ben growing up watching his father, learning, gaining an appreciation for the business, and eventually deciding he wanted to join it.

“I had such a positive impression of my dad’s work,” he recalled, adding that he attended many meetings and many showings with his father. “He was selling and leasing commercial real estate, but I also enjoyed the people he worked with, the people who were making things happen for Western Massachusetts. He was great about introducing me to that world and introducing me to his clients, and I grew up respecting a lot of his clients.”

These include Jeb Balise, president of the Balise Auto Group — Mitch has worked with him for more than 25 years and has handled the sale of property he owned in Chicopee, among other projects — as well as Tom Dennis and Bill Stotler, developers who own several properties across the region.

These business leaders helped instill in Ben both an interest in real estate and an entrepreneurial spirit, and both come together in Region, which didn’t start out as a family business, but it is now, with the two generations, boasting 50 years of combined experience, working together and making each other better at what they do, as we’ll see.

And experience is just one of the key ingredients the two are bringing to the table with this venture. Others include expertise with certain types of properties, such as churches, which are coming onto the market in growing numbers, and technology.

“In this day and age, what commercial property owners and commercial tenants are expecting is really timely, high-quality service, paired up with a lot of experience and a very digitally native approach,” Ben explained, adding that this is what the Bolotins and a growing team are committed to delivering.

For this issue and its focus on commercial estate, we take an in-depth look at Region and how this father-and-son team developed a fondness for working together — and didn’t want to work apart.

Developing Story

Both Ben and Mitch stressed that operating a business together, as they are now, was never really the plan.

“The plan was no plan,” joked Ben, who noted that he was always interested in real estate and actually interned one semester at Colebrook while he was in college. And early on after graduating, he explored different paths within the industry, including work for a firm based in Boston that handled properties across the country.

“I was assisting in managing malls in California, retail properties in Georgia, downtown office buildings in the Loop in Chicago, and I was helping negotiate leases from an office tower in Boston,” he said. “I decided I was not close enough to the action.”

So, after a few other career stops, including one with a startup — a nod to his interest in business and entrepreneurship — he got much closer to the action, albeit at a challenging time and in a challenged place.

“I was doing downtown office leasing in the financial district of Boston in 2020, and very quickly it became businesses talking about ‘how much space can we give back?’” he recalled. “There was a long year of that.”

Things were a little different in Western Mass., he recalled, adding that this market doesn’t see the huge swings that larger metropolitan areas do.

“Western Mass. has a way of humming along and doing its thing,” he told BusinessWest. “Whether it’s people having access to their cars and not relying on public transit … there were certain aspects of the Western Mass. economy that I found to be very resilient, and my father was very busy and needed another set of hands.

“COVID actually brought us back together in a great way and allowed me to come home,” he went on, noting that the two worked together for a few years at Colebrook.

“What we found is that Ben and I worked really, really well together,” Mitch added. “We rounded each other off in a way that made me better at my job, and I loved working with him; we were on that path together.” 

“I was assisting in managing malls in California, retail properties in Georgia, downtown office buildings in the Loop in Chicago, and I was helping negotiate leases from an office tower in Boston. I decided I was not close enough to the action.”

In late 2023, Ben launched what would be considered his own startup, Region. “I was really interested in investing in a business, and it became clear that, for me, it was the right thing to do,” he explained.

Meanwhile, Mitch was staying put at Colebrook — for a while, anyway.

“That was the plan — Ben was going to leave, and I was going to stay,” Mitch said. “But I missed working with him — we did a lot of good things together. I wanted to continue working with him.”

Mitch eventually transitioned to Region in mid-2024, and he and Ben have been building the company together since then, investing in technology and adding new team members, while also building the book of business in many ways.

Overall, while they say the 413 faces the same challenges as other parts of the country, the two are optimistic about this region and its prospects moving forward.

“People are having to be a lot more thoughtful about how they’re spending their money and how they’re choosing to invest,” Ben said. “But I think there’s a lot of drive and will to continue to invest in Western Massachusetts.”

Space Exploration

As noted earlier, Region has a diverse portfolio of clients and properties. The firm handles leasing for two Colebrook-managed properties — 1441 Main St. in downtown Springfield (co-owned by Jeb Balise) and the PeoplesBank building in Holyoke — and also does work for PeoplesBank, including the securing of office space in downtown Hartford and branches in Hartford and Avon, Conn., and the sale of a closed branch on Sumner Avenue in Springfield to Arrha Credit Union.

The company also handles 11 Interstate Dr. in West Springfield, where its own offices are located. Region has succeeded in retenanting the large office building, which was vacant only a few years ago, but is now more than 60% occupied, with a diverse array of tenants.

Region is now also handling some work for ServiceNet, the mental health and human services provider with facilities across the region.

“We’ve been working with them to source a number of different needs of theirs up and down I-91,” Mitch said, adding that the Region portfolio now includes a wide array of clients, some with ongoing needs and others with “one-off real estate deals,” as he described them.

And the portfolio of properties runs the gamut, from industrial properties in Springfield and Leicester to medical office space in West Springfield; from retail space in Belchertown, West Springfield, and Longmeadow to a former church in Littleton, as well as several parcels of land. Actually, the firm has developed a niche with former churches and has handled the sale of several of them.

“There are not of folks who have a lot of experience working with congregations, so we’ve gotten referred to many groups,” Ben said. “A lot of congregations are struggling post-COVID, and many of them are looking for guidance. It’s a very specific part of the marketplace, and there’s not a lot of folks that are finding ways to help those groups.

“They approach us oftentimes, asking for insight and advice on how to dispossess a property when they no longer have a congregation to support it,” he went on, adding that the company has sold churches in Acton, Lowell, and other communities well outside the region, evidence of how the company’s reputation in this realm is growing.

The Hampshire College sale represents another important opportunity for the company. Region, which has been doing some work for the college for a few years, is putting together an offering memorandum for the property, Mitch said, noting that the assignment represents an important assignment for Hampshire College and the town of Amherst.

“There hasn’t been a college sold in the Pioneer Valley,” he acknowledged. “That said, we have worked on larger and equally complex, multi-dimensional commercial and specialty properties. We combine deep local market knowledge with national reach, and we’re well-equipped to manage a transaction of this scope.

“We’ve also worked on behalf of Hampshire College for several years, so we know the property and the institution well,” Mitch went on. “We’re from here and have a strong vested interest in a successful outcome for Hampshire College and the community.”

“What we found is that Ben and I worked really, really well together. We rounded each other off in a way that made me better at my job, and I loved working with him; we were on that path together.”

Getting back to the business and the dynamic the two have created at Region, the two stressed, again, that there were never plans to work together — until they decided to do just that.

And Mitch believes Ben’s experiences with businesses of different sizes and in different markets helped create a positive family business environment, when tension generally rules in so many other cases of generations working together in the same space.

“Ben came to the party with his own work experiences and his own capabilities,” Mitch said, adding that he brought different perspectives to the company.

Ben agreed. “From those years working in Boston, I had a lot to bring to the Colebrook team right away and how we worked together,” he recalled. “There’re so many other experiences about how offices work and how Boston teams function. Immediately, I was able to add value from a different perspective.”

Added Mitch, “I tell people this: I think I’ve done a good job over the years, but Ben has made me a better broker with the things that we’ve have brought to the team in terms of client satisfaction, a technology base, systems, an efficiency base — from his business experience, he learned a lot of different things that have funneled and shaped our region in many ways.”

Bottom Line

As for returning to this market from Boston — something that rarely happens, and that area economic development leaders would certainly like to see more of — Ben said that, contrary to what might be popular opinion, there are opportunities for young people in the 413.

“A lot of my friends and young people have gotten sucked into the major cities,” he told BusinessWest. “I think there’s a lot of opportunity here for people my age because business owners are aging out.”

Collaborative Efforts Enable Auto Business to Stay Afloat

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Peter Kearing, left, and Harley Andrew in the new home of Springfield Tyre Track and Auto Service.
Commercial Real Estate Special Coverage

Driving Forces

Peter Kearing, left, and Harley Andrew in the new home of Springfield Tyre Track and Auto Service.

Peter Kearing, left, and Harley Andrew in the new home of Springfield Tyre Track and Auto Service.

 

Harley Andrew remembers feeling down, emotionally, and then up, as in way up.

He remembers packing up some things one day and then, seemingly just a few days later, unpacking them and returning them to their place in a Springfield auto shop where he had worked for decades.

“We went from being dead to being in business again,” he said. “There was a huge swing of emotions.”

This swing is perhaps the best way to sum up a unique … let’s call it real estate transaction, one that has allowed a thriving business to remain in an area of the city that has long been neglected.

That business, Springfield Tire and Auto Service Inc., was located on a parcel that was acquired by a team looking to build a new Springfield courthouse in the area just south of the North End, a parcel dominated by the former, long-vacant W.F. Young factory. And with that acquisition, Peter Kearing, owner of the auto service center — and several others across the region — was told to vacate.

“We went from being dead to being in business again. There was a huge swing of emotions.”

He was doing just that when Jeb Balise, leader of the development team that acquired the property, presented Kearing with an opportunity to move one block north, into the Tyre Track Automotive Center, a staple in the region that was started by Andrew’s father, Tim, and that was closing amid the land grab accompanying the state’s pursuit of a new site for a courthouse.

Kearing seized on that opportunity, and Andrew seized on an opportunity to join Kearing in a business that brings the names of both ventures together — Springfield Tyre Track and Auto Service.

In that way, two businesses have been melded into one, where there might not have been any, and Balise has demonstrated his commitment to that area, north and east of downtown, whether his group’s plan is ultimately chosen for the courthouse or not.

“Pete was prepared to close down his business, but then, it was like, ‘why?’ And we said, ‘OK, let’s do it,’” said Balise, comparing, on some levels, his work in this section of downtown with initiatives in the South End, where Balise has a huge presence that includes several dealerships, a collision center, a laundromat, and, most recently, the purchase and gifting of a building near Square One’s new facility on William Street for agency operations.

“We don’t know what the plans are long-term for that property,” he said of 175 State St., noting that the courthouse project may change the trajectory of that site. “But the bottom line is, whatever it is, my outlook is no different from what we did in the South End. Pete will not be deserted by me; we’ll figure this out, and that’s what’s so fulfilling to me — figuring out the win-wins.”

The two ventures have essentially merged and are now doing business at 175 Dwight St.

The two ventures have essentially merged and are now doing business at 175 Dwight St.

As for Kearing, he’s thinking short-term and also potentially long-term, noting that, in the larger scheme of things, the 175 Chestnut St. location isn’t an ideal site for an auto services business given recent changes in the business community — there are fewer people working downtown — and the higher cost of doing business in an urban setting, “but being in the footprint of where Jeb Balise wants to build a courthouse is ideal.”

For this issue and its focus on commercial real estate, BusinessWest looks at how this deal came together, and what it means for that section of downtown moving forward.

 

Court of Opinion

Our story begins with Kearing, a serial entrepreneur who, as noted earlier, would eventually own several auto service centers across the region.

He started as an employee of the business at 435 Dwight St. in 1980, and would eventually run it as a company-owned Gooodyear store, thus beginning a 45-year relationship with that neighborhood and the eclectic clientele of the store, which included area residents, but also large numbers of downtown employees taking advantage of its location for tuneups, tire rotations, inspections, and more.

“The neighborhood was pretty rough back then, and there were a lot more people working downtown,” he recalled. “And in 1980, on a hot day, all you could smell was W.F. Young; Absorbine Jr. permeated the senses of the city in 90 degrees.”

Eventually, he would go on to acquire the property from his landlord and continue that relationship with the neighborhood.

And it was a desire to continue serving that area that led him to discussions with Balise about strategies for keeping that business in operation — not at 435 Dwight St., but at 175 Chestnut St., home to Tyre Track, which, like the Goodyear facility, had become an institution of sorts in that region, serving generations of area residents and downtown workers.

Balise acquired that property last fall for $1 million amid widespread speculation — and property acquisition — regarding sites for a new courthouse.

“Having the number of people who would work in a courthouse right next door to you would be awesome. Jeb’s vision is to build a whole neighborhood there, but he doesn’t want to get too far ahead of himself.”

His original intention was to convert 175 Chestnut St. into a central service center for advanced driver assistance systems, said Kearing, adding that such a facility was planned to centralize the service on such equipment for the Balise company’s many dealerships across the 413.

But his discussions with Kearing concerning that section of downtown, and his desire to continue serving a customer base he had built up over nearly a half-century, prompted Balise to change those plans.

“I went to him and said, ‘you’re taking 10 bays away here [Goodyear] and six bays away there [Tyre Track] … that’s a big hit on the neighborhood,” Kearing recalled. “He thought about it and said, ‘you’re right,’ and he gave me a very sweet deal to operate out of this place.

“People still shop for automotive service in a tighter radius than they do for tires or shop for cars; they want to operate within a few miles of where they live or work,” he went on, adding that, while there are fewer people working five days a week, or at all, downtown, there is still a solid customer base for the ‘new’ business.

Meanwhile, auto service centers are, by and large, being priced out of urban centers like downtown Springfield, he continued, adding that the taxes and rents are both high, and, often, the numbers don’t pencil out.

They do in this case, Kearing said, adding that the picture will be exponentially brighter if the Balise site is chosen for the new courthouse.

“Having the number of people who would work in a courthouse right next door to you would be awesome. Jeb’s vision is to build a whole neighborhood there, but he doesn’t want to get too far ahead of himself.”

 

Bottom Line

Balise concurred with that assessment, noting that, while Kearing may not be looking past his 18-month lease on the property, he is.

“I think there is a great opportunity long-term — we just have to figure it out,” Balise said, adding that that this section of the city wants and needs this business to continue operating in that neighborhood.

The parties involved have figured out how to transform two ventures into one and keep it in business, so they’re confident they can figure on the next chapter in this intriguing story as well.

Monson Complex Presents Challenges, Opportunities

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Jeff Daley at one of the ‘T-bones’ on the MDC campus.
Commercial Real Estate Cover Story Special Coverage

Vision Quest

Jeff Daley at one of the ‘T-bones’ on the MDC campus.

Jeff Daley at one of the ‘T-bones’ on the MDC campus.

Jeff Daley stopped his pickup truck at a building known affectionately as one of the ‘T-bones,’ or ‘dog bones,’ because that’s what they’re shaped like.

It wasn’t the structure he wanted to comment on, necessarily — one of dozens of nondescript, red-brick buildings on the Monson Developmental Center (MDC) campus, this one a residential hall — but rather the view from it, of downtown Palmer and the mountains framing it.

“You don’t get many views better than that,” said Daley, president and CEO of Westmass Area Development Corp., which now owns a significant portion of the campus and is charged with redeveloping it, adding that he envisions this section at the high point of the sprawling complex to be ideal for estate lots of maybe five to 10 acres.

“Maybe a dozen or so could go right here,” he said, referring to an area with several T-bones, which, like almost all of the more than 40 buildings on the campus, are in an advanced state of decay and will be demolished.

“No matter how good you are, I really don’t think you can develop a vision of what this is going to be until these buildings are out of the way and we have a more permanent solution.”

And while he can imagine a large home with a bay window looking out on that view of the surrounding countryside, Daley said that it probably won’t be until all the buildings are down that Westmass and the developers it will likely partner with in this ambitious undertaking can fully understand what they have to work with — and what uses might emerge for this intriguing property.

“No matter how good you are, I really don’t think you can develop a vision of what this is going to be until these buildings are out of the way and we have a more permanent solution,” he noted. “But maybe by this fall we can start talking to developers, have them out, and see what they think.”

As he offered BusinessWest a tour of the rolling campus, Daley drove and talked about what might come next and the many hurdles to be cleared during what will likely be a 10- to 20-year project to transform the landscape into what will be known as the Village at Sawmill Brook and fill in a canvas that few residents of the 413 have seen.

Most of the buildings at the MDC are in an advanced state of decay and must be demolished.

Most of the buildings at the MDC are in an advanced state of decay and must be demolished.

As he did so, he used the word ‘challenging’ repeatedly, in reference to everything from demolition of the buildings, which are loaded with asbestos in the walls, floors, ceilings, and slate roofs, to finding new uses for the property — built on the side of a mountain — that will mesh with Monson’s decidedly rural character and slow, as in very slow, pace of residential growth and new building.

“When you only have 8,000 residents, you can’t plunk down something that won’t fit the community, and that’s something we’re sensitive to when we’re looking at this type of development,” he said. It’s all going to be market-driven; whatever the market dictates and zoning — that’s what we’ll manage.”

For this issue and its focus on commercial real estate, BusinessWest visited the MDC campus to get the lay of the land, if you will, and talk with Daley about the next, and quite intriguing, addition to the Westmass portfolio.

 

Peaking Their Interest

Daley said the buildings on the campus have deteriorated quickly since the center shut down officially more than a dozen years ago.

And it’s mostly the elements that have been responsible for the highly visible damage to many of the structures, he noted, adding that there has been little vandalism on the closely patrolled campus and few people willing to ignore the myriad ‘no trespassing’ signs posted on every building, save for the occasional ghost hunters.

“When you only have 8,000 residents, you can’t plunk down something that won’t fit the community, and that’s something we’re sensitive to when we’re looking at this type of development.”

“They come in with their infrared cameras and sound machines,” said Daley, adding that they’ve come out more in the summer months, and there’s no word if they’ve found anything.

Given the history of the MDC, there just might be a few ghosts to be found there.

An aerial view of the MDC campus shows the rolling topography.

An aerial view of the MDC campus shows the rolling topography.

Established nearly a decade before the start of the Civil War, it was first a state almshouse for the poor and eventually evolved into a primary school for poor children and then the Massachusetts House for Epileptics in 1895, and later the Monson State Hospital, housing people with epilepsy and developmental disabilities. The campus grew significantly in the early 20th century — with the complex expanding to more than 70 buildings across 600 acres and the population peaking at about 1,700 residents in 1968 — but faced declining populations with deinstitutionalization.

Redevelopment of the 108-acre main campus will be similar in many respects to reuse initiatives at Northampton State Hospital and the Belchertown State School, also large campuses once owned and operated by the state, said Daley, but each initiative has its own personality, with MDC’s still to be determined, obviously.

While Northampton State Hospital became a mostly residential development — more than 400 homes geared to all income levels have been built at Village Hill — along with a large manufacturing facility, the Belchertown State School property, now known as Carriage Grove, is becoming more of a mixed-use property, with plans for everything from housing to a community center in the old administration building.

The MDC will likely be more like the latter, said Daley, adding that the pattern of reuse will ultimately be shaped by the town and the development community. He said Westmass plans to advance a zoning bylaw to a town meeting vote this spring; the proposed zoning would create a mixed-use district to support long-term development of the property.

“There are a lot of folks around Monson and Palmer who raised families in big farmhouses, and now they’re getting to the point where they don’t need the big farmhouse anymore. But there’s limited housing available to move into; whether it’s a single person or an aging couple, there’s really no housing for them.”

Housing of several different types may emerge as options, he said, listing everything from three- and four-story apartment buildings to multi-family homes to cottages and those aforementioned estate lots. Other permitted uses could include small-scale commercial and office facilities, light industrial, and civic uses compatible with the neighborhood character.

The first step in the redevelopment process is clearing the site and demolition of all but a few of the 42 buildings on the main campus, 18 of which (the larger brick structures) will be mitigated by Westmass, with the state responsible for the rest.

“Unfortunately, the buildings are not savable,” said Daley, adding that preliminary cleaning and demolition work — on buildings as well as several underground and above-ground tunnels to convey steam — is expected to commence within the next few months. Bids are currently being sought, with the goal of clearing the site by the fall of 2027.

Demolition work is expected to cost roughly $16 million, and after this phase is done, there is considerable infrastructure work to be undertaken — everything from new roads and utilities to a new, wider bridge over Sawmill Brook, which runs through the middle of the property, to work to repair and upgrade the water tower on the campus (there is no pumping station that can supply water to the higher portions of the campus).

As these pieces fall into place, development efforts can move to the next stages.

Demolition of dozens of buildings at the MDC is slated to start later this year and be completed in 2027.

Demolition of dozens of buildings at the MDC is slated to start later this year and be completed in 2027.

“Our goal is to be done with the cleaning and demolition by 2027, and between now and then, we’re going to be working on getting a full design of where the infrastructure — water, sewer, power — will go,” Daley explained. “Then, we can do a road development study and figure out where roads will go and to what part of the development. And at that time, hopefully, some of the easier development pieces can be developed or sold to generate revenues to offset the investment we’re going to have to make on the capital side on the infrastructure.”

 

Grounds for Optimism

While most of the buildings on the campus will come down, a few can be reused, said Daley, who pointed to a structure known, coincidentally, as the Daley Building, a recreation center with a theater on its upper floor as well as a basketball court and a decaying bowling alley.

“Our hope is that we can provide this as a community center for Monson and Palmer,” he explained. “It’s a great hall, and there’s a big gymnasium; we’re not sure how it will all work out, but we’re hoping to keep it for that purpose.”

Meanwhile, Brookside Hall, another residential facility, could be salvaged and converted into senior or veteran housing.

“We’d like to do a veterans housing project — there’s definitely a need for one in this area — but projects like that take four or five years to develop,” he noted, adding that, overall, there is a need for many different kinds of housing, especially affordable options for an aging population.

Indeed, the Commonwealth officially conveyed the property to Westmass as part of larger efforts to utilize properties under its control to address an ongoing housing crisis that is impacting every corner of the state.

“There are a lot of folks around Monson and Palmer who raised families in big farmhouses, and now they’re getting to the point where they don’t need the big farmhouse anymore,” he said. “But there’s limited housing available to move into; whether it’s a single person or an aging couple, there’s really no housing for them.”

Whatever comes of the site from a development standpoint, it will have to mesh with the town’s rural character and not dramatically change the dynamic in a community that hasn’t seen much, if any, residential growth in recent years.

“I think they’ve built something like 12 houses in the last 20 years,” said Daley, who didn’t know the exact figure but did know it wasn’t a big number.

And that statistic represents just one of the many challenges involved with a project that will unfold over the next decade or two and change the landscape of that area — literally and figuratively.

Springfield Celebrates New Parking Garage, Activity Space Downtown

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The new garage replaces a half-century-old structure that was torn down in 2022.
Commercial Real Estate Special Coverage

On a Roll

The new garage replaces a half-century-old structure that was torn down in 2022.

The new garage replaces a half-century-old structure that was torn down in 2022.

 

As dignitaries gathered for a celebration of the recently opened Convention Center Carpark in downtown Springfield — and a ribbon cutting for the Landing, a neighboring plaza that will host gatherings, activities, and performances directly across Bruce Landon Way from the MassMutual Center — Nate Costa took it all in and considered what it means to the Springfield Thunderbirds.

“I think the Landing is going to be an extension of the arena. That’s the idea behind it,” the hockey team’s president told BusinessWest. “We’re hoping this is going to add that Yawkey Way type element to what we do here.

“It’s not going to be a drive-through street anymore,” Costa went on. “We’re just hoping this is a place that people come and congregate before games. I think we’ll be doing some food trucks and some other activations and live music — really trying to have it be an extension of what we do in our building, night after night. We want to find ways to program this space and drive people to our games and around our games.”

Those who spoke at the ceremony also drew parallels to Yawkey Way in Boston, which is packed with activity before Red Sox games, with fans eating, shopping, and having fun.

“I can see this place just lit up in a good way, with so many activities and parties,” Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno said. “And what they’re going to do is much of the stuff you’ve seen done at Fenway Park. They’re going to gear it to whatever events are going on here, so people can come out, pre- and postgame, and go to other establishments in downtown Springfield.”

Dignitaries gather to cut the ribbon for the Landing, which is nestled between the MassMutual Center and the Convention Center Carpark.

The Landing opens at a time of momentum for the MassMutual Center itself, said Sean Dolan, the facility’s general manager.

“We just concluded fiscal year 2025 with the highest revenue growth in the convention center that the building’s ever had. And we’re going into fiscal year 2026 with the highest amount of revenue on the books that the building’s ever had,” he told the assembled crowd, touting events like WWE Monday Night Raw, which descended on the arena on Sept. 15, and, of course, the Thunderbirds, who averaged 6,369 fans last season, in a bowl that seats only 6,700. Fridays and Saturdays are typically sellouts.

“The MassMutual Center is a cornerstone of Springfield’s economy — a place that drives opportunity, brings people together, and supports the growth of this entire region.”

The Landing, then, “allows us to not only program and feed off of the 220 events we do in a year, but allows us to book stand-alone events out here that serve the community, that make this a space to gather and build that pride in Springfield,” Dolan said. “Everybody that had something to do with this here, thank you so much for believing in Springfield. Thank you for making it look like it looks.”

 

A New Era Downtown

The former Civic Center Garage at Harrison and Dwight streets, built in 1971, had fallen into disrepair by the early 2020s; sections of more than one level had closed due to safety issues before the garage was closed and demolished in 2022. The new Convention Center Carpark opened to the public this past April, and construction was completed later in the spring.

The 350,000-square-foot structure includes more than 800 parking spaces, as well as electric vehicle charging stations. Unlike the former garage, which opened only onto Harrison, it features entrances onto both streets.

That development was a big deal for the Thunderbirds franchise, which had to endure multiple seasons with no garage on site.

From left, Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno credits the contributions of MCCA CEO Marcel Vernon Sr. and MassMutual Center General Manager Sean Dolan.

“It’s been a long time coming for us,” Costa told BusinessWest. “It’s been tough sledding for us getting through that, so it’s fantastic to have it open.”

The Massachusetts Convention Center Authority (MCCA) hosted the Aug. 27 gathering both as an official celebration of the garage and a grand opening of the Landing, an event featuring live music, food, games, and several speakers.

“The MassMutual Center is a cornerstone of Springfield’s economy — a place that drives opportunity, brings people together, and supports the growth of this entire region,” said Marcel Vernon Sr., CEO of the MCCA. “We are proud to be part of this community. The carpark and the Landing represent more than just two new facilities. They symbolize three important things: more jobs, more economic opportunity, and more vibrant, thriving downtown business activity. We are proud of these investments, but we are even more proud of the partnerships that have made them possible.”

Xiomara Albán DeLobato, an MCCA board member and vice president and chief of staff at the Western Massachusetts Economic Development Council, expressed pride, as a lifelong Springfield resident, in signs of downtown progress like this development.

“The reason why this is so exciting for us is because of the amount of impact this type of development has for our region. We have direct spending in our restaurants, our hotels, our shops, our museums. They receive direct impact when visitors come to the area, when tourists come to the area, and it’s instrumental for the progression of our economy.

“When you bring thousands of people down here, they’re feeling good, vibrant, they’re having a good time, right? That means they spend money — money in your businesses, folks. And then they leave the city saying, ‘gee, you know what? I had a pretty good time.’ You can’t put a price tag on that.”

“The other piece that sometimes we don’t think about is that ripple effect that happens when we have billions of dollars that funnel into our area, into our region. It impacts our workforce, it impacts our supply chain, it impacts our transportation companies, and all of the other stakeholders that are critical to the entire ecosystem of our economy here in the region. And when that ripple effect continues to move, it impacts our schools, it impacts our parks, it impacts our neighborhoods. The hospitality and tourism industry is a multi-billion-dollar industry in the Commonwealth, and we see and feel it in Western Mass. So I’m thrilled about this.”

Sarno added that “this is important to the the business community in the city of Springfield to have this first-class parking. And here’s the other thing — when you bring people to downtown Springfield, which is a neighborhood, when you bring thousands of people down here, they’re feeling good, vibrant, they’re having a good time, right? That means they spend money — money in your businesses, folks. And then they leave the city saying, ‘gee, you know what? I had a pretty good time.’ You can’t put a price tag on that.”

 

Working Together

Sarno noted that the $80 million project — including the garage, the Landing, and other improvements — is a smart investment of state and local funds.

“There have been a number of naysayers, within the city of Springfield and in Massachusetts, who say, ‘what do you expect from Springfield?’ And I’ve always said, ‘why not Springfield?’ And this is another project under my administration team, working with the state, that they say would never get done. But it’s gotten done.”

State Rep. Carlos González agreed, touting the project as forward momentum for the city. “We have so much to celebrate, and yes, we have some issues that we have to resolve, and we’re doing that on a daily basis, but with the bright stars like MGM and so many others, the hospitality industry, we’re going to continue to succeed here in the city of Springfield.”

Albán DeLobato emphasized the importance of the city and state working in tandem.

“This type of development — and this is just the first of many that we’re going to see — is successful because of this local and state partnership. We cannot make this happen without the stakeholders at the table together, being thoughtful with their decision making, being able to forecast how this is going to impact our economy at the present and in the future.”

Monson Developmental Center Is the Latest Westmass Challenge

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An aerial view of the Monson Developmental Center campus.
Commercial Real Estate

The Next Chapter

An aerial view of the Monson Developmental Center campus.

An aerial view of the Monson Developmental Center campus.

 

When Jeff Daley first pitched the Westmass Area Development Corp. board on the concept of redeveloping a portion of the former Monson Developmental Center (MDC) campus, it wasn’t a hard sell, necessarily.

“But it was a sell,” said Daley, the agency’s president and CEO, and for several reasons.

“It’s an imposing site, and there’s a ton of work that has to be done,” he said of the 100-acre parcel, which essentially sits between two mountains, with very little of what would be considered flat land. “And there’s a lot of money that has to be invested just to make the site developable again.”

But Daley was able to sell his board on the concept — a commitment from the state to provide a $9 million site readiness grant to the agency, as well as an accompanying reversion clause, certainly proved to be a turning point in the sales process — and late last month, the Commonwealth officially conveyed the property to Westmass, touting the transaction as part of ongoing efforts to utilize existing properties to build more housing in a state where there is a strong need for it.

And with that transfer, Westmass, in partnership with the state’s Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance, will commence work to create what will be known as the Village at Sawmill Brook.

The brook runs through the middle of the property, said Daley, adding that the name was chosen to reflect the rural nature of the community, and a ‘village’ is what is intended, with both residential and commercial development planned.

This is a village that will take shape over the next 10 to 20 years, he noted, adding that the first steps in the process involve demolition of almost all of the 14 existing buildings on the site — one structure, a recreation center at MDC, might be salvaged — as well as environmental remediation and infrastructure improvements.

Demolition is slated to begin early next year, and actual building will likely commence in maybe three years, Daley said.

Exactly what will be built remains to be seen, he told BusinessWest, as well as a gathering of about 100 Monson residents at a recent meeting of the Monson Board of Selectmen, noting that the site, and the market, will likely determine what shape this village will take.

“It’s an imposing site, and there’s a ton of work that has to be done. And there’s a lot of money that has to be invested just to make the site developable again.”

There will be housing, and probably several forms of it, with subdivisions, senior housing, veterans’ housing, and other options under consideration.

One of the first steps in the process will be creation of a master plan for the site to determine how many of those 100 acres can be developed, and in what ways.

“We’re in discussions with several of the groups that do housing for veterans,” Daley noted. “We’ll also talk with folks who do assisted living projects around the area to see if there’s a need for that in the Monson area.”

The next phase of the MDC project will involve demolition of the buildings on the campus

The next phase of the MDC project will involve demolition of the buildings on the campus, most of which are in an advanced state of deterioration.

There could also be senior affordable housing, similar to what has been created at another Westmass property, Ludlow Mills, he went on, adding that single-family homes, condos, duplexes, and fourplexes could also be in the mix. There will also be commercial elements, he said, such as retail businesses with residential units on the upper floors of buildings, in keeping with that ‘village’ concept.

“Right now, it’s a blank slate,” he noted, adding, again, that need and market conditions will likely dictate how the site is redeveloped.

Before any development can take place, the site needs to be cleared and infrastructure improved, a massive undertaking involving everything from the demolition of existing buildings, some of which are quite large, to replacement of a bridge that provides access to the site, for which the state has approved $5 million in funding.

The total cost of site preparation work is expected to approach and perhaps exceed $20 million, said Daley, adding that the state will work with Westmass to identify additional funding sources to advance the development.

Overall, the project represents a different kind of challenge for Westmass, but in many ways it is similar to the Ludlow Mills in that it involves extensive demolition and redevelopment of cleared sites.

“This is what we do … this is where Westmass shines,” Daley explained. “We take older properties and figure out what we can do with them, and I thank the governor and her team for trusting us and supporting us with the financial resources to do this. But once it’s down, cleaned, and demoed, it’s up to us to put together a really good, solid development plan that will benefit Monson.”

Springfield BID Gets Creative in Efforts to Promote Downtown

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Michelle Grout at the ‘Odyssey’ installation at Tower Square Park
Commercial Real Estate Special Coverage

Pushing the Envelope

Michelle Grout at the ‘Odyssey’ installation at Tower Square Park

Michelle Grout at the ‘Odyssey’ installation at Tower Square Park, one of the BID’s attempts to “push the envelope” in efforts to promote Springfield and bring people to the city.

 

Michelle Grout says she’s still getting emails and texts and seeing posts on social media platforms regarding the head-turning art installation in Tower Square Park known as “Odyssey,” featuring three seven-foot-tall pigeons and a Campbell’s soup can.

Not as many as when it first appeared a month or so ago, but they’re still coming in, with most of them positive in nature and candid about how nice it is to have something new and different downtown.

Her favorite missive is from a family not living in Springfield — they didn’t say where they were from — that jumped on a new reason to come to the city.

“The very first day, we had a post on social media … a family said, ‘we hadn’t been downtown in three years, but when we saw this, we know we had to come downtown for lunch,’” said Grout, president of the Springfield Business Improvement District (BID), which brought “Odyssey” to the park with support from several member sponsors. “They went to Hot Table and sat under the pigeons and had lunch.

“It’s doing its job — it’s got people talking, and it’s bringing people downtown,” she said of the installation, adding that, for the BID, the project is perhaps the most visible manifestation of ongoing efforts to do things differently when it comes to promoting the downtown and bringing people there, which is, in a nutshell, the agency’s mission.

“If you want the same results, keep doing the same things,” she said. “We don’t want the same results; we really want to try to push the envelope and get people to start thinking about Springfield as a destination again. We want to give people a reason to come.”

“Odyssey” will be on display until Labor Day, she added, and there will be other efforts to spur talk and visits — everything from a planned new mural project to a grilled cheese and tomato soup day at “Odyssey.”

These efforts coincide with new developments downtown, a rise in the number of people living there, and optimism about what’s to come, said Grout, who grew up in the city and remembers taking the bus downtown as a kid and going to the Steiger’s that sat near where those pigeons now do.

“It’s a balance of live, work, and play — it can’t be all people who live here, it can’t be all people who work here, and you can’t solely rely on people who visit here.”

The project at 31 Elm St., conversion of the former hotel into 70 units of market-rate and workforce housing, has been a catalyst for more development, with new initiatives, such as replacement of the Roderick L. Ireland Courthouse — she contends that the new facility needs to be downtown — creating speculation and anticipation.

Meanwhile, the tenants at 31 Elm are making an economic impact, which generates more anticipation about other residential initiatives in the planning stages.

“There are people from that building that we see all the time in their new routines,” she explained. “They go to the farmers market, they get their coffee at Palazzo, they go to Nosh … they’re investing in their new home,” she explained. “That’s one thing that attracts someone to live in a downtown — they have these amenities; we just need to come up with the amenities. It’s a balance of live, work, and play — it can’t be all people who live here, it can’t be all people who work here, and you can’t solely rely on people who visit here.”

There are certainly challenges in the BID district, Grout said, adding that many office buildings have not fully recovered from the aftereffects of COVID on where people work. And some of these properties may now be better suited for housing, although retrofitting them will be expensive. Meanwhile, some properties require extensive investments to host any kind of tenant, given modern standards and changing needs, and the costs are, in many instances, prohibitive.

String lighting, as seen here on Worthington Street

String lighting, as seen here on Worthington Street, is one of many BID initiatives to beautify downtown Springfield.

But overall, there is energy, optimism, and movement to create that needed balance, she said, adding that it’s a different downtown than the one she grew up with, but one with many strong assets and great potential.

For this issue and its focus on commercial real estate, we talked with Grout about how the BID is getting more creative as it carries out its mission, and ever more diligent in its efforts to put the city’s best foot forward, whether it’s with flowers, string lights, or art in the park.

 

Optimistic View

The large windows in Grout’s office at 1319 Main St. face south and provide direct views of the MassMutual Center and its marquee.

“I can’t miss what’s going on; I have no excuse to say I didn’t know what’s happening,” she joked, adding that she doesn’t need this view to know what’s going on across Bruce Landon Way — or at any of the other downtown venues downtown.

In fact, it’s her job to know — or at least one small part of her job, one that she arrived at after spending several years in residential real estate and a decade at the BID. She started there as administrative assistant to Director Chris Russell, then Operations director, then interim director when Russell stepped down three years now, and now director.

She’s seen and been through quite a bit over her 12 years with the agency, including what she called the “ebb and flow” of the downtown, a global pandemic and its many impacts, and now, what she describes as a resurgence in development over the past several years.

That resurgence has taken many forms, is both public and private in nature, and has involved several different properties, including 31 Elm St.; ongoing efforts to redevelop the Clocktower Building and adjacent Colonial Block into more housing and ground-floor retail; ambitious work to revitalize several long-vacant or mostly vacant properties on Worthington Street in the city’s entertainment district; the new Convention Center Carpark and the adjoining space, which is being activated for events; renovation of Court Square; the new Hope for Youth & Families Arts Center; and more.

“These investments are very inspirational and, I’m sure all would agree, necessary,” said Grout, adding that these initiatives and others will bring more people and vibrancy to a downtown the BID serves in many different ways — specifically, 221 parcels across an area stretching from West Columbus Avenue to Chestnut Street (but also Mattoon Street and the Quadrangle), and from just south of State Street to the Arch.

These include what Grout called supplemental services beyond what the city provides to keep the downtown clean and safe — from beautification efforts and lighting to broad economic development initiatives.

Indeed, the BID was awarded a $100,000 grant from the state Executive Office of Economic Development to subsidize new businesses and fill vacant storefronts in the district, she explained, adding that 13 ventures took advantage of the program, earning grants ranging from $7,500 to $15,000.

The farmers’ market in Tower Square Park

The farmers’ market in Tower Square Park is another BID initiative to activate downtown spaces and bring people to the city.

The BID is also charged with marketing the downtown, an assignment that takes on many forms, from robust programming to a website that that includes a calendar of upcoming events, snapshots of downtown restaurants with links to their websites, and listings of hotels and attractions, including MGM Springfield, Riverfront Park, the Springfield Museums, and the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Meanwhile, with programming, the BID has moved away from outdoor concerts, she explained, and much more toward promoting venues that offer live music, from MGM Springfield to Theodores’ to the Student Prince.

“We’ve pivoted to more destination placement, complimentary support to what’s already happening to grow a broader audience for that,” she said, adding that the “Odyssey” installation falls squarely into the category of marketing and promotion, although it is certainly non-traditional in nature.

As she talked about how it arrived in Springfield, Grout said the Downtown Boston Alliance had worked with a Quebec-based company called EXMURO on its Winteractive, a winter arts exhibition, and introductions were made.

“We saw the success they had in bringing people back to their district for a unique and unexpected experience, and the impact it had,” she explained. “And we thought that, on a Springfield scale, we could find the right piece to do the same thing, and after a few months of consulting, we landed on this piece.”

“Odyssey” has been in display in several cities — it was in Quebec City last fall, for example — but this is its first appearance in the U.S. And, as Grout noted, it has garnered attention and generated talk, which was the goal.

“People would ask, ‘what’s it for, what’s it about?’” she told BusinessWest. “My answer is getting people talking — it’s given people another reason to come down, another block to walk, another sight to see.”

 

Art and Soul

And there will be more efforts like it — although certainly not exactly like it — to keep creating a buzz, said Grout, noting there will be other art installations in other locations.

Meanwhile, another of her primary goals is to build on existing collaborations with community partners and “work smarter, not harder,” as she put it.

“We want to build efficiencies within everyone’s initiatives,” she explained. “You see a lot of people working at the same thing; if they all work together, it would be more efficient.”

As an example, she cited the relationship between the BID and the MassMutual Center and its marketing team. The two entities started working more closely together two years ago, and since that commitment, both have seen dramatic increases in engagement and followers on social media platforms, with the BID’s rising 18% and the MassMutual Center’s 65%. This surge has coincided with an increase in acts and a schedule that attracts people of all ages, she noted.

Another collaborative effort involves the Springfield Cultural Council, said Grout, adding that the agencies are working on several different initiatives, including a new mural project now in the planning stages and dependent on grant funding, as well as Art on Market Street, a free drop-in art program for young people slated for Saturdays this summer.

The downtown farmers market, meanwhile, has become a Friday tradition in the city. Presented by Country Bank, it runs from June until the end of September and features several local vendors, live music, and family-friendly activities.

Then, there are ongoing efforts to make the downtown clean and safe, which play a huge role in its overall success.

“If it looks good, people feel good, and that makes them want to come back and not be afraid to walk another block, go to another place, and see another site,” she explained, adding that these efforts go well beyond watering plants and picking up trash. “It takes a village.”

Indeed, it does. And in the village of downtown Springfield, there is progress, anticipation, and, yes, talk. And not just about the three pigeons and a Campbell’s soup can.

 

Franklin County Chamber to Lead Downtown Revitalization Project

By
Commercial Real Estate

Designs on Growth

The Franklin County Chamber of Commerce & Regional Tourism Council recently announced that it has been awarded the contract to spearhead the Rural Downtown Redevelopment Project, an initiative aimed at revitalizing the downtowns of Northfield, Turners Falls, and Shelburne Falls/Buckland.

The project, administered by the Franklin Regional Council of Governments (FRCOG) and funded by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Economic Development, aims to bolster economic growth and develop a sustainable regional model for rural downtown management. 

The year-long pilot project builds upon a 2023-24 study conducted by the BSC Group, which identified the need for enhanced coordination and administrative capacity to support rural downtowns. The Rural Downtown District Project aims to strengthen economic growth and improve collaboration between business owners, municipal leaders, and community stakeholders to boost local economies and improve overall downtown vibrancy, and pilot a regional downtown coordination model that, if successful, may be replicated throughout Franklin County and other rural areas. 

Project organizers say the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce, serving as the county’s only regional chamber and state-designated regional tourism council, is well-positioned to lead the effort. With more than a century of experience supporting local businesses, promoting economic development, and marketing Franklin County locally and regionally, the chamber looks to improve collaboration and leverage existing resources to maximize the pilot’s success. 

“This project is an exciting opportunity to plug in additional administrative capacity to enhance regional collaboration and downtown vibrancy and test a replicable regional model for economic growth.”

“After a robust planning process, we are excited about the opportunity to work with the chamber on this pilot phase of the Rural Downtown Redevelopment Project,” said Ted Harvey, senior economic development planner at FRCOG. “At its core, this project is about building capacity and supporting our communities to grow their local economies sustainably. Given the chamber’s strong local partnerships and its success as a regional dot connector, the chamber is well-positioned to bring this program to life in the three downtown districts.” 

Harvey explained that each of the three pilot communities prioritized enhanced coordination in their local rapid recovery plans, making them ideal starter locations to pilot this new approach. 

He said the Franklin County Chamber will collaborate closely with the Franklin County Community Development Corp. (FCCDC), FRCOG, municipal officials, and local leaders to launch the pilot. A key part of the project will include hiring a downtown district coordinator to convene working groups in each community. These downtown working groups (DWGs) — comprised of business owners, residents, nonprofit leaders, arts and culture representatives, property owners, and town officials — will identify two or three priority projects in each district, help guide the downtown district coordinator, and inform long-term planning. 

“This project is an exciting opportunity to plug in additional administrative capacity to enhance regional collaboration and downtown vibrancy and test a replicable regional model for economic growth,” said Jessye Deane, executive director of the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce & Regional Tourism Council. “This is a great, low-risk opportunity to pilot a regional coordination model and give our downtowns a measurable boost.”

Deane said the downtown district coordinator’s work will be guided by input from local stakeholders to ensure that projects reflect each community’s unique vision and needs. The DWGs will also help determine how to best leverage available resources and identify new opportunities for funding downtown projects. 

“The Franklin County CDC is excited to work with the chamber and FRCOG on this project. We work one-on-one with many businesses in the area to strengthen their business plans and work with them on marketing, operations, and finances. We provide capital when appropriate,” said John Waite, executive director of the FCCDC. “We also know that each individual business is stronger when the other neighboring businesses are stronger. This project will help businesses and vested stakeholders work together and use their various strengths to make each downtown greater than the sum of its parts.”

USA Ninja Challenge Eyes Expansion into Western Mass.

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Commercial Real Estate Special Coverage

Warrior Mentality

Richard Knight says USA Ninja Challenge not only develops core strength, agility, and flexibility, but offers a positive, supportive environment to get in shape.

 

Richard Knight said the idea for a business that now boasts dozens of franchises across the U.S. — and will soon come to Western Mass. — has its roots in a video found on the internet.

Twelve years ago, he recalled, he was sitting at a luncheon with his friend, Dale Grant, who owned a gymnastics studio in Concord, N.H. with his wife.

“A friend sent a video to him of a child going over homemade obstacles, and we were sitting there saying, ‘that’s just like the TV show American Ninja Warrior,’” Knight recalled.

The child’s enthusiasm was infectious — and the show, which poses a series of challenges along a grueling obstacle course, was peaking in popularity around that time.

At the same time, Grant was lamenting the fact that boys were dropping out of gymnastics — it was becoming harder to keep them engaged as they got older — and he and Knight began talking about opening a different kind of gym. Knight had sold a business in 2008 and was looking for a different opportunity, and in 2015, the pair launched the first USA Ninja Challenge facility in Manchester, N.H.

“The kids see it as variety, working on cool new obstacles. What they’re doing is working different muscle groups — but don’t tell the kids that. They’re having a great time doing something different every week.”

“It’s an interesting model,” said Knight, a New Hampshire native and now the company’s CEO. “We took the basics of our backgrounds from gymnastics and CrossFit and built a curriculum for training children. It’s a different lesson plan every week. The kids see it as variety, working on cool new obstacles. What they’re doing is working different muscle groups — but don’t tell the kids that. They’re having a great time doing something different every week. The variety makes it exciting for them.”

Seven years ago, after a second site opened in Concord, USA Ninja Challenge opened its first franchised location in South Windsor, Conn. Since then, the company has opened — or is in the process of opening — about 50 such locations across the U.S., including three now operating in Massachusetts: in Andover, Marlborough, and, most recently, Norton.

And now Knight and Grant have Western Mass. on their radar. They have researched communities including Northampton, Holyoke, Southampton, and others, and are looking to open up to five locations in and around the Pioneer Valley, with the first expected to open during the first half of 2026.

“All our gyms are doing great in the Massachusetts market, and we’re looking to expand our footprint,” Knight said, before talking about why the company’s franchise model is attractive. “We’ve been able to get 60% of our gym owners to go cash-flow positive in the first month. That’s huge when you start a business — to get to that break-even point. That’s the first hurdle for any business owner. After that, you’re adding kids every month to the program.”

He said USA Ninja Challenge looks for locations within a short driving distance from at least 15,000 to 20,000 people, a quality the Valley has in spades. The sites will ideally have between 3,500 and 8,000 square feet of space.

“It takes about six months to find the right location. We’re looking for light industrial space, flex space — we don’t need retail, similar to a gymnastics studio. That’s what we’re targeting,” he explained. “Once we find a location and sign a lease, it’s 13 weeks to open. It’s highly automated, highly structured, from that point.”

With ambitious plans taking shape, Knight talked with BusinessWest for this issue’s focus on commercial real estate about what USA Ninja Challenge does for kids — and what it can bring to this region.

 

Fit and Focused

Open to boys and girls aged 2 to 17, USA Ninja Challenge is a year-round obstacle-course training program that combines basic skill sets from gymnastics, climbing, cross training, and track and field. The program features six levels to master with a wide variety of progressions, drills, and challenges, including rings, balance obstacles, tumbling surfaces, cargo nets, traverse walls, slack lines, ropes, ladders, and warped walls.

Ninjas that demonstrate their mastery of skills advance to the next level of training, and each participant progresses according to their own ability. Essentially, Knight said, the program aims to build children’s self-esteem, confidence, and sense of accomplishment, one obstacle at a time.

“When I put my stepson in the program, he was probably 20 to 30 pounds overweight and didn’t like school sports, and six months later, he was doing 10 good push-ups and holding a plank. At the end of the year, he was doing 100. Now he’s 21 years old, and he’s a fit young man.

“Traditional sports never worked for him. He didn’t like football, soccer, or basketball. Ninja gives kids of all abilities the chance to be challenged and get in shape, and we can also take top athletes and elevate them even further,” he went on. “The program helps develop core strength, agility, and flexibility for kids. You develop the upper body as well. It really helps in other sports because, if you have a strong core, that helps you with everything you do in life.”

Kids can enroll in memberships for one, two, or three visits a week, and those classes are supplemented with events like birthday parties, camps, and competitions, he added.

“What sets us apart from other franchises is a focus on families and community give-back,” Knight went on. “People we attract as owners are people that want to work with children and develop long-term relationships with families. It’s about helping kids get fit and feeling good about themselves, and putting kids and families first.”

He called the sport a “positive positive,” then explained what that means.

“We’ve been able to get 60% of our gym owners to go cash-flow positive in the first month. That’s huge when you start a business — to get to that break-even point. That’s the first hurdle for any business owner. After that, you’re adding kids every month to the program.”

“Say you go to a basketball game. People in the stands are booing kids, booing players, booing referees, and they’re cheering their own kids as well. In ninja, when we have a competitive event, you cheer for every athlete. There’s no booing. There’s no ‘oh, ref, you’re terrible.’ There’s none of that. The kids get exposed to an environment that’s all about themselves in a very positive environment.

“From a sports standpoint, that is huge with our kids,” he added. “There’s a lot going on in society today, and here, children can be in a very positive environment and feel good about themselves and grow. And that’s very good for us as parents, too.”

As for the community element, franchises have become involved, through fundraisers and other activities, with organizations like school PTAs and PTOs, Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts, 4-H, the American Cancer Society, Best Buddies, and many more.

“It’s really part of our nature to do those things on a regular basis,” Knight said. “So people who tend to be owners really like the family aspect of it, working with children, and the local give-back. That’s what’s unique about our business model, unlike a fast-food restaurant where you can make good money, but may not make the same kinds of relationships.”

 

Olympic Dreams

The latest development that has Knight and Grant excited is the elevation of obstacle course racing to the Summer Olympics, starting in 2028 in Los Angeles.

Specifically, it’s now part of the pentathlon, replacing equestrian show jumping. A few years ago, the International Olympic Committee evaluated a whopping 62 proposals to replace that event before deciding on a ninja-style obstacle course. The other four pentathlon events remain swimming, fencing, pistol shooting, and running.

Knight and Grant both believe this development will further legitimize the sport, providing both opportunities for kids to get fit — particularly those who don’t enjoy traditional youth sports — while boosting the profile of USA Ninja Challenge. Knight expects the number of franchises to reach around 90 within a year.

USA Ninja Challenge is looking to open up to five locations in Western Mass., starting in 2026.

USA Ninja Challenge is looking to open up to five locations in Western Mass., starting in 2026.

“We have a partnership with U.S. Olympics,” he told BusinessWest. “We run competitions for our kids, and top athletes get to train with Olympic coaches in the summer. We’re the only one that has a program like that because we have a curriculum that’s all about progression training for kids.”

“People we attract as owners are people that want to work with children and develop long-term relationships with families.”

The company has also been involved with the Junior Olympics program, offering ideas to help create a pathway for kids to compete for the Olympics in this sport. And it is growing worldwide. The Ultimate Ninja Athlete Assoc. saw about 10,000 kids from 23 countries at its championship in Anaheim, Calif. last year — a tenfold increase from 2023.

And when the Olympics added the sport to its pentathlon, 160 countries immediately signed on — the biggest adoption of any sport introduced to the Olympics, Knight said.

He’s equally excited about the potential of this growing youth activity to get kids active and in shape, a particular concern in this era of copious screen time. An article on the USA Ninja Challenge website touts several studies linking youth fitness to better performance at school as well.

In short, he said, the benefits are manifold, and for Western Mass., they will also include that community element he spoke of, as well as job creation.

“We need people to work with kids and provide kids with a positive, safe environment to develop,” he told BusinessWest, adding that there will be a need for coaches, managers, and other positions at the new gyms when they start to open up in this region next year. “It’s remarkable the positive impact this can have on the community.”

Country Bank Strengthens Its Presence in Springfield

By
Mary McGovern says the location at 1350 Main St. gives Country Bank great visibility in downtown Springfield.
Commercial Real Estate

Down on Main Street

Mary McGovern says the location at 1350 Main St. gives Country Bank great visibility in downtown Springfield.

Mary McGovern says the location at 1350 Main St. gives Country Bank great visibility in downtown Springfield.

 

Mary McGovern says Country Bank has been looking to create a stronger presence in downtown Springfield for at least five years now.

The institution, which has a lending office on the 17th floor of Tower Square, has considered several sites for a banking center with strong visibility, she said, including the space in Monarch Place that would eventually become home to the corporate offices of New Valley Bank.

“We were looking strongly at that site, but we were beaten out for it,” she said, adding that other players were as well.

Undeterred, the Ware-based bank kept looking in Springfield while shifting its immediate focus to Worcester and establishing a stronger presence there (Country now has three locations in that city), said McGovern, the bank’s president. But the search in Springfield entered a new phase late last year with a call from Evan Plotkin, co-owner of the 1350 Main St. tower.

That call concerned the long-vacant space last occupied by Santander Bank, and … fast-forwarding a little, this large space will soon be sporting a Country Bank sign.

The bank’s move into that large, ground-floor location, likely to happen in the third quarter of this year after a comprehensive build-out, will give Country a much more visible presence downtown and, by that time, its second banking center in the western part of Hampden County. Indeed, the bank is finalizing a lease on a space in Longmeadow close to the Enfield line, said McGovern, adding that expansion in this region has emerged as one of the bank’s key strategic initiatives.

“We’ve been focused on branching out both in the Worcester area and in Springfield. Overall, 2024 was more eastern-focused, and in 2025, we’ll be focusing more on our western market.”

“We’ve been focused on branching out both in the Worcester area and in Springfield,” she said. “Overall, 2024 was more eastern-focused, and in 2025, we’ll be focusing more on our western market.”

As for the location in 1350 Main St., it continues a strong comeback for that property, which has seen many of its long-vacant spaces absorbed in the past 24 months, while it also continues a movement by the banking sector into the central business district; in addition to New Valley, Chase recently established a branch on the ground floor of 1391 Main, known to most as Harrison Place.

Plotkin, president of NAI Plotkin as well as co-owner of 1350 Main, said the space being taken by Country has been vacant for about a dozen years now. Over that span (most of which the first five floors were owned by a separate party; Plotkin and partners gained control in 2023), there has been interest of varying degrees from a broad range of businesses.

White Lion Brewing Co. took a long look at the space before eventually settling on a site in Tower Square, he noted, adding that a few restaurants and retailers have looked at it as well.

Banks … not so much, said Plotkin, adding that Country apparently sees what others haven’t, and that is an emerging corner, if you will, in downtown Springfield, with the MassMutual Center diagonally across Main Street, a new parking garage behind that, a revitalized Court Square across Court Street, and the new apartments at 31 Elm St. just beyond the park.

Mary McGovern and Evan Plotkin

Mary McGovern and Evan Plotkin say 1350 Main St. is an emerging corner in downtown Springfield.

“That’s one of the best corners in the city,” he told BusinessWest. “It’s next to City Hall, it’s across from the MassMutual Center … it’s where the life and the heart of the city is. The center of gravity has moved to this block.”

Plotkin categorized Country’s arrival as a win-win. It’s a win for the bank, which gains a highly visible location in the city, and it’s a win for all those at 1350 Main, because a long-dark space will see the lights go back on again.

“To have a dark space on the ground floor of a building of this stature is an impediment, if not from an economic basis, but from a visibility standpoint,” Plotkin said. “To have the lights on in there, with the activity of a bank, transacting business, changes the building quite a bit.”

Like most other downtown bank branches, the location lacks parking and a drive-thru lane, but it will be convenient for people working or doing other business in that area, and will provide additional support for the bank’s many customers in the Greater Springfield and Northern Connecticut markets, said McGovern, adding that, while most banking customers visit a branch infrequently, some, including small-business owners and mortgage customers, prefer that level of service.

“To have the lights on in there, with the activity of a bank, transacting business, changes the building quite a bit.”

As noted, the space at 1350 Main is large, around 4,000 square feet, much larger than most branches being built or moved into today. She noted that one portion of the space will be devoted to the banking center, with the rest put to other uses, such as hoteling other bank employees doing business in Springfield or attending events there.

Meanwhile, the location will give Country much greater visibility in the 413’s largest city, an important consideration in ongoing efforts to grow the institution and build its brand.

“Some people know we’re in Tower Square, but sometimes it feels that not many people know because there isn’t a sign at street level,” McGovern said. “There’s nothing like a sign on a banking center to let people know you’re there.”

—George O’Brien

Cesar Ruiz Intends to Rewind the Clock at Wyckoff Country Club

By
Cesar Ruiz bought Wyckoff with a sports complex in mind
Commercial Real Estate Special Coverage

Back to the Future

Cesar Ruiz bought Wyckoff with a sports complex in mind

Cesar Ruiz bought Wyckoff with a sports complex in mind, but his intention now is to keep it a country club and grow both membership and events.

 

Cesar Ruiz says it was only a few hours after he wrapped up a well-attended press conference in early February 2024, announcing his plans to bring a large sports complex to Holyoke, when his phone first pinged with someone offering some real estate for the initiative.

“He texted, ‘I’m a Holyoke boy. I’ve got five and half acres in downtown Holyoke. I’d like to do my part,’” Ruiz said. “So we followed that thread, but it was nothing we were interested in.”

The second time it pinged … well, that was a little different.

“It was a text sent to the mayor and forwarded to me, saying, ‘I have 100 acres in Holyoke, and you may be interested in looking at it,’” Ruiz recalled. “I was thinking to myself … ‘where is there 100 acres in Holyoke?’”

Some quick research revealed that the parcel in question was Wyckoff Country Club, and its beleaguered owners were looking to sell.

And Ruiz, anxious to gain some momentum for his project and unwilling to be “outflanked,” as he put it, by other potentially interested parties, was willing to not only listen, but enter into a purchase-and-sale agreement.

Fast-forwarding our story a little, the Wyckoff site, bordering a thickly settled residential neighborhood off already-busy Route 141, was essentially deemed impractical for Ruiz’s plans for a sports complex that might become the new home to the Volleyball Hall of Fame but also include fields and courts for several other sports.

“This change in management has generated interest and some real momentum, I believe.”

But Ruiz, who closed on the property late last month for $2.8 million, is now committed to a different future for Wyckoff — its past, specifically the more distant past.

Indeed, the Donald Ross-designed course and its clubhouse and other facilities have fallen on hard times recently, with Wyckoff not fully enjoying the post-COVID surge many clubs are experiencing.

“There’s been no real work done on this place in 50 years,” said Ruiz, referring to both the course and the facilities, adding that this has led to a decline in both play and events staged at the club.

Ruiz, a serial entrepreneur with experience in everything from formalwear to healthcare, has started making investments — everything from chemicals for the course (little, if any, fertilizer was applied last year) to new golf carts to needed renovations within the clubhouse — and plans to keep making them to facilitate a comeback for the club, now 92 years old.

Cesar Ruiz says the plan is to make the needed investments to return Wyckoff Country Club to prominence.

Cesar Ruiz says the plan is to make the needed investments to return Wyckoff Country Club to prominence.

“This change in management has generated interest and some real momentum, I believe,” he said, adding that he hopes to use his connections in the business world and the Latino community to bring more events — from weddings to wine tastings; from bingo to quinceañeras (sweet-15 birthday parties for Latinas) — to the property.

For this issue and its focus on commercial real estate, we talked with Ruiz at length about his acquisition of Wyckoff and his plans to return the facility to something approaching its former glory.

 

Course of Action

When asked if there would be a steep learning curve for him when it comes to running a golf club, Ruiz offered a light laugh and then a slight shrug.

Both gestures were might to acknowledge that, while he doesn’t have any experience running a club, he does have considerable experience — and quite a bit of success — in business.

And, as noted earlier, it has come in several different fields. These include men’s fashions — he was a franchisee of Gingiss Formal Wear, with a location in the Riverdale Shops, before opening his own store, Cesar’s Formal Wear, in Springfield’s X neighborhood — then financial services (specifically the mortgage business), and then healthcare, opening the hugely successful Golden Years, a home-care company that developed a staffing division as well, which he sold last fall.

Golf and events management are new and different businesses for him, Ruiz acknowledged, but the basics are … well, the basics.

And they include understanding the consumer and what they’re looking for; providing consistent, quality service; and making the necessary investments in people, technology, systems, and infrastructure.

Ruiz is focused on all three, especially, at this critical juncture, the needed investments. And there are many of them, starting with the property, where crews are working, or soon will be, on the roof, foyer, bathrooms, ballroom walls and ceiling (complete with new chandeliers), bar area (which will mirror the foyer), and more.

“We certainly have an opportunity to expand membership locally and perhaps beyond our borders to Worcester and Hartford, and we’re optimistic on that.”

The intent is to have this and other projects done for some upcoming events, including one on March 15, both to improve the experience for those gatherings and to showcase the improvements for potential future clients.

Meanwhile, on the course, Ruiz said he intends to make it green again — aerial photos from last year revealed too much brown from the lack of fertilizer — while also doing some work on the cart paths and other areas in need of work.

When asked about the planned initial investments, he said it’s a moving target — now about $300,000 and expected to move higher.

The initial investments, and talk of those to come, has generated interest and momentum, said Ruiz, adding that, since last April, with the announcement of the purchase-and-sale agreement, there was widespread speculation about the club’s future and whether it even had one.

The more recent announcement — that not only would it remain a golf course, but there would be significant reinvestment in the course and property — has spurred interest in membership and future events alike.

On the golf side, he intends to leverage his investments in the course and grounds; market aggressively to women, young people, Hispanics, and other constituencies; and try to take full advantage of the surge that many courses are still enjoying.

“They lost a lot of the women members, and we’d like to bring them back,” he said. “We’d like to bring youth back. We certainly have an opportunity to expand membership locally and perhaps beyond our borders to Worcester and Hartford, and we’re optimistic on that.”

Overall, Ruiz said he intends to rely on another of those business basics — creativity — when it comes to maximizing the potential of both the course and the facilities.

By that, he meant looking at other opportunities, from cross-country skiing and even snowmobiling to generate revenue during the winter months to staging different kinds of events, from an already-planned bridal showcase to quinceañeras and other types of events involving the Hispanic community.

 

 

Next Big Swing

While Ruiz will still be leading the efforts to bring a sports complex to Holyoke, his immediate focus is on those 100 acres first brought to his attention in that text just over a year ago.

In fact, his office has officially moved from the Golden Years complex to the back of the clubhouse at Wyckoff.

There, he’s planning the next stages in what he believes will be a true comeback story, one in which this Holyoke landmark strides confidently into the future by first turning back the clock.

 

Commercial Real-estate Market Expected to Pick Up in 2025

By
Evan Plotkin stands in the space at 1350 Main
Commercial Real Estate Special Coverage

There’s a Place for Cautious Optimism

Evan Plotkin stands in the space at 1350 Main

Evan Plotkin stands in the space at 1350 Main now occupied by Tech Foundry, one of many new tenants in the downtown Springfield office tower.

Evan Plotkin has been in the business for more than 40 years now, but he can’t recall a time when he’s filled this much office space (150,000 or so square feet, by his estimate) in such a short time — roughly three years.

The president and CEO of Springfield-based NAI Plotkin has been helped in some ways in his efforts to fill empty spaces at 1350 Main St. in the city’s downtown, from state agencies needing new space to a high school seeking an imaginative new home.

But in other ways, he’s created his own luck by being proactive, proposing outside-the-box uses for traditional office and retail space, like a wellness center on the ground floor and a fitness center, and creating an environment that businesses want to be in.

“We’re creating an experience here,” he said. “The tenant is an emphasis for us, and it is throughout the commercial real-estate market. If you want to get the workforce to come back to the office, you have to create a different kind of experience.”

Plotkin’s success at 1350 Main has been somewhat of an outlier in the commercial real-estate sector, with most others describing 2024 as a mostly slower time and a transitional year, if you will, with many business owners and investors playing wait and see when it came to both the election and the interest-rate environment.

But with the election decided and the likelihood of at least slightly lower interest rates, investors are looking to get back in the game, said Demetrios Panteleakis, a principal with the Springfield-based Macmillan Group.

“My prediction for the next 18 months is that investors are going to come off the sidelines. With optimism comes real-estate investors looking for opportunities, and they create a great deal of volume. I’m starting to get the calls back from my usual clients asking me if I see any opportunities out there.”

“My prediction for the next 18 months is that investors are going to come off the sidelines,” he noted. “With optimism comes real-estate investors looking for opportunities, and they create a great deal of volume. I’m starting to get the calls back from my usual clients asking me if I see any opportunities out there.”

Meanwhile, there is optimism on perhaps the largest issue hanging over this sector — the future of remote work, hybrid schedules, and the impact they will have on individual buildings, downtowns, and communities.

Indeed, many of those we spoke with see the tide turning on remote work, pointing to major employers such as Amazon, Pratt & Whitney, and even the federal government ordering people back to the office — or moving in that direction — as evidence.

“A year ago, I predicted there would be a gradual return of people to the office, and we saw a lot of that in 2024,” said Jack Dill, a principal with Springfield-based Colebrook Realty Services, adding that this movement, if it can be called that, made this past year better than many in the industry expected it would be. It also gave brokers, real-estate management companies, and investors some confidence regarding the office market.

“Overall, we saw a pretty normal year — whatever normal is,” Dill went on, adding that, to him, that means pre-pandemic. “It was a year of a gratifying amount of activity; going into both 2023 and 2024, people were waiting for the recession to hit, and, gratefully, the economy seems to have achieved a soft landing.”

Demetrios Panteleakis

Demetrios Panteleakis says 2024 was a transition year, but expects 2025 to be better, especially as investors come off the sidelines.

Bill Low, president of Longmeadow-based L&P Commercial, agreed. He described 2024 as a “funny year,” one in which a white-hot market for industrial properties cooled substantially, but the office market picked up. “And I think that’s going to continue in 2025; it’s not going to be hugely robust, but it should continue to pick up.”

Meanwhile, there are other reasons for optimism among those in this sector, from progress on what could be the largest development deal this region, or this state, has ever seen — a data-center complex in Westfield (more on that later) — to retiring Baby Boomers putting their businesses, and their real estate, on the market.

 

Space Exploration

Recapping his success in filling a number of vacant spaces at 1350 Main, Plotkin said there were several factors contributing to those lease deals.

Circumstance was part of it, he noted, adding that Discovery Polytech Early College High School’s quest for a new home in the downtown area eventually prompted discussions that led to an outside-the-box reimagining of the top two floors in the building, once home to BankBoston’s regional headquarters, and a quick — as in 90 days — conversion of that space in time for the start of the school year.

Another factor has been businesses and nonprofits becoming frustrated with other property owners in the downtown and seeking what amounts to higher ground.

“Some properties are losing tenants to 1350; we’re building a better mousetrap,” Plotkin said. “It’s not the kind of growth I like to see in downtown, a kind of musical chairs with tenants, but we’re doing things here that are pretty aggressive, and it’s paying off.”

“It was a year of a gratifying amount of activity; going into both 2023 and 2024, people were waiting for the recession to hit, and, gratefully, the economy seems to have achieved a soft landing.”

Indeed, most of the success at 1350 stems from an effort to be creative and find, in many instances, non-traditional uses for traditional office and retail space. That was the case with the high school, and also with the Shops at 1350 Main, a collection of Hispanic-owned startups now occupying a large block of former retail space in the tower.

And while he’s proud of what’s been accomplished at his office tower, Plotkin said there is much work still be done within the city’s central business district, where he estimates there is at least 500,000 square feet of vacant space, much of it class B or C.

Finding creative reuse for this space is paramount, he noted, adding that housing has emerged as both a need and a possible solution — though it’s not suitable for many office structures — to the glut of space.

That has certainly been the case in Amherst, said Barry Roberts, a developer, property owner, and president of the Roberts Group. He noted that several projects in various stages of development, including his work to redevelop the former Hastings building on South Pleasant Street and the property behind it, involve housing components.

Bill Low

Bill Low says he’s seen an uptick in investor activity, but potential buyers remain cautious, especially amid uncertainty about the future of the office.

Another, much larger project is planned for the former Rafters sports bar property at the corner of University Drive and Amity Street, which will be transformed into 85 units of housing in two five-story buildings, as well as retail and office space.

Roberts believes this will barely make a dent in the town’s overall need for new housing of all kinds, but it’s a start.

 

Back to Normal?

Looking ahead to 2025 and beyond, those we spoke with there are many reasons for optimism — as well as progress on some important development projects.

At the top of that list is a major project near Barnes Airport in Westfield, which received a much-needed boost late last year when the state Legislature approved a measure that exempts data centers from the state’s sales and use tax.

The measure clears the last of many roadblocks to a development projected to cost more than $3 billion at full buildout — making it one of the largest private-sector projects of any type in the state — and involve major tech players like Microsoft, Amazon, and Alphabet in their never-ending quest for more computing power.

“In a normal environment, this project would have moved much more rapidly. This has now gone on for five years, we got hit by COVID … it’s been arduous to say the least. At times, people’s patience has dwindled — it’s been like herding kittens,” said Panteleakis, citing hurdles ranging from needed tax incentives to environmental issues to a power-purchase agreement.

All systems appear go to finalize the purchase of 10 parcels by the developer, Servistar Realties, he went on, adding that ground could be broken later this year on a project that could lead to other, similar developments in the years to come, especially in communities, like Westfield, served by municipal utilities.

Meanwhile, another project, one that has been much longer in the development stages, took a possible step forward in 2024. Indeed, the Paramount Theater and adjoining Massasoit Hotel in Springfield were acquired by Sacdev Real Estate Development of Suffield, Conn. at a highly anticipated auction last fall, said Low, adding that the acquisition could lead to progress at properties that have been vacant or underutilized for decades.

Overall, those we spoke with are looking at 2025 with optimism born from several factors, from confidence generated by the election results to slightly lower interest rates; from retiring Boomers selling their businesses (and real estate coming on the market) to what appears to be a surging retail sector.

Indeed, Ken Vincunas, president of Agawam-based Development Associates, recently returned from the International Council of Shopping Centers conference in New York, which was humming with activity among mall owners, prospective tenants, brokers, and more.

“They all say that market is on fire,” he told BusinessWest, adding quickly that the descriptive phrase doesn’t fully apply to this region, but he is optimistic, especially as he goes about trying to develop a retail center the company owns in East Granby, Conn., not far from Bradley International Airport.

However, while retail may be on fire — at least in other markets — but other sectors of the market are still struggling, and for different reasons, said Vincunas, noting that the industrial market is being hurt by a lack of inventory, and the office market is still trying to fully recover from COVID and remote work.

Still, more frequent headlines about major corporations ordering their employees back to work for at least three or four days a week are generating momentum. Dill believes the office market may never return to what it was pre-pandemic, but the pendulum is clearly swinging back in that direction.

“After a couple of years on the Zoom and Teams screen, I think a lot of folks are pleased to be back in the office,” he said, noting that this sentiment is reflected in lease renewals and the amount of space leased.

At 1441 Main St., the TD Bank Building, which Colebrook manages and Dill co-owns, several government agencies renewed leases, and some took additional space, while Balise Motor Sales moved its corporate headquarters to the third floor of the building, all of which not only fills square footage, but brings more vibrancy to the downtown.

As for investor activity, Low said his firm has also seen an uptick in that realm, although he noted that, given some lingering uncertainty about the future of the office, many are being more cautious than in years past.

“It’s harder to sell an empty building; people don’t take the same risks they did years ago,” he noted, speaking for everyone in this business, adding that, if interest rates continue to creep down, that will certainly help.

That ‘if,’ and many others, continue to put the caution in cautious optimism — but to those with a stake in this sector, it sure beats pessimism.

 

Pittsfield’s Clock Tower Complex Becomes Mixed-use Masterpiece

By
The Clock Tower complex in Pittsfield
Commercial Real Estate Special Coverage

Hour Town

The Clock Tower complex in Pittsfield

The Clock Tower complex in Pittsfield

Sally Tiska Rice says she grew up in Pittsfield. As a child, and up through her high-school years until the plant started slowing down, she recalls going with her mother to visit aunts and other relatives working at the Sheaffer-Eaton paper mill in town. Later, as she entered the world of work herself, she became a hand-boarding artist working at Crane & Co. in Dalton (noted for making currency), painting stationery.

These chapters in her life help explain why she feels right at home as she continues writing the current chapter, as one of the so-called Clock Tower Artists, a diverse group of artists now renting lofts in part of the Sheafer-Eaton complex, renamed the Clock Tower Business Center because clocks were once made on that site.

“Immediately when I walked into the building, it reminded me of the place I worked at for my career,” said Tiska Rice, who specializes in portraits of homes, people, and pets. “The buildings were very similar — the big windows; the historic, brick New England mill … the whole structure just brought back a lot of memories.”

Beyond the memories, it offered her a north-facing window, what’s known as ‘north light’ — that’s important for artists because they don’t have to cope with the effects of the sun moving through the studio at different angles during the day — and the ability to be part of a community of artists.

“Immediately when I walked into the building, it reminded me of the place I worked at for my career.”

These artists, roughly 20 of them, are just some of the many tenants, large and small — including the Berkshire Eagle, which once owned the whole complex — that now have a South Church Street mailing address. Together, they help make the transformation of the Shaffer-Eaton complex a unique success story, one authored by North Adams-based Scarafoni Associates/CT Management Group, which acquired part of the complex in 2006 and the remainder in 2016. It has reshaped the property into a thriving mixed-use facility featuring residential units, a wide range of commercial tenants, those aforementioned artists, the Eagle and its massive printing presses, and more.

Dave Carver, a principal with CT Management Group/Scarafoni Associates

Dave Carver, a principal with CT Management Group/Scarafoni Associates

This is a story of imagination and especially perseverance, said Dave Carver, a partner with Scarafoni Associates/CT Management Group. He noted that the group has had to overcome the departure of major tenant Wayfair (much more on that later), the loss of Berkshire Medical Center offices, and the downsizing of the Eagle, while also enduring the pandemic and its impact on the office market and other stern challenges to lease out almost all the space in the complex.

“We got creative, we worked hard, we knocked on a lot of doors,” said Carver as he talked to BusinessWest in one of the conference rooms once used by Wayfair, now shared by several smaller tenants on one floor in a modified co-work arrangement that is just one of the successful components of this endeavor.

For this issue and its focus on commercial real estate, BusinessWest talked at length with Carver, Tiska Rice, and others about the transformation of the former Sheaffer-Eaton property into one of the more successful mill-conversion undertakings in this region, and how the evolution of this historic complex continues.

 

Success Stories

Tracing the history of the property, Carver said it dates back to the 1880s, when the Connecticut-based Terry Clock Co. was purchased by a group of investors from Pittsfield who brought the operation to that city and built a three-story building on Church Street.

Sally Tiska Rice, one of the Clock Tower Artists.

Sally Tiska Rice, one of the Clock Tower Artists.

The company’s tenure there was short-lived — it failed in the early 1890s — and the property was eventually sold to Arthur Eaton, who moved a paper mill there, later to be known as the Sheaffer-Eaton mill after a merger with Sheaffer Pen. In the late 1980s, the property was sold to the owners of the Berkshire Eagle, which were looking for a new home for the then-thriving daily paper.

The Eagle’s owners undertook a massive renovation of the main building on the property and leased out large sections of it, said Carver, noting that the recession of the mid-’90s hit the Eagle hard, and its operation, and the mill complex it called home, were sold to Media News Group, which eventually put portions of the property on the market.

“Because they had been struggling for so long, there was a lot to do. And we still have a lot to do; it never ends.”

This included roughly 100,000 square feet in some of the smaller buildings, including the original Terry Clock building, which were acquired by Scarafoni Associates/CT Management Group in 2006, and soon transformed into Clock Tower Condominiums.

In 2016, as Media News Group’s struggles escalated and it looked to jettison the remaining 200,000 square feet in the complex, Scarafoni/CT Management stepped in and acquired it, commencing a comprehensive initiative to modernize, retenant, and reimagine the property, which was maybe 50% occupied at the time, said Carver, adding that, over the past eight years, the property has certainly evolved and developed a unique look and feel.

The Clock Tower complex, where clocks and then paper were made, brings the past, present, and future together in an historic setting.

The Clock Tower complex, where clocks and then paper were made, brings the past, present, and future together in an historic setting.

“Because they had been struggling for so long, there was a lot to do,” he told BusinessWest. “And we still have a lot to do; it never ends.”

By that, he meant both upkeep buildings more than a century old, but also the many challenges confronting all those owning, managing, and leasing out office space today.

As an example of all of the above, he referenced what could be called the ‘Wayfair chapter’ of this story.

It started when the owners of the Boston-based home-furnishings company, who are from Pittsfield, commenced a search in 2019 for space in which to create a call center in the western part of the state.

That search focused on Pittsfield, said Carver, noting that several sites were considered before the company eventually zeroed in on the South Church Street property and 35,000 square feet in one of the buildings in the complex.

“We rolled up our sleeves and went to work — we immediately started knocking on doors and networking.”

Negotiations continued for roughly a year, he noted, adding that the company eventually came to terms that included a five-year lease, shorter than is common is such deals, but a needed concession given the size of the company’s investment and “City Hall encouraging us to make the deal.” A rapid buildout followed, the company started moving in that October, and it was ramping up to 200 jobs when the pandemic hit.

“And then, everything shut down, and that was for at least a year, and it could have been two,” Carver said, adding that, when the company finally decided to start bringing employees back, it struggled mightily to do so.

“A lot of employees had drifted away to other jobs, they were experimenting with a work-at-home model, and ultimately that went out, so they decided to close the facility,” he explained, adding that Wayfair opted out of its lease roughly a year ago, leaving a 35,000-square-foot hole at a challenging time for all commercial-property owners.

 

Art of the Deal

What happened next, Carter said, was that “we rolled up our sleeves and went to work — we immediately started knocking on doors and networking.”

And this hard work has paid off. Elder Services of Berkshire County, marking its 50th anniversary, moved into 19,000 square feet over the first two floors of the building previously occupied by Wayfair, while the third floor, with roughly 15,000 square feet, features smaller tenants with a shared common area; only a few spaces remain to be leased.

Wayfair’s departure has been one of the many challenges overcome by the Clock Tower complex’s owners and managers.

Wayfair’s departure has been one of the many challenges overcome by the Clock Tower complex’s owners and managers.

Tenants include Janney Montgomery Scott, a regional financial-services firm that desired a presence in Western Mass.; Teton Management, a real-estate management company; Keiter Builders, a general contractor based in Northampton that also sought a Berkshires location; Insights in Automation; Annie Schwartz Nutrition; and MassHire Berkshire Workforce. Together, they share what amounts to co-working space.

“We decided to leave the kitchen area Wayfair created and the open area,” Carver said. “So even though everyone has their own, independent space, it’s a modified co-working area.”

Its creation is one of the success stories at this historic property. The Clock Tower Artists, located on the third floor of the business center, comprise another.

The collective, or community, now includes more than 20 artists that work in various disciplines and often participate in open-studio events and community arts initiatives.

Tenants include Shanny Porras, a visual sound artist who translates music into abstract paintings; Caroline Kennedy, an abstract artist; Deborah Carter, a multi-media artist who creates upcycled, wearable art; Stefanie Webber, an action-based artist who specializes in dance, movement, and performance; Bruce Laird, a contemporary artist who creates pieces using acrylic, mixed media, and collage; and Linda Petrocine, who specializes in the ancient art of painting using hot wax on wooden panels.

Collectively, these artists bring vibrancy, energy, and people to the Clock Tower complex, said Carver, adding that there is room for more, and he expects the group to grow in the years to come.

Tiska Rice said she was among the first artists to visit and then sign on at the mill. She and others were impressed with everything from the parking to the open common area on the artists’ floor, which doubles as an art gallery; from the large windows, views, and north light to the elevator (Tiska Rice is disabled).

Tiska Rice was also impressed with what Carver and his team were doing with the mill, blending history with imaginative ideas, such as the artists’ floor. And she’s equally impressed with the community of artists that has emerged.

“It’s great to be with all these talented artists — it’s very encouraging,” she told BusinessWest. “Some people will refer to having the notorious artist’s block where you’ve finished your last project and you don’t know where to go from there. There’s so much encouragement here; everyone works with their own style, but it seems like everyone has a way to complement each other and bring out the best in each other.

“An artist’s world has also been described as a very lonely place,” she went on. “We’re a whole group of individuals that come together as a community.”

This community of artists is just one of many reasons why the Clock Tower complex has become a timeless mixed-use masterpiece, one that brings the past, present, and even the future together in stunning fashion.

Westmass Area Redevelopment Corp. Seeks Ways to Broaden Its Impact

By
Community Development & Planning Coordinator Sean O’Donnell (left) and President and CEO Jeff Daley.
Commercial Real Estate Special Coverage

Developing a Strategy

Community Development & Planning Coordinator Sean O’Donnell (left) and President and CEO Jeff Daley.

Community Development & Planning Coordinator Sean O’Donnell (left) and President and CEO Jeff Daley.

 

 

Since its inception in 1960, the role of Westmass Area Development Corp. has remained remarkably consistent in many ways.

Created by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as a not-for-profit economic and real-estate development firm, its mission has long been to develop and manage properties and enhance and strengthen communities through investments that create jobs, housing, and sustainability. But the way Westmass is accomplishing those goals is evolving.

“Traditionally, we would build infrastructure, sell off individual lots, have the town adopt those as public ways, and then we would go on and do the next projects. We are the economic-development agency for Western Mass. to really advance job creation and increase the economic tax base for communities in the region,” said Sean O’Donnell, Community Development & Planning coordinator, noting that the firm’s work has helped facilitate more than 10,000 jobs in the region.

While Westmass has done some consulting work in the past, it has mostly focused on its own real-estate projects, he noted, from its business parks to Ludlow Mills, which has been its flagship project since 2012.

“But over time,” O’Donnell went on, “and with my background and with the team we have here, we increasingly see opportunity in Western Mass. where we can play a facilitator role and a consulting role.”

Specifically, he explained, Westmass can take on this role for brownfield developers and municipalities that are trying to come up with creative ways to publicly finance their infrastructure. “We can put together different financing tools to make some of these more challenging real-estate projects in Western Mass. pencil out, and build these public-private partnerships.”

“We see a lot of opportunity in underserved areas in Western Mass. that could be thinking about economic development — not necessarily in the traditional sense, but how that embeds within a community that might want to stay rural.”

One example is the Ferry Street Mills project in Easthampton, where Westmass is assisting on the pre-development side and seeking cleanup funding to facilitate some of the planned housing work there. Others include a current business-park feasibility study for the town of Northfield and work with the town of East Longmeadow on the former Carlin Combustion Technology site at 70 Maple St., coordinating with the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection and looking into funding resources.

“My interest and background is in planning, particularly rural economic development, and we see a lot of opportunity in underserved areas in Western Mass. that could be thinking about economic development — not necessarily in the traditional sense, but how that embeds within a community that might want to stay rural,” O’Donnell said. “In the case of Northfield, that’s a business park that aligns with a recreation-based economy, rural tourism, agritourism, that type of thing. We’re trying to find all these different niches in Western Massachusetts.

Sean O’Donnell presents at the Western Massachusetts Brownfields Roundtable hosted by the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission on Sept. 17.

Sean O’Donnell presents at the Western Massachusetts Brownfields Roundtable hosted by the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission on Sept. 17.

“We have a lot of experience as a nonprofit developer and are very much a community-based developer,” he went on, “but I think we can play, and we have been playing, a really strong intermediary role and facilitating role with private projects and communities, while also looking out to Boston to see what new programs and financing and funding sources might be available to pull into Western Mass.”

Jeff Daley, president and CEO of Westmass, told BusinessWest that another growth area for the company is helping with or taking on projects that most developers can’t handle on their own.

“A lot of projects don’t pencil out anyways, and if you throw in the mix of outdated, dilapidated buildings that have potential contamination, brownfields, whatever, they can’t pencil financially for any developer,” Daley said. “So not only do we take on projects ourselves, but we also partner with projects to get through.”

One example is the most recent housing units to open up at Ludlow Mills, in Mill 8, a joint venture with Winn Development that allowed Westmass to retain 48,000 square feet on the first floor for commercial use.

“We invested our own money, we invested our own time, and we invested other monies that we received through grants and/or other mechanisms of financing to offset some of the cost explosion during COVID. We’re technically a joint-venture partner with Winn in that project,” Daley explained.

“By partnering with others, we certainly can bring added value to the team to make sure these things actually do pencil out at the end of the day.”

“So we can do projects like that to help make projects pencil, because it’s very, very hard today. In the economy we’re in, plus the cost of doing business, it’s really hard to make a lot of projects work. So by partnering with others, we certainly can bring added value to the team to make sure these things actually do pencil out at the end of the day.”

 

Opportunity Knocks

O’Donnell said Westmass’s expanding work in development services can benefit all types of projects, from housing to recreation to downtown revitalization.

“We’re increasingly looking on the housing side, keeping a close eye on the housing bond bill that passed in Boston a couple months back, seeing what new programs might be coming down the pipeline, and maybe finding a project that was thinking more commercial — maybe there’s an opportunity for mixed use, to have a residential component, because that can tie in new funding sources that can make the overall project more feasible.”

O’Donnell sees the client roster continuing to include both municipalities and private developers.

“It’s sometimes municipalities that maybe have a private development that’s proposed in town, but they know they need to get public infrastructure to the site. So they’re thinking about things like district improvement financing or grant writing to make that more plausible or more affordable for the community,” he explained. “But on the developer side, with us as a nonprofit partner, we might be able to help tap into some grant-funding resources that a private, for-profit developer might not otherwise be able to.”

Westmass also took over leadership of Develop Springfield late last year; one current project on that front is McCaffery Interests’ work on the Clocktower Building in Springfield’s South End, which will include market-rate housing. “We’re working with them as consultants, helping them with their capital stack, figuring out where financing can come from,” Daley said.

The Ferry Street Mills project in Easthampton is an example of the brownfield and mill properties Westmass works on.

The Ferry Street Mills project in Easthampton is an example of the brownfield and mill properties Westmass works on.

And housing — specifically the need for more of it in most area cities and towns right now — poses significant opportunities for Westmass, O’Donnell added.

“Communities are trying to be proactive, but many communities might not have a full-time planner on staff or have the capacity to re-examine where they might want to expand public infrastructure to make a certain site or area of town viable for housing. They’re also looking at maybe recalibrating their zoning so they can allow for more mixed-use or multi-family in certain areas of the town. I think that’s where we can help, in partnership with other planning firms and the planning commissions as well.”

He noted that Westmass is uniquely situated to be a resource to municipalities and developers, especially in the case of brownfields sites, of which there are hundreds in Western Mass.

For example, in the case of the Ferry Street Mills project in Easthampton, “as a nonprofit, we’re doing a land lease of the property to have site control in order to go after cleanup dollars from the federal Environmental Protection Agency. Even though the development following the cleanup will be led by the for-profit developer and the partners there, as a nonprofit, if we have site control during the EPA grant, we can receive those grant funds, clean up the site, and get it ready for projects.

“That’s a huge role that I think is increasingly needed in Western Mass.,” he added. “There’s more funding right now at the federal level, particularly for cleanup and brownfield mill redevelopment work. And I think that we can play a really great, active role with those types of projects around here.”

 

Community Support

O’Donnell took his current role at Westmass in 2020, the year after Daley took the reins at the company.

“I was Facilities manager over at Ludlow Mills, so I cut my teeth over there. And I was Leasing manager over there for a while,” said O’Donnell, who earned a master’s degree in regional planning from UMass Amherst and has worked at planning commissions at the municipal level. “But my interest is really in economic development and mill redevelopment.”

As for Ludlow Mills, progress continues apace at that complex, where the residential units at Mill 8 were recently completed and Westmass is finishing about $3 million worth of roads and sewer and water service to all the buildings on campus.

“All the electrical’s going in; instead of overhead wires, we put conduit underground, and every single building there will have their own meter, and it will all be underground,” Daley said, adding that Westmass is also partnering with the town through a MassWorks grant to have a $3.5 million road built. “Once that’s built and the town accepts it, then we’ll probably have about 40 acres to develop. So it’s moving; there’s a lot of stuff going on.”

Pre-development work continues on Mill 11, the largest building with about 400,000 square feet, which is awaiting some cooperative work with the National Park Service to remove a historical building on site. “But once we do that, we think it will probably generate about 220 apartments and probably 15 or 20 condominiums, and 60,000 to 100,000 square feet of commercial space,” Daley said. “That’s the big gorilla that we need to get done over there. It’s projected to be a quarter-billion-dollar project.”

Ludlow Mills is a project that clearly impacts an entire neighborhood and town, and O’Donnell sees further opportunities to make similar impacts around Western Mass. in the future.

“Ludlow is a unique case, but I don’t think it would be possible without the community support that started before even we bought it. Westmass started those conversations early, started to lay out what a plan might look like for the entire campus, and the town has been such an incredible partner all the way through,” he told BusinessWest. “And we’re seeing the same thing at Easthampton with the mill projects over there. You need that community buy-in and to have those conversations early to make these large-scale redevelopment projects successful. We want everybody paddling in the same direction, for sure.”

Among its other recent projects, Westmass has worked in a number of ways on the proposed data center in Westfield — from helping the developer through tax-financing programs to securing energy costs with Westfield Gas & Electric to working on state legislation for a personal property-tax exemption — and played a construction-management role for Baystate Health on its Mary Lane Hospital decommissioning, to name just a couple. Westmass was also recently selected also as a house doctor for MassDevelopment projects.

And it’s just getting started.

“We just want to continue expanding our impact,” O’Donnell said. “I think we’ve played a really strong role in these discrete projects, but I think we have an incredible team and the bandwidth to start thinking about potentially larger partnerships and projects throughout Western Mass.

“It’s going to be an evolutionary process on our part, and hopefully we keep bringing in enough work that we can hire some more staff and a team to keep growing this thing,” he added. “It’s incremental at this point, but we’re really trying to build those relationships and get those projects moving.”

Upcoming Auction May Decide Fate of Springfield Landmark

By
Paramount Theater
Commercial Real Estate Special Coverage

Of Paramount Importance

Paramount Theater

Paramount Theater

 

Over the past year or so, while the historic Paramount Theater property in Springfield has somewhat quietly been on the market, Bill Low has taken more than a dozen interested parties through the landmark.

Slicing through the comments made by those taking the tour, he said he’s counted quite a few people saying “what a shame,” or “it’s really sad,” as they view the theater portion of the property — which has hosted shows by the likes of Jerry Seinfeld, the Three Stooges, and Bob Dylan over the years — and the many visible forms of deterioration there.

He’s also heard several of these visitors talk about how, while renovation of the former Massasoit House Hotel portion of the property is likely doable, the theater is … well, another story.

“Over the past year, I probably had 12 to 15 physical tours,” said Low, president of Springfield-based L&P Commercial, which has been handling the sale of this and most other properties within a large portfolio of real estate once owned by the New England Farmworkers Council. “There was lots of interest, which I would expect because it’s a grand property. But when you think about the theater … what do you do with it? It’s beautiful, but what can you do with it?”

Such comments are in many ways helping to set the stage, figuratively but also literally, for what will be a closely watched auction of the Paramount property that was originally slated for mid-August and is now set for Sept. 23.

“There was lots of interest, which I would expect because it’s a grand property. But when you think about the theater … what do you do with it? It’s beautiful, but what can you do with it?”

Low, like Tim Sheehan, Springfield’s chief Development officer, says he doesn’t know exactly what to expect at the auction, to be conducted online by the national real-estate agency Crexi.

According to Crexi’s web page for the Paramount property, the starting bid will be $250,000. That’s roughly one-tenth of what it is assessed at and about one-seventh what the New England Farmworkers Council paid for it in 2011, with plans to author the next chapter in its history — plans that never materialized, due in part to COVID, but also to market conditions and the high degree of difficulty associated with the project.

Theater

The low initial bid price might be another indicator of just how complex and difficult a project this is, but Low also suspects it was set to “generate some action.”

And he believes there will be a good amount of action, but just what it will translate into remains to be seen. The theater portion of the property remains an extreme challenge, he said, not merely because of the high price tag (which has been prohibitive for many of the arts-related groups that have toured the property), but because of the need within the marketplace for another performance venue — or lack thereof.

Sheehan agreed.

“Everyone keeps talking about performance space, but how much performance space is a city the size of Springfield going to be able to support?” he asked rhetorically. “You have Symphony Hall, you have the MassMutual Center. You have MGM, with smaller venues … I’m just not certain you can get positive cash flow out of performance space of that size.”

But he noted that there are other projects in various stages of development in that area, including recently announced plans to convert the floors above the Student Prince Café and the Fort into condominiums (see related story on page 35), and the Paramount could be another building block on that section of Main Street and possible catalyst for still more development.

For this issue and its focus on commercial real estate, we look at how the upcoming auction has cast the Paramount property back into the spotlight, and also why this property with a rich past has so many question marks about its future.

 

Back in the Spotlight

The marketing language created by L&P Commercial for the Paramount property when it was on the market speaks to everything from its history and architectural significance to the challenges that await those who might want to take this on.

“This endeavor calls for dreamers, history enthusiasts, and architects of the future,” it reads. “Whether you envision a cultural center, boutique hotel, great thriving entertainment hub, this restoration project awaits your touch. Embrace your opportunity to make your mark on history while preserving the city’s rich history. Take the first step toward creating a lasting legacy.”

There has been little if any interest among those who have toured the property to take that first step, said Low, adding that this reality helps explains why the property is now going to auction.

“We just got to the point where we couldn’t find the right buyer,” he told BusinessWest. “It’s a massive undertaking; most of the interest was in the hotel, with people then saying, ‘now what do we do with the theater?’”

By now, most know at least some of the Paramount’s history. Opened in 1926, it was, for decades, all those things listed in the L&P description — a cultural center, thriving hotel, and entertainment hub. Four presidents are said to have stayed in the Massasoit House Hotel. As for the Paramount, formerly named the Julia Sanderson Theater, it has hosted movies and all kinds of live performances, from music to comedy to theater.

Bill Low

Bill Low expects the auction for the Paramount property to draw a good amount of interest.

Renovated in 1999 and renamed the Hippodrome, the property was purchased by the New England Farmworkers Council in 2011 with the intention of restoring it to its former glory. As a casino proposal came together involving real estate just north of the Arch, the Hippodrome was viewed as being a potential key component of such plans.

But the casino was ultimately built in the South End, less than a mile down Main Street, and plans to renovate the Paramount/Massasoit property — with a price tag around $40 million — were never realized.

COVID played a factor, but so did the inability to secure the private funding needed to advance the project to the construction phase, said Sheehan, adding that the Farmworkers Council, burdened with the various costs associated with the real estate, needed to relieve itself of that burden.

Which brings us to next month’s auction. Both Low and Sheehan said it will be “interesting.” Beyond that, they’re not entirely sure what to expect from whomever prevails in that event.

 

Show of Interest?

They do know that the new owner, whoever that might be, will face the same challenges that the New England Farmworkers Council had in renovating the theater portion of the property and making it viable from a business standpoint.

As Sheehan pointed out, there are several other performance venues in Springfield and elsewhere in the region. Meanwhile, those involved with plans to renovate another historic old movie house — the Victory Theater in Holyoke — are trying to close a funding gap and move forward with 45-year-old efforts to restore that landmark.

That said, he noted that some developers have reached out to him to have discussions about the property and float potential development concepts.

“Hopefully, they’ll show up at the auction and at least gauge a level of interest associated with the properties,” he went on, noting that the decision to take the property to auction has come about rather quickly, so potentially interested parties have not had much time to do their due diligence.

Sheehan said that, if he has a suggestion, or cautionary note, for potential developers of the property, it would be to take on this project in stages.

“I think they should work with scalable pieces of the overall development and begin in the easiest spot that you possibly can,” he said, adding that this spot would likely be the ground-floor retail spaces on the property.

Meanwhile, redevelopment of the Massasoit House Hotel might be the next spot.

“The office component in the former hotel … that won’t be as difficult an undertaking,” he noted. “The really hard part is the Paramount itself; what are you envisioning for the redevelopment of that space that will actually bring positive economics to the overall equation?”

Both the theater and hotel are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Sheehan noted, adding that the site is significant from both a historic and architectural standpoint, and this needs to factor into happens next, whatever it is.

“Both of those properties have significant historical importance and architectural significance,” he said. “And the city has an interest in making sure that those properties are reactivated and preserved in an appropriate way.”

Low acknowledged the historic nature of the property and the architectural significance, but wondered out loud if something might have to give from a preservation standpoint if something is to happen at this property.

Meanwhile, his only predictions for the auction, based on the interest shown since Crexi started marketing it, are a sale price above (probably well above) $250,000, and “lots of action.”

And maybe, just maybe, from that action, progress will be made in securing a future for this big slice of the city’s past.

 

Fort Building’s New Owners Plan Condo Development

 

Peter Picknelly says he and other members of an investment group that recently acquired the property on Main Street in Springfield that is home to the Student Prince Café and the Fort did so to essentially control their own destiny.

Indeed, this same group, which includes Picknelly, chairman of Peter Pan Bus Lines and a principal with OPAL Real Estate Group; the Yee family; and Michael and Kevin Vann, acquired the restaurant in 2014 with the intention of preserving it for future generations of area residents. And as they embark on a series of renovations to the famous restaurant, they understood that their overall path would be easier to negotiate if they owned the property.

But their motivations certainly don’t end there. The new owners have ambitious plans to renovate the long-vacant upper floors of the property into 50 or more condominiums, which Picknelly anticipates will fall into the ‘affordable’ category.

As he talked about these plans, he drew a number of similarities between the Fort building, as it’s known to many, and another project he recently led — conversion of 31 Elm St., the former Court Square Hotel, into mostly market-rate housing units.

Both buildings are historic, to one degree or another (31 Elm St. is on the National Register of Historic places, while the Fort building is not), both have been vacant or mostly vacant for decades, and both are “bears,” as Picknelly put it, when it comes to the many challenges associated with reimagining them as housing.

“But 31 Elm was more of a bear,” he said with a laugh, adding that, while the upper floors of the Fort building do, indeed, present a number of construction and financing challenges — he expects this project will cost $25 million to $30 million — he described it as certainly doable.

“This building is a lot like 31 Elm — it has great bones, but it’s been left to decay for decades,” he explained, noting that the ownership group will work with Winn Development, another partner on 31 Elm, on the Fort Building initiative. “It certainly comes with a challenge, but we’ve teamed up with Winn, who I think are masters at renovating old structures like that and modernizing them and making them great places to live and work.”

Meanwhile, the runaway success of 31 Elm — the building was fully leased when it opened, and there is already a lengthy waiting list — provides both inspiration for the Fort building endeavor and proof of need for this kind of development.

“I think the success of 31 Elm has certainly demonstrated that people want to live in downtown Springfield,” said Picknelly, adding that, just as the Court Square project has injected vibrancy into downtown, the Fort building project can do the same, especially for that section of Main Street.

“I hoping that this serves as a catalyst for further development toward the North End,” he said. “I think that’s the natural course of progress for our city.”

The new ownership group, known as Fort Street Realty Assoc., acquired the property from the New England Farmworkers Council, which has been selling off its portfolio of real estate over the past year or so. The Farmworkers Council acquired the Fort building in 2011 with the intention of renovating the vacant upper floors, but those plans never materialized.

The property, which has been on the market for some time and listed for $2 million, sold for $700,000, an indication of the Farmworkers Council’s willingness to shed properties and get out from under heavy tax and property-maintenance burdens.

Picknelly said the new ownership group has several priorities for the property, including improvements to the restaurant (work in the kitchen, bathrooms, and other areas), efforts to clean up and shore up the “streetscape,” as he called the storefronts along Main Street, and conversion of the upper floors into condos.

—George O’Brien

 

Questions Abound About Future of Hampshire Mall

By
Commercial Real Estate Special Coverage

A Matter of Speculation

‘What happens now?’

That’s the question that was on the minds of many as Hampshire Mall was sold at a foreclosure auction last month — to the company that holds the mortgage on the property, and for far less than half its assessed value.

Actually, people have been asking that question for a while now, as the fate of the mall becomes less clear after years of struggle, even after its former owner, Pyramid Management Group (which also owns Holyoke Mall), started doing the things malls are supposed to do in these changing times, especially shifting gears and devoting far more square footage to entertainment-related venues — everything from a large gym to escape rooms to taekwondo.

Apparently, all that simply wasn’t enough, said John Benoit, a principal (with his two brothers) of Vantage Point Retail in Longmeadow, which leases and sells retail properties and finds locations for a few national chains, such as Five Guys, Advance Auto Parts, and 99 Restaurant.

“Zoning is complicated, to say the least, and sometimes, when people hear about an effort and there’s a lack of specificity surrounding it, they can draw conclusions that are not appropriate.”

He noted that Hampshire Mall, located near the Amherst line in Hadley on busy Route 9, is just one of many malls across the U.S. that are suffering and destined for new life; others in this region include Eastfield Mall, which has already been demolished, to be replaced by a large power center, and Enfield Square, which is also awaiting its fate. Meanwhile, the retail sector itself is a state of flux.

John Benoit

John Benoit says Route 9 is a retail destination, but he wonders how much more retail can come to that busy thoroughfare.

“Retail has been undergoing change for a long time, and I don’t know if it’s settled,” Benoit told BusinessWest. “There was a time when online was a new world in retail and the discussion in the trade journals and at the trade association meetings going back 10 to 15 years was about whether brick-and-mortar locations would go away — would people just do business online?”

What has emerged, he went on, is the concept of multi-channel retail that includes online as well as bricks-and-mortar elements, with some consumers using one or the other for research, buying, returns, or some combination of the above.

“It changes every year,” he added. “Some of the statements I just made … I don’t even know if they’re current.”

Nothing is expected to happen at Hampshire Mall for a while, as the new owner, Deutsche Bank Trust Co. Americas and Wells Fargo Commercial Mortgage Securities Inc., which, as noted, held the mortgage on the property, figures out what it wants to do. The bank foreclosed on the mall after Pyramid defaulted on its mortgage.

Shardool Parmar, a more-than-interested observer at the auction — that’s because the Pioneer Valley Hotel Group, which he serves as president, owns three hotels on Route 9 in Hadley and is building a fourth — said it will likely be years before the fate of the property is known.

“It’s a big unknown what will happen to the mall property,” he said. “That’s because it’s difficult to say what the future market will be when it comes to whether this will remain retail or become residential. There are a lot of unknowns.”

The most obvious future uses are more (and perhaps different) retail — because of the emergence of the Route 9 retail corridor as one of the strongest, if not the strongest, in the region, rivaled perhaps only by Memorial Drive in Chicopee, said Benoit — and housing, mostly because of the size of the parcel and the huge need for more housing in that region.

But both of those options come with question marks. Indeed, while Route 9 is a retail hub, there are vacancies — actually, several of them — along that corridor, Parmar said. Meanwhile, Benoit added, while successful retail and especially grocery stores (and there are lot of them on this corridor) attract more retail, most of the major players, from Walmart to Home Depot, are already there.

“They did what people said what malls could do and should do, and they did it early — and that’s entertainment, as compared to shopping. They had the shopping, but they also had an entertainment component.”

As for housing, a zone change would be required, said Hadley Select Board member Molly Keegan, noting that the town will likely pursue creation of what’s known as a 40R, otherwise known as a smart growth zoning overlay district, which, according to the state’s website, “seeks to substantially increase the supply of housing, and decrease its cost, by increasing the amount of land zoned for dense housing.”

“The Planning Board has been working with the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission on researching and potentially bringing a zoning change to town meeting in either the spring or fall of 2025 that would allow for additional types of development, specifically using Chapter 40R,” Keegan explained, noting that the intent of 40R is to encourage municipalities to create dense housing or mixed-use zoning districts.

Such a proposal would require educating town residents about just what such a zone is for and what could happen if one becomes reality on that corridor, she noted, adding that, if a vote comes to fruition, it will Hadley’s first attempt at creating a 40R.

Molly Keegan

Molly Keegan says information and education will be the keys to passing a needed zone change to permit dense housing at the Hampshire Mall site.

“There’s an awful lot of education that needs to go along with this,” Keegan said. “Zoning is complicated, to say the least, and sometimes, when people hear about an effort and there’s a lack of specificity surrounding it, they can draw conclusions that are not appropriate. So the most important thing the town can do right now is educate.”

For this issue and its focus on commercial real estate, we take an in-depth look at Hampshire Mall and what might come next for this retail and cultural landmark.

 

Landmark Decisions

Hampshire Mall is one of the several area spots that gets some exposure in the recently released Janet Planet, a coming-of-age movie set in Western Mass. in the early ’90s.

In a recent Boston Globe article intended to help readers understand just what ‘Western Mass.’ is — and how the movie helps explain that geography — it is noted that the mall became a solid locale for the movie because … well, with a JCPenney and a rollerskating rink, it looks the part of an early-’90s mall.

In the larger scheme of things, that’s probably not a good look, even though, as noted earlier, the mall has made some significant changes in recent years to make it more viable, especially that shift to more entertainment-related venues. Indeed, in most respects, it doesn’t look like an early-’90s mall, with tenants that include FunHub Action Park, All In Adventures, LaserBlast Ancient Adventure, Planet Fitness, and PiNZ, a bowling alley.

“They did what people said what malls could do and should do, and they did it early — and that’s entertainment, as compared to shopping,” he explained. “They had the shopping, but they also had an entertainment component.”

This shift helped, but it certainly hasn’t stemmed the mall’s decline, said Benoit, theorizing that habits changed during the pandemic — people didn’t want to be indoors around a lot of other people — and they haven’t really changed back.

This reality, coupled with the many changes in retail — and the proliferation of other retail on Route 9 — conspired to all but seal the fate of Hampshire Mall, he noted, adding that similar stories have been written at malls around the country. The ones changing the narrative for the better have embraced reinvention.

“Malls are really struggling, and that struggle didn’t just start — it’s been going on a long time,” Benoit said, emphasizing that word ‘long.’ “Malls are big, complicated financial and physical arrangements.”

Using Eastfield as an example, he said talks about converting it to a large power center with a housing component have been going on for at least 15 years, by his count. Advancing those plans have been complicated by everything from the Great Recession to the pandemic; from ownership of some footprints by the anchors themselves, which slows and adds more layers of complexity to the equation, to the fate of existing tenants.

“The more information people have, and the earlier they have it and have time to ask questions and digest it, the better they’ll understand what they’re voting on what they get to town meeting.”

That question of what might come next at Hampshire became an assignment — “Reimagining the Hampshire Mall: Exploring Opportunities for Intergenerational Housing and Community Development” — for 40 juniors in the architecture and landscape architecture programs at UMass Amherst.

Teams of five students presented different concepts for the mall property. Each one included 350 to 700 new housing units, designed for young professionals, working families, and seniors; site amenities for residents and visitors; parking for tenants and shoppers alike; and some portions of the existing mall. Many of those elements are likely to be included in whatever the mall becomes next, said those we spoke with.

Getting back to a possible 40R zone at the Hampshire Mall site, Keegan said the Planning Board has formed a smart-growth subcommitee that is specifically working on the next steps in the process of creating such a zone. Informational sessions will be scheduled to help inform the public of what is involved and what it means for the community moving forward.

“The more information people have, and the earlier they have it and have time to ask questions and digest it, the better they’ll understand what they’re voting on what they get to town meeting,” she added, noting that, while there is a recognized need for more housing in the community, 40R and its emphasis on dense housing is a new concept for Hadley.

What certainly isn’t a new concept is retail on Route 9. With five colleges only a few miles away and several smaller communities without their own retail centers, the stretch between the Coolidge Bridge and the center of Amherst has been a retail destination for more than 50 years now, one that has consistently added new regional and national brands to the portfolio, becoming what Benoit called a ‘super-regional trade area.’

As a measuring stick, he pointed to all those aforementioned supermarkets. As he commenced counting them, he started with Big Y and Stop & Shop and ended with Maple Farms, a smaller, independent outlet, and listed eight in all. And he was quite sure there was a ninth that he couldn’t recall.

In any case, all those supermarkets attract other retail, he said, adding that there may still be room for more on Route 9, including at a reshaped Hampshire Mall property, where a power center, at which “every store has a front door,” as he put it, could — that’s could — be part of the equation.

 

History Repeats?

That’s what happened at Mountain Farms Mall, which opened in 1973 and, ironically enough, became known as the ‘dead mall’ after its precipitous decline and the closing of all but a few of its 35 stores.

Converted to an open-air mall and anchored by Whole Foods Market and Walmart, it is now thriving — so much so that Benoit wondered out loud if there is, in fact, room for more retail on that stretch.

“I’m not sure retail is that strong anymore,” he said. “And with the Mountain Farms Mall thriving, a lot of tenants that are in business are already in that market. Between there and the Stop & Shop center, there’s already a lot of retail. The anchors are there — Home Depot, Lowe’s … there’s no one left.”

Parmar concurred, noting that, whatever comes of the site, it will be costly and probably complex.

“There are a lot of variables, including the cost of construction,” he told BusinessWest. “To bring something to light there is not going to be cheap, and will there be a return on investment? There is a lot to investigate before someone can say ‘this will work’ or ‘that will work.’”

Developer for Clocktower Project Brings Impressive Track Record to Springfield

By
Architect’s renderings of the Clocktower Building and the Colonial Block (below).
Commercial Real Estate Special Coverage

‘We Love Real Estate’

Architect’s renderings of the Clocktower Building and the Colonial Block (below).

Architect’s renderings of the Clocktower Building and the Colonial Block (below).
(Images courtesy of Pickard Chilton)

Colonial Block

Colonial Block

When Ed Woodbury was encouraged by close friend Tim Brangle, president of Chicago Consultants Studio, to closely consider the Clocktower Building project in Springfield, he immediately challenged him to back up that request.

“He said, ‘Ed … you should take a look at this,’” recalled Woodbury, president of Chicago-based McCaffery Interests, which has a wide and deep portfolio of urban development and redevelopment projects, many of them clustered in Pittsburgh, Washington, D.C. and Northern Virginia, and the Windy City, and considers hundreds, if not thousands, of requests for proposals each year. “And I said, ‘why? Why do you think this is for us?’

“He spoke very highly of the city and its leadership, pointed out the inherent attributes of the Basketball Hall of Fame and the casino, and then gave a brief history of how Springfield had turned the corner from previous down times, if you will,” Woodbury said of Brangle, who has consulted with Springfield officials on the design of the casino and economic development surrounding it. “Naturally, none of that was familiar to us, so we looked at it, and the story happened to be true. And we liked that story.”

That’s a brief synopsis of how the Clocktower initiative, which involves three properties owned by the Springfield Redevelopment Authority — the Clocktower Building (113-117 State St.), the Colonial Block (1139-1155 Main St.), and a smaller building on Stockbridge Street — came to be part of that impressive portfolio.

On the McCaffery website, the project is listed among others like in size and character, including 1600 Smallman, the historic renovation of a 1921 structure in the Strip District of Pittsburgh into office spaces with views of the downtown skyline and the Allegheny River, and the Cork Factory project, an award-winning restoration and redevelopment of the Armstrong Cork Factory, also in Pittsburgh (more on that later).

In many ways, the Springfield project, which will add more than 90 units of market-rate housing to the mix, fits right in with these others, said Woodbury, adding that it involves redevelopment of historic properties, but also represents economic development and efforts to revitalize that area of the city.

“This will require multiple sources — you don’t just make one or two phone calls and someone says, ‘yeah, I like that project; I’ll fund it with you. It’s going to take more than a village — it’s going to take a little city.’”

“It’s a neat little project — it’s not big in our world,” Woodbury said of the Springfield initiative. “But I think we’re adding something to the downtown, both by the restoration but also through our development approach and how we look at projects and think about them.

“We don’t look at the buildings themselves,” he went on. “We look at the context of the buildings and where they sit — in this case, across from the casino and across from the MassMutual Center.”

From what he’s heard and seen himself — he’s now visited Springfield a few times — the city is in what he called the early stages of a rebirth, and this project could help bring it to the next stage.

“One of the things that adds to a rebirth is, in some cases, retail, but in a lot of cases, it’s getting people to live back downtown,” he said, “rather than working there, leaving there, and going back to their home in another part of town or one of the suburbs.”

While there are opportunities with this project, with a projected price tag of $55 million to $60 million, there are challenges as well, especially when it comes to funding, said Woodbury, listing the current economy and rising interest rates among those challenges, factors that will require more creativity when it comes to what he called the ‘capital stack,’ or the blend of resources that will be needed to make this project reality.

“This will require multiple sources — you don’t just make one or two phone calls and someone says, ‘yeah, I like that project; I’ll fund it with you,’” he said. “It’s going to take more than a village — it’s going to take a little city.”

Armstrong Cork Factory in Pittsburgh

Ed Woodbury says restoration of the Armstrong Cork Factory in Pittsburgh is one of several projects in the McCaffery Interests portfolio similar to the Springfield undertaking.
(Photo courtesy of Ed Massery)

The company has vast experience assembling needed funding, he went on, adding that he’s confident that the ‘little city’ he mentioned can come together, and that this project will play a significant role in Springfield reaching the next stages of a rebirth.

For this issue and its focus on commercial real estate, BusinessWest talked at length with Woodbury about McCaffery Interests, the Clocktower building project, and how this Springfield initiative fits the company’s mission — “to transform underutilized urban assets into dynamic destinations that serve modern lives as they intersect at work, home, and play.”

 

Landmark Decisions

Woodbury said McCaffery handles a broad range of work, from development to property management. And in that first category, it focuses on both redevelopment of existing (again, usually underutilized) properties to new construction.

But the common denominator, if you will, is that essentially all this work is carried out in cities.

“The focus has always been in urban areas,” he told BusinessWest. “We like the life, the vitality, and even the grit of cities.”

Most projects are in larger cities, including Pittsburgh, Chicago, D.C. and the surrounding area, and, most recently, Denver, where the company has several projects in various stages, including T3 RiNo, a mixed-use, 250,000-square-foot office project in that city’s burgeoning River North (RiNo) District.

“The focus has always been in urban areas. We like the life, the vitality, and even the grit of cities.”

Formed in 1991 by Dan McCaffery (Woodbury said he joined him “almost immediately”), the company’s first signature project was the revitalization of a former Saks Fifth Avenue store on Michigan Avenue in Chicago.

“We renovated it, leased it out, and put in Nike, Sony, and Cole Hahn; it was the height of what we call Main Street retail,” he recalled, adding that the project set the tone for other initiatives to come.

These include restoration of another historic property, 400 Post St. in San Francisco’s Union Square, that was destined to be torn down. “It was a great piece of real estate that had been overlooked for years,” Woodbury recalled. “We said, ‘heck, this is a cool, old building; let’s restore it.’ We put in a Disney store and a Borders Books.”

Reliance Building in Chicago

Restoration and redevelopment of the Reliance Building in Chicago, now home to the Hotel Burnham, is another project in the McCaffery portfolio similar to the one in Springfield.

As he cited those names, he noted that retail has certainly changed over the past few decades and especially the past several years; thus, the company now focuses mostly on mixed-use projects, be they new construction or renovation of existing structures, with retail on the ground floor and residential in the floors above — which is what is proposed for the Springfield project, as we’ll see.

And while McCaffery does most of its work in larger metropolitan areas, the company considers projects in communities across the country.

“We’re opportunity-focused — we search for unique opportunities and chase them,” Woodbury said. “The other thing is, we love real estate — old buildings, new buildings, it doesn’t matter; we love real estate.

“For us, it’s about finding high-quality real estate and exploring and seeing what we can do — with the land or existing properties,” he went on, adding that, with Springfield and its Clocktower Building initiative, what it can do — what it wants to do — is bring that aforementioned mix of uses, specifically retail on the ground floors and residential on the upper floors.

 

Lofty Expectations

Indeed, architect’s renderings of both the Clocktower Building and the Colonial Block portray well-lit shops with sidewalks crowded with passersby, elements certainly missing from the current picture — and missing for the past several years, in fact.

To make those colorful images become reality, McCaffery Interests will call on 34 years of experience with dozens of projects in several different cities and high levels of creativity with putting together a needed funding stack.

As he talked about the Springfield initiative, Woodbury said there are several projects in the portfolio that are somewhat similar — maybe not in terms of overall size and scope, but certainly in terms of restoring landmark properties, using historic tax credits to finance the work, and creating higher levels of vibrancy in downtowns or other key districts.

These include restoration and redevelopment of the Reliance Building in Chicago, now home to the Hotel Burnham, which was built in 1895 and is listed among the 100 most historically significant skyscrapers in the world.

“It’s one of the original high-rises in Chicago and one of the first places where an elevator was utilized in high-rise construction,” he explained. “We renovated it, but didn’t return it to an office building; we converted it to a hotel with restaurants on the ground floor.”

His short list also includes restoration of the Armstrong Cork Factory in Pittsburgh, originally constructed in 1901, and converted into 297 loft apartments, a project that earned several awards, including an Award for Excellence in 2009 from the Urban Land Institute and a Western Pennsylvania Golden Trowel Award in 2007.

“We took a building that was old and abandoned and invested side by side with a great partner in Pittsburgh and put the property on the historic register,” he said, adding that the project is one of the key contributors to growing vibrancy in the Strip District.

Springfield’s Clocktower Building and Colonial Block are similar in that they both boast considerable amounts of history — and have been largely vacant for several years now.

And, in Woodbury’s estimation, they have a future that can be as significant as their past.

“The Clocktower Building has great bones to it, and it’s the same with the Colonial Block,” he said. “The Clocktower Building is older, and some of the renovations over the years have unfortunately disrupted its historic character, but it adds a nice scale to the street — State and Main — which is fun to say, because it’s literally State and Main.

“And the Colonial Block was originally residential on the upper floors, which lends itself nicely to converting it back to that,” he went on, adding that, overall, Springfield is “looking forward being optimistic about what a city can and should be — and those are the kinds of places where we like to work.”

As for the challenges ahead, especially funding, Woodbury returned to that notion of this project needing not a village, but a small city of resources contributing to the capital stack.

“Federal and state tax credits are going to be a big source — they will be the lead bell cow in our funding stack,” he explained. “But there will be some funding needed from the State House, there might be some funding needed from the city, and then there’s obviously some private monies to be put in place as well; all of those food groups will come into play.”

The overall goal is to start construction late this year or early next year, he said, adding that it will be 24 months from when the company submits final drawings until the first tenants — residential and commercial — can move in.

Woodbury is confident this goal can be met, and equally confident that this initiative can do what so many other projects in the McCaffery portfolio have: revitalize not only real estate, but entire neighborhoods and cities.

Brendan Greeley Charts a Course for the Family Business

By
Brendan Greeley, president of the R.G. Greeley Co.
Commercial Real Estate Special Coverage

The Next Chapter

Brendan Greeley, president of the R.G. Greeley Co.

Brendan Greeley, president of the R.G. Greeley Co.

Growing up, Brendan Greeley never thought much about going to work for his father at the commercial real-estate firm he started the same year Brendan was born — the R.J. Greeley Co.

But as his undergraduate work was wrapping up at St. Michael’s College in Vermont, his father, Robert Greeley, asked him to start thinking about it.

And there was a lot to think about. Brendan didn’t really know much about this business, or business in general, and his college work didn’t exactly prepare him for that industry.

“I was a sociology and anthropology major with a minor in religion,” he said. “I was a singer in a band … and I never really thought much about my career.”

After telling his father he’d think about his invitation, Brendan sought the advice of one of his uncles, who told him, among other things, that commercial real estate was a good business for meeting … well, all kinds of people in many different businesses, exposure that could lead to different types of career opportunities.

“He said, ‘at the very least, you can go work for your dad for a little while, get a snapshot into different kinds of businesses, and see what you like,’” he recalled, adding that he went to work for his father for more than a little while, and eventually determined that commercial real estate was something he liked.

Fast-forwarding a little (we’ll go back and fill in some details later), Brendan learned a lot from his father, gradually assumed more responsibilities for running the business, and eventually became its president in 2017. After what he described as a somewhat difficult transition process, he bought his father out in 2019 and steered the company through the difficult COVID years and their aftermath.

Now, just over a year after his father passed away at age 73, the younger Greeley is writing new chapters in the history of the 43-year-old company. The firm is smaller now, with a staff of just two, but “doing more with less,” as he put it.

He is continuing to build on the portfolio of properties the firm handles, which is anchored by the Technology Park at Springfield Technical Community College in a collection of buildings that were once part of the Springfield Armory and later home to a massive Digital Equipment Corp. operation.

“My father always impressed upon me, from the beginning, that you have to go out and establish your network, the people you’re going to be doing business with — the people, as my father used to say, that you’re going to be in the trenches with.”

The Tech Park, as it’s called, has been around about as long as Brendan Greeley has been with the family business (which calls the park home itself), and it has been a career-long focal point and passion, he said, adding that the company has successfully filled most of the space vacated by a Liberty Mutual call center and continues to work to fill remaining vacancies in the sprawling complex.

“We had a great year last year — we brought on the Department of Developmental Services with a lease for just under 30,000 square feet for 10 years,” he said, adding that the state agency and other signed tenants now fill most of the 55,000 square feet once occupied by Liberty Mutual.

Meanwhile, the R.J Greeley Co. continues to respond to changes and trends within the market — everything from growing inventories on the office side of the ledger (a byproduct of remote work and hybrid schedules at businesses in virtually every sector) to an extreme tightening of the industrial and distribution markets, a byproduct of rising interest rates that have produced an environment in which it is far more advantageous to buy or lease than build new.

Technology Park at STCC

Brendan Greeley continues to build on his firm’s portfolio of properties, which is anchored by the Technology Park at STCC.

For this issue and its focus on commercial real estate, BusinessWest talked with Greeley about the market and what the future might bring, and about what might come next for the company that was started by his father and still bears his initials, but is now being steered by his youngest child.

 

Right Place and Time

As he talked about his time with the company, and especially about life in a family business, Greeley spoke for everyone who has ever had that experience when he said, “it’s not all rainbows and sunshine, that’s for sure.”

Elaborating, he described his father as a great real-estate broker, teacher, and mentor — “I wish I had his ability to mentor people and bring them along” — but not the easiest person to work with or for, and someone who didn’t think much about succession planning, didn’t really want to think about it, and did so only when the matter was pressed.

Indeed, when asked when his father first started talking to him about succession planning, Greeley laughed and said, “never.”

“That was a painful process,” he recalled. “Succession planning was really hard for him. He never really thought about wanting to retire, it seems, and he was pretty reluctant to think about it.”

So much so that Greeley admitted to thinking about perhaps doing something else because of that reluctance.

“I had to impose some timelines to move things along,” he went on. Eventually, a successful transition was achieved, made easier by some very strong years leading to that changing of hands, punctuated by the brokered sale of the former Westinghouse property to one of the players trying to bring a casino to Springfield.

Flashing back further, Greeley recalled that, as he entered the business, he certainly learned a lot from his father, especially when it came to the all-important work of getting in front of people building and maintaining relationships — duties that he referred to collectively as the “grunt work.”

“Those first few years, I was going out and getting to know people,” he told BusinessWest. “My father always impressed upon me, from the beginning, that you have to go out and establish your network, the people you’re going to be doing business with — the people, as my father used to say, that you’re going to be in the trenches with.

“So the first few years were filled with inserting myself into circles of attorneys, accountants, bankers, insurance people — those we work with often — and just making friends with them and creating a network,” he went on.

“There was a lot of driving around, pulling up to businesses, knocking on doors and saying, ‘I’m Brendan Greeley with the R.J. Greeley Co. — I just want to let you know that we’re out there and that, if there’s anything you need with commercial real estate, give us a call.’ There was a lot of going to lunches, playing in golf tournaments, and just … being out there.”

This grunt work has certainly paid off over the years, as the Greeley company has continued its run of success, even during times of stress and duress for the commercial real-estate industry, which is still coping with many lingering effects from the pandemic.

“When I came into the business, a manufacturing building was $50 a square foot, and now, it’s commonly $100 a square foot or more. To build new would be $200 a square foot.”

Foremost among those is the sea change in the office market, which has definitely slowed since the pandemic and has seen vacancies increase as remote work impacts whether companies will renew leases, as well as how much space they take if they do renew.

“Firms are creating opportunities for people to work at home, and that has certainly created some shifts in the office market,” he said. “We have some big chunks of office space that are available or coming available; as leases expire, people are renewing for less space, and that adds up to more inventory.”

This shift is certainly countered by a tightening on the industrial and distribution side of the ledger, where fewer properties are coming on the market and those frequented by ‘for sale’ or ‘for lease’ signs are not on the market for long, and for obvious reasons.

“There are far fewer construction projects taking place in this market because of higher interest rates, and this obviously helps with the value of existing inventory,” Greeley said, citing the laws of supply and demand. “The alternative is to build new, and building new is going to be very expensive.

“When I came into the business, a manufacturing building was $50 a square foot, and now, it’s commonly $100 a square foot or more,” he went on. “To build new would be $200 a square foot.”

As for the value of commercial properties — a huge issue in most major markets and communities of all sizes in the wake of COVID — Greeley said that, by and large, most properties in the region are holding their value, but this ability is being sternly tested by rising interest rates.

“Someone can afford to pay less for an investment property if they’re financing some portion of the transaction,” he explained. “So I would say that investment real estate has deflated some, although the quality inventory seems to be holding value better than the lesser-quality inventory.”

 

Bottom Line

Looking ahead, Greeley said his company will continue to do more with less in terms of office staff, but continue to look for growth opportunities.

This could include hiring an additional broker or perhaps more, he said, adding that he is always looking for good fits. Meanwhile, the firm is looking at opportunities on the property-management side of the ledger and on the development side as well.

“I have an open mind for opportunities that may present themselves in the future,” he said. “I’m always looking at ways to grow.”

Not bad for someone who never gave much thought to working at the family business growing up — and is now the owner of the family business.

Development Associates Calls on Experience at a Challenging Time in Real Estate

By
Development Associates President Ken Vincunas
Commercial Real Estate Special Coverage

Going by the Book

Development Associates President Ken Vincunas

Development Associates President Ken Vincunas

 

Ken Vincunas says he’s long kicked around the idea of writing a book, one that would call on nearly 40 years of experience in the broad realms of development and commercial real estate.

He even has a working title: What’s the Rent?

That’s a simple question, one that property owners and leasing agents probably get asked every day, and hopefully several times a day, said Vincunas, president of Agawam-based Development Associates, which has a broad portfolio of office, retail, and industrial properties across Western Mass. and into Connecticut. But coming up with an answer is usually anything but simple.

“There have to be 20 subjective factors and no objective factors that go into this, and every time one of them comes up, you have to hope that you have the experience to know your market, know your tenant, know your building, know your rates, and try to make a deal that’s fair to everyone and keep the place leased,” he said, adding that COVID and its aftereffects, including the strong movement toward remote work and hybrid schedules, have only further complicated this equation, as we’ll see.

While addressing the rent question, Vincunas said his book — if and when he ever gets around to writing it — would also include some case studies, and there are many he can piece together involving the myriad scenarios he and others in this business face regularly.

“There are things that can’t possibly happen, but they do,” he explained. “Like this … you get no one for a space for six months, and then, you have two people. The one you want is slow and can’t quite figure out, but they’re a better prospect; the one you don’t really want is champing at the bit — ‘let’s go, we’re ready.’ What do you do? That’s probably happened 15 times to me; it’s really something.”

“There have to be 20 subjective factors and no objective factors that go into this, and every time one of them comes up, you have to hope that you have the experience to know your market, know your tenant, know your building, know your rates, and try to make a deal that’s fair to everyone and keep the place leased.”

As he talked about this book waiting to be written, Vincunas said he’s always calling on the years of experience that would go into it, especially at this time of challenge in commercial real estate and development, one he summed up quickly and effectively by saying, “we would look to acquire things if prices were fine or if we had a tenant lined up, but we’re in no hurry, and we’re going to hope for better times in the next seven to eight months.”

Elaborating, he noted that, on the development side, this is mostly a time to hit pause, noting that several colliding factors — from higher interest rates to the still-climbing costs of materials; from supply-chain issues to mandates for electric heat — are making this a difficult time to build.

And on the leasing side of the equation, it’s a time to tough out those aforementioned challenges, try to keep buildings full, and take advantage of the opportunities that present themselves. He’s doing all that at the Greenfield Corporate Center, where a large (as in 55,000-square-foot) vacancy, left by the Greenfield District Court when it moved back to downtown Greenfield and a new facility there, has been mostly backfilled.

The StubHub Building in East Granby

The StubHub Building in East Granby, acquired by Development Associates in early 2020, is still vacant, but the company is optimistic this will soon change.

“We had counted on them staying — government contracts never come in on time,” he said with a laugh, referring to the construction of a new courthouse, which did come in on time, adding that the vacant space has been largely filled by an allergist, a CPA, the Sheriff’s Department, and other tenants, and the two buildings on the property are mostly occupied.

And Vincunas and his team are doing it at other properties as well, which are seeing those colliding forces from COVID, including businesses eyeing less space, in many cases, with fewer people coming to the office to work, but also different space as it comes on the market and deals can be made.

Meanwhile, DA, as his firm is called, is pushing ahead with some new projects, including a 55,000-square-foot office building in East Granby, Conn., known as the StubHub Building, which it acquired just prior to the pandemic in 2020, and nearby property — a five-acre parcel and a larger 19-acre parcel — that awaits development.

“The industrial market is exceedingly tight — purchase prices have doubled, at least. No one can afford to build with the high interest rates and the high cost of construction. Those who had industrial space in place could rent it for much more than they could have years ago.”

For this issue and its focus on commercial real estate, BusinessWest talked with Vincunas about everything from the state of the market, and the many factors that go into the current picture, to the manner in which he’s calling on all of his experience in these different — and challenging — times.

 

The Next Chapters

As he talked with BusinessWest about the Development Associates portfolio of existing properties and what might come next, Vincunas got up from his chair and retrieved a piece of paper thumbtacked to a board hanging next to his desk.

It was a timetable of sorts for the project in Northampton that has come to be called the Atwood campus. And he marveled that it has been 13 years since the former Clarion Hotel & Conference Center was demolished to make way for the office complex that sits there now.

The Atwood campus in Northampton

The Atwood campus in Northampton is one of the many success stories scripted by Development Associates.

The Atwood campus is one of many success stories in the DA portfolio. The three buildings on the property are full, with tenants ranging from Cooley Dickinson Hospital and Clinical & Support Options to several professionals. And while the success of the complex would seem to welcome development of another office building on the remaining space within the footprint, current conditions, including ongoing questions about the long-term strength and resiliency of the office market, but also the soaring costs of building, dictate caution, Vincunas said.

“We’d love to do it, but you have to have some pre-leasing,” he told BusinessWest. “And how much is the rent a year and a half from now? When you commit to someone today, you say, ‘you’re going to take 30% to 40% of the building.’ Sure, we’ll start building it, hope we get some others, and carry on with you until we get them. But what’s the rent a year and a half from now? It’s not easy to know.”

These sentiments reflect the high levels of challenge and uncertainty, but also opportunity, that define the commercial real-estate market at present, he said, adding that some segments of this market are doing very well, especially industrial — again, because building new is not an attractive option, and also because the work done at these facilities, be it manufacturing or warehousing, can’t be done remotely.

“So the industrial market is exceedingly tight — purchase prices have doubled, at least,” he said, noting that the same is true of lease rates. “No one can afford to build with the high interest rates and the high cost of construction. Those who had industrial space in place could rent it for much more than they could have years ago.”

Meanwhile, the office market is certainly slower, but there is movement as leases expire and business owners mull options, which bode well for properties like the StubHub Building, which remains vacant but may soon be landing a federal agency, said Vincunas, adding that DA acquired the property knowing it would take some time to lease it out, and COVID only exacerbated that challenge.

Greenfield Corporate Center

Development Associates has been successful in backfilling space at the Greenfield Corporate Center.

“It’s a very solid, very attractive building, and we know it’s going to work based on the price that we paid,” he said, adding that those same sentiments apply to the five-acre parcel just down busy Route 20, where DA is envisioning a a retail complex at that location, as well as the larger, 19-acre parcel. In both cases, the company can afford to be patient.

“I’m bullish on that whole area,” he said. “There are 400-plus apartments being built within three miles, so that whole area, in our estimation, is going to take off.”

 

The Plot Thickens

As he assessed the current office market, Vincunas said that, despite the convictions of many in this business that workers will eventually return to the office because companies function more efficiently if people are all in one place, the reality is that remote work and hybrid schedules are very likely here to stay.

That means most of those same businesses have decisions to make as leases expire, about how much space they need and where they want to be. And for those trying to keep buildings full, or as full as possible, it means working hard with both existing tenants, to keep them in some capacity, while also trying to attract those using their own expiring leases to explore the many other opportunities presenting themselves.

He’s seeing that at several of the DA properties, including Greenfield, where that successful backfilling is ongoing, and also 200 Silver St. in Agawam, where the company is trying to fill a vacancy left by a departing fitness center.

“Overall, you have to know your market and try to strike a balance. People don’t want to move, and people have options. And each situation is different. If you know the people love the location and the building, they might feel more strongly about staying where they are, and you work with them to make that happen.”

“We’re entertaining two companies in the insurance business; one wants to get out of Springfield, and one wants to consolidate its offices,” he said, adding that these are some of the forces impacting the market at present, ones that create uncertainly and volatility, but also opportunities, especially in smaller communities and smaller office facilities.

But there are risks everywhere, he added quickly, noting that, across the broad office market, the trends toward consolidation and putting fewer people in smaller spaces cast long shadows over the market.

To manage these sea changes, real-estate firms must call on their experience and handle each case individually.

“Overall, you have to know your market and try to strike a balance,” Vincunas said. “People don’t want to move, and people have options. And each situation is different. If you know the people love the location and the building, they might feel more strongly about staying where they are, and you work with them to make that happen.”

Returning to that aforementioned book he’s looking to write and its unofficial title, he reiterated that each case is different and each time is different, and companies like Development Associates must adjust to the conditions at that moment in time.

“When it comes to office space, you’re either in a strong position or a weak position, and you have to respond accordingly,” he said. “It’s the same as ever.”

Mill Town Capital Aims to Make an Impact in Pittsfield

By
The Mill Town Capital team atop Bousquet Mountain Ski Area.
Commercial Real Estate Special Coverage

A Visionary Approach

The Mill Town Capital team atop Bousquet Mountain Ski Area.

The Mill Town Capital team atop Bousquet Mountain Ski Area.

 

Real-estate development can be a profitable business. In fact, it’s safe to say that’s the key driver for most players in this sector.

For the team at Mill Town Capital, it’s about impact — on more than the bottom line.

Formed in 2016 and based in Pittsfield, Mill Town is an “impact investment platform,” said Tim Burke, the company’s CEO. “Our overall mission and mandate is to really make the area of Pittsfield and the Berkshires a better place to live through traditional investments, impact investments, and pure philanthropic community work.”

But what is impact investment?

“To us, impact investment means focusing on key assets or amenities or projects that have a high potential positive impact on the region,” he explained. “So it’s a little bit different than maybe a traditional impact investment that might look at energy or other areas of impact. Ours is really place-based in terms of our approach.

“When we think about impact, it’s taking on investments that most traditional investors wouldn’t take on either because the rate of return is lower, or it takes a much longer time to realize it, or they’re just really difficult projects,” he added. “We’re not necessarily restrictive to different sectors or industries. It’s really about, is this project good for the region? Is it good for the local economy? Does it have the chance to spur economic development or other potential investment, and, if so, how can we make it work?”

The company’s first ventures into real estate centered on housing-development projects in Pittsfield.

“Impact investment means focusing on key assets or amenities or projects that have a high potential positive impact on the region.”

“Pittsfield used to be a 60,000-person city, but now has 40,000 people. So you would think that there is enough housing for everyone, but the stock itself is significantly deteriorated,” Burke explained. “You have a lot of really old stock, things that are run down, properties where absentee landlords have a lot of deferred maintenance. And the living conditions in some of these are really tough.”

Since taking what he called a “clustered approach” to housing stock in the area, Mill Town has accumulated more than 200 units of housing in Pittsfield alone, as well as a few commercial buildings and mixed-use properties, with apartments on the upper floors and commercial space on the lower floors.

“So the real-estate approach there has been trying to improve neighborhoods with housing at the forefront, but also supporting small businesses and restaurants where we can.”

Bousquet complex

Tim Burke calls the Bousquet complex “a critical local asset that had fallen on some tough times.”

Public investment has sometimes followed that private investment, Burke said, with the city or state coming in with utility upgrades or streetscape improvements.

“So it’s really a multi-faceted approach, and it certainly has a patient-capital component to it as well, where we’re not looking to get in and monetize things really quickly. We have more of a patient, long-term approach to it.”

On the business-enterprise side of the ledger, Mill Town now owns about a dozen local businesses, either directly or in partnerships.

One example is Bousquet Mountain Ski Area, one of the oldest continuously operating ski areas in the country. “We felt that’s a great example of a critical local asset that had fallen on some tough times and needed a lot of investment,” Burke said. “I don’t think many rational investors would have gone in there with a pure investment business case, but we felt like it was worth saving.”

These enterprise investments tend to be clustered in regional assets in real estate, recreation, and hospitality, such as the Central Downtown Inn & Suites in Pittsfield; Gateways Inn in Lenox; Blueprint Property Group in Pittsfield; Framework, a Pittsfield co-working space; and others — about a dozen in all.

“We’ve been involved in those types of projects for a number of years, some of which are business-oriented projects, and some are philanthropic, that we do through our our 501(c)(3) foundation. That includes things like improvements in Springside Park, which is a large, local park in Pittsfield where we helped reshape and reinvest in trail networks there.”

Tim Burke

Tim Burke

“Is this project good for the region? Is it good for the local economy? Does it have the chance to spur economic development or other potential investment, and, if so, how can we make it work?”

Mill Town has also provided contributions to the Berkshire Natural Resources Council for a project that connects the various trail networks in the Berkshire mountains.

“And then we have two businesses that are in the recreation space,” Burke said. “We own an athletic center that’s called Bousquet Sport, which is across the street from the ski area, where we’re currently undergoing a 15,000-square-foot addition plus renovation to the facility, and that’s an investment in tennis, fitness, and pickleball.”

Then there’s Camp Arrow Wood, where the former Lakeside Christian Camp on Richmond Pond was converted into a new, sleep-away summer sports camp.

“We run three- and six-week summer camp sessions out of that property. That’s another project that we kind of uncovered during the COVID period … and we’ve been building that up over the past year and a half or so.”

 

Coming Home

Prior to Mill Town, Burke spent a number of years in corporate finance roles with United Technologies and then later with a couple different biotechnology companies, most recently Biogen in Boston’s Kendall Square biotech cluster.

Camp Arrow Wood

Mill Town transformed the former Lakeside Christian Camp on Richmond Pond into Camp Arrow Wood, a new, sleep-away summer sports camp.

But his connection to Pittsfield was strong, having grown up there, and around 2015, he met Dave Mixer, Mill Town’s founder “and really kind of the motor and the initiative and the capital behind everything that we do,” Burke said. “So I ended up meeting with Dave, and he had a general idea of what he wanted to do.”

Mixer, like Burke, is a Berkshire native and had just come back to the area after being away for a long period of time, and he wanted to make an impact, Burke explained.

“His view of making an impact is a little bit non-traditional from a philanthropic standpoint. He didn’t want to just write checks and then walk away. He really wanted to see if he could drive economic development and job growth and population stabilization and new housing and educational improvements — all across the spectrum of economic development and quality of life.

“It’s been a great, challenging, unique run for us over the past six or seven years, and we’re at a point now where, through Mill Town and our businesses, we employ over 300 people in the area. We’re constantly looking to grow and make this engine work and also kind of preach what we’ve learned over the years to other communities and people and investors and philanthropists and see if there are ways we can help other areas progress with what we’ve done in Pittsfield.”

“I think we’re pretty hard on ourselves in that we think we have a ways to go before we achieve the impact that we want to achieve. But it is validating to a certain degree that people see that we’re heading in the right direction.”

Indeed, Burke firmly believes Mill Town has a replicable model, but it’s one that’s still evolving. “We think we’re in the second or third inning of what we’re doing here in Pittsfield.”

And as someone with a lifelong heart for the city, he envisions what a vibrant, thriving Pittsfield can one day be.

“I think it’s a place where people from all aspects of the economic spectrum can find quality housing. They can send their kids to schools and get them a good education. They can find jobs that will allow them to live here productively and raise a family.

“And then we can provide those systems on the periphery that allow people to have a good quality of life here — places where kids have opportunities to have athletic endeavors in camps, places where adults can enjoy the natural assets that the area has,” he went on. “That comes back to trail networks and all the outdoor recreation assets that we have here.”

After all, he added, those are some of the things the Berkshires are most known for.

“Making sure that we can maximize those benefits for the people of Pittsfield is where we want to make a difference,” Burke told BusinessWest. “That involves a lot of different things and broader socioeconomic issues that are much harder to solve, like education and poverty and addiction. But we still should try to get involved in some of those things through partnerships with organizations who have that expertise.”

 

Moment of Recognition

Last fall, at 1Berkshire’s Celebrate the Berkshires event, Mill Town Capital was recognized as a special honoree for “putting the Berkshires on the map” — an honor that recognized the company’s investments in housing and downtown redevelopment, as well as its philanthropic support around the region.

“When our regional economic-development group recognized Mill Town for the work that we’re doing, it was tremendously gratifying for our team to see that people see the work that we’re doing and that it is having a positive impact,” Burke said. “I think we’re pretty hard on ourselves in that we think we have a ways to go before we achieve the impact that we want to achieve. But it is validating to a certain degree that people see that we’re heading in the right direction.

“That hasn’t always been the case,” he added. “I think when we first started out, there was a lot of skepticism and questioning: ‘what’s the angle?’ ‘What are you trying to accomplish?’ So it was great to see that, at a minimum, people view it as positive-intent work that has the potential to drive change.”

Location, Access, ‘Differentiators’ Help Holyoke Mall Thrive Amid Challenges

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Commercial Real Estate Special Coverage

Weathering the Storms

Lynn Gray

Lynn Gray, general manager of the Holyoke Mall.

As she talked with BusinessWest, Lynn Gray and her staff were gearing up for February school vacation.

It’s always a busy time at the Holyoke Mall, which Gray serves as general manager, as young people and families look for things to do. But these days, it’s even more so as ever-larger amounts of the mall’s 1.6 million square feet of space become dedicated to entertainment-related ventures rather than pure retail — although there’s still plenty of that as well.

Indeed, over the past several years, former retail spaces have given way to tenants like All In Adventures (billed as the ‘ultimate escape destination’), Altitude Trampoline Park, Round1 Bowling & Arcade; Planet Fitness; and Billy Beez, a massive play area that is home to twisting slides, sports courts, tunnels, trampolines, and more.

This is a national trend, said Gray, noting that, as major retailers — ranging from Sears and JCPenney to Christmas Tree Shops and Best Buy — close stores, their former spaces have found new lives in non-retail-related uses. And malls have become even busier during Christmas break, February vacation, and other times when the weather is less conducive to outdoor fun.

“People are looking for something to do that week indoors,” she said. “During February break, it will be pretty busy, especially if the weather is inclement. Then in April, it will be a little softer just because things are warming up a little, but it’s still a busy week for us; we staff up for it, and retailers and other tenants have a lot of specials.”

This trend is just one of the storylines at the mall, perhaps the largest commercial real-estate property in the region, and one that has become a topic of conversation and speculation in the wake of a changing retail landscape, one that has seen many national chains downsize or even disappear from the landscape (Sears and Toys R Us, for example), ever-larger amounts of shopping conducted online, and some malls, including two locally (Eastfield and Enfield), being repurposed into mixed-use facilities or moving quickly in that direction.

“While we were shut down during the pandemic, we were still concurrently trying to roll with the changes that were about to come over the next couple of years. Some brands went away, and some remained relevant.”

Gray, who first worked at the mall when she was 15 selling gift certificates and has fashioned a career managing such facilities, said the facility has certainly been impacted by these trends, but, while some other malls are suffering, Holyoke continues to thrive, and for several reasons.

She lists everything from its incredible location — at the intersection (literally) of the Mass Pike and I-91 (off which it has its own exit) to its still-healthy mix of retailers, restaurants, and entertainment-based businesses, to some of that downsizing among many retail giants. Indeed, Holyoke now boasts the only locations for Best Buy, Apple Store, and Macy’s for at least 30 miles in any direction, and in some cases, it’s a much larger area.

The Holyoke Mall

The Holyoke Mall encompasses 1.6 million square feet of space and is in an almost constant state of change.
(Photo by Glenn Labay, Aerial Camera Services)

And with those stores and that location … people want to get to Holyoke, and they can get there, rather easily, she said, adding that these ‘differentiators,’ as she called them, not only attract visitors, but new tenants as well.

“We’ve certainly seen the benefits of that market consolidation,” she said, adding that this and other factors contributed to what was a very solid holiday season at the mall. While the final numbers are not in yet, most mall tenants came out of December happy with their results, she noted

And those same retailers are saying that, while overall visitation is down slightly — data shows the mall is drawing 99% of the total visitors it drew in 2021 and 98% of the number in 2022, 9 million overall — those who do find their way there are generally spending more, on average.

“We’re easily accessible off of 90 and 91, and we’re in a position to tap a much larger market than some of the regional properties that were or still are in the market.”

Meanwhile, the ongoing change and evolution experienced by every mall continues at Holyoke, said Gray, adding that there have been several intriguing additions in recent months and renovations planned at several outlets.

For this issue, we talked with Gray about all that and much more as the mall braces first for February school vacation, and then continued response to that changing scene in retail.

 

Setting Sale

As she walked and talked with BusinessWest, Gray stopped at Monsoon Bistro, one of the newer additions to the mall, taking the spot formerly occupied by Ruby Tuesday near the Macy’s entrance.

It’s one of many new restaurants that have opened in the mall over the past year, several of them growing local businesses, she said, adding that these are some examples of how malls, and especially the one in Holyoke, are in a state of nearly constant change. These changes reflect national trends, changes to the economy, and ebb and flow within the world of retail.

one of many recent additions at the Holyoke Mall

Garage, a casual clothing brand for young women, is one of many recent additions at the Holyoke Mall.

Overall, 25 new brands have called the mall home since the pandemic arrived in 2020, she said, adding that COVID certainly contributed to the changing of the landscape.

“While we were shut down during the pandemic, we were still concurrently trying to roll with the changes that were about to come over the next couple of years,” she explained. “Some brands went away, and some remained relevant.”

Elaborating, Gray noted that 24,000 square feet of mall space got converted into new openings over the past year alone, with 12 new businesses setting up shop.

“It was a good mix of retail, which is still our bread and butter,” she said, listing new arrivals such as Garage (which touts itself as a “casual clothing brand for young women who are fun and effortlessly sexy); Snipes, a global streetwear retailer now boasting more than 450 locations; a few new jewelers, including Mandati, King’s, and the Inspiration Co.; a Verizon store; and others.

“Those types of facilities are bringing a more eclectic mix of shoppers — all ages, all groups.”

Meanwhile, as noted, the new arrivals extend to the restaurant side of the ledger and even the food court, with the addition of El Burrito, a growing local venture that took over space formerly occupied by Wendy’s; and Terra Nossa Brazilian Grill, which replaced a former McDonald’s.

In most respects, 2023 was a better-than-average year for signing new leases with smaller, sometimes local retailers, an annual assignment for malls, while also backfilling some of the much larger spaces left by the departure of major retailers, in this case ranging from Sears to Toys R Us to A.C. Moore.

Often, such backfilling takes years, Gray said, noting, for example, that the Sears at the Holyoke Mall has been closed for nearly a decade, and its space has not yet been fully repurposed. Sports Zone, a specialty operator featuring sports memorabilia, is occupying the first level of that large footprint, and in years past, Spirit Halloween has taken some of that space on a seasonal basis, but the second level remains vacant.

But many spaces have been successfully filled, she went on, adding that this was the case with the departure of Christmas Tree Shops (which went to Holyoke Crossing and then eventually closed that location), with that space now occupied by Bob’s Stores, and the former Sports Authority space, now occupied by Dick’s Warehouse Sale.

Still, increasingly, these spaces are going to more entertainment-related uses, said Gray, noting the arrival over the past several years of several such ventures that have taken rather large footprints at the mall.

For example, Planet Fitness and Altitude have each claimed 20,000 square feet in space formerly occupied by Babies R Us, she said, noting that both arrived just prior to the pandemic. Round1, which arrived around that same time, is also a large tenant, with 20 bowling lanes and a number of arcade games, as is Billy Beez.

 

What’s in Store

And these new ventures are thriving in these spaces, she said, adding that the mall’s location makes them easy to get to, and together, they make the mall a more attractive destination for families, who can package a visit to one or a few of those facilities, and then a stop for lunch, into a day at the mall during February vacation or any other time when being indoors in preferable.

El Burrito, a growing local venture

El Burrito, a growing local venture that took over space formerly occupied by Wendy’s, is one of several new restaurant options at the mall.

The Planet Fitness facility is in a different category, she went on, but it is also doing very well in this mall’s location. “It’s easily accessible … people go there before work and after work. Their membership is very comparable to their off-mall locations, and you can walk by there on a Tuesday afternoon and see lots of people there.”

Overall, the mall is in a better place than it has been in terms of square footage currently occupied, she said, adding that policies set by mall owner Pyramid Corp. did not permit more detail on that subject. And, by and large, it is in a good place when it comes to taking on the many challenges facing malls today, for those reasons mentioned earlier.

“We’re easily accessible off of 90 and 91, and we’re in a position to tap a much larger market than some of the regional properties that were or still are in the market,” she said. “And then having differentiators, like the only Macy’s, the only Apple, the only Best Buy in the market, that really sets us apart for retailers, restaurants, and entertainment venues looking for a new home. Having those traffic draws is very attractive to potential new tenants.”

Looking ahead as far as she can, Gray said the mall is positioned as well as any mall can be to absorb the many changes to the retail landscape.

Indeed, data shows that those who come to the mall — and she said it is still a good mix of young and old — are actually coming more often, because of all that now exists under that collection of roofs.

“People are coming more frequently because of the entertainment offerings and lifestyle offerings,” she told BusinessWest. “Twenty years ago, there wasn’t a Planet Fitness at your local shopping mall. Now that there is that option, people are visiting the property more.

“Those types of facilities are bringing a more eclectic mix of shoppers — all ages, all groups,” she went on. “And then, you have places like Altitude and Round1 and Billy Beez, where your families, your teens, they’re coming out for birthday parties, tournaments, or the different types of events they have going on. They’re coming, and they’re staying for a while.”

When asked about what the landscape will look like in five or 10 years, Gray said change will remain a constant — in retail and in entertainment — with up-and-coming chains in the former, and new experiences, such as next-level escape rooms, in the latter.

The goal at the Holyoke Mall is to be at the forefront of all of that, she said, adding that the facility has been there for the first 45 years of its existence, and she intends to keep it there.

 

1350 Main Tower Boasts New Tenants — and Growing Momentum

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Evan Plotkin shows off the new offices
Commercial Real Estate Special Coverage

Suspense Is Building

Evan Plotkin shows off the new offices

Evan Plotkin shows off the new offices of the Department of Children and Families, one of several new tenants at 1350 Main St. in Springfield.

Evan Plotkin can look out the windows of his offices on the 14th floor at 1350 Main St. and see many signs of progress, and momentum, in downtown Springfield.

Across neighboring Court Square, the renovated hotel at 31 Elm St. that had been vacant and deteriorating for years is getting set to welcome its first residential tenants. Meanwhile, the park itself is undergoing a much-anticipated, $6 million facelift.

Further south on Main Street, Plotkin, president of the real-estate company NAI Plotkin, referenced the so-called Clocktower Building and, behind it, the Colonial Block, two more mostly vacant, underutilized properties that are being targeted, like the former Court Square Hotel, for market-rate housing that is expected to bring more people, vibrancy, and opportunities for retail and hospitality businesses to the downtown.

Gesturing in a different direction, he referenced the new parking garage rapidly taking shape where the dilapidated Civic Center garage once stood. That garage and accompanying facilities are expected to provide another jolt of energy downtown, he noted, and be much more than a place to park cars.

“There’s new energy coming into the city,” he said, noting that he met with the Chicago-based group named the preferred developer of the Clocktower Building and Colonial Block project, and came away impressed with their enthusiasm for doing something in Springfield. “I think we’re really turning a corner; I think we’re at a tipping point.”

“There’s new energy coming into the city. I think we’re really turning a corner; I think we’re at a tipping point.”

For other signs of progress, momentum, and turning the proverbial corner, Plotkin doesn’t have to look outside his windows. Instead, he can get in the elevator outside his suite of offices and ride in either direction.

Going down a few floors, he can point out the new offices of the Department of Children and Families (DCF), which now occupies the seventh and eighth floors, which had long been vacant. Going down to the sixth floor, he can show off the new digs of the Committee for Public Counsel Services.

And by pushing the button for the lobby, Plotkin can show off many intriguing new developments, including Keezer’s Classic Clothing, the oldest second-hand fashion store in the country. The store, which opened in late November, is one of several new women- and Latino-owned incubator businesses now located in former bank offices transformed into what’s known as 1350 Market, a program oversen by the Latino Economic Development Corp. He also pointed to what had been a Santander Bank branch at the front of the property facing Main Street, space now being considered for a new restaurant. There’s even a new gym on the ninth floor.

Plotkin pushed all those buttons during a recent tour of 1350 Main, a building that has had several vacant or mostly vacant floors in recent years but is rapidly filling in those spaces, with the promise of more. Indeed, he said a party has expressed strong interest in the top two floors of the property, once the corporate headquarters for Bank of Boston.

These developments obviously bode well for this office tower, he noted, adding that he and his business partners recently acquired the first five floors from its previous owners and now own the entire property.

Wenting Jia, left, has partnered with Dick Robasson

Wenting Jia, left, has partnered with Dick Robasson, owner of two Keezer’s locations in Cambridge, to bring the concept to Springfield.

But they also bode well for the downtown area, he said, noting that the new tenants mentioned earlier bring a combined 400 or so workers to the central business district on a daily basis, providing a boost for restaurants and other businesses.

They also help what has been a somewhat sluggish office market in the downtown, Plotkin explained, noting that these new leases take space off the market, creating better demand for existing vacant space and potentially higher lease rates, even as questions linger concerning the long-range impacts of remote work and hybrid schedules on the overall office market.

“To have that kind of absorption in the downtown office market helps everyone in the downtown,” he said. “It’s all about supply and demand; there’s been a lot of vacancy in the downtown, and when there’s vacancy, we have to be very cost-effective and competitive in our pricing; when there’s that much space in the market, there’s downward pressure on lease rates.”

For this issue and its focus on commercial real estate, we talked at length with Plotkin, who played multiple roles on this day, from tour guide to analyst, addressing what all these developments mean and what might come next because of them.

 

Dressed for Success

As the tour stopped at Keezer’s, Plotkin first pointed out artwork crafted from recycled plastic and took a moment to look over a table loaded with vintage sweaters, a small part of a much larger collection that also includes shirts, suits and sport jackets, overcoats, shoes, designer jeans, and more.

He said his sons tell him these threads are trendy and in-demand, and he’s seen some evidence that they are correct in that assessment.

“They have one-of-a-kind items you can’t find anywhere else,” he said. “And I didn’t realize the draw of that kind of retail, but according to my kids, who are in their 20s and 30s, that’s what they love, because it is one of a kind; you can find something there that no one else has. So it’s a big draw for young people.”

The arrival of Keezer’s — this is the third store for the Cambridge-based retailer — and the other businesses in the incubator, which range from a nail salon to a business specializing in cryotherapy, is just one of many developments that have brought new vibrancy to 1350 Main, a property that has been lagging other office towers in the downtown when it comes to occupancy rates.

1350 Main

A pending deal could bring 1350 Main to 80% occupancy.

But those numbers are much improved through the absorption of more than 60,000 square feet of space, most of it through the arrival of those two state agencies mentioned above.

DCF, formerly located on High Street in the former Wesson Hospital, now occupies two full floors, seven and eight (last occupied by Unicare and vacant for more than 15 years) and a large part of the 13th floor as well.

Meanwhile, the Committee for Public Counsel Services and its Public Defender division, Children and Family Law unit, and Youth Advocacy division now occupy the entire sixth floor, space that had not been occupied since 2012.

Overall, Plotkin and his partners invested nearly $4 million to renovate those spaces and turn the lights back on, he said, adding that these investments have paid off in long-term leases (10 years in each case) from both of those agencies.

Their arrival brings overall occupancy in the building to roughly 70%, a nearly 20% jump, he said, adding that the number could go higher still if a promising lead to lease the top two floors, 16 and 17, comes to fruition.

“Arguably, it’s the nicest space in the city,” he told BusinessWest. “There are outdoor balconies — you can see Hartford from there — and it’s all furnished; there’s even a separate elevator for those two floors and a winding staircase that connects the two floors.

“And we have a very interested party that we’re talking to now that wants the entire two floors; that’s another 30,000 square feet,” he said, adding that the space was most recently occupied by Disability Management Services, which left to take a smaller footprint in Tower Square in 2022. “I have a very good feeling that this is going to work.”

 

Space Exploration

If the deal comes to fruition, that will bring the building to 80% occupancy and take 90,000 square feet of class-A space off the market in roughly a year, both impressive developments at a time when the office market has been struggling and there has been speculation, from Plotkin and others, about whether some office facilities could or should be retrofitted for other uses.

“Everyone’s looking at how you reposition office properties when you have so much vacancy coming on the market,” he said. “So these have been very important and meaningful steps for this market.”

“To have that kind of absorption in the downtown office market helps everyone in the downtown. It’s all about supply and demand; there’s been a lot of vacancy in the downtown, and when there’s vacancy, we have to be very cost-effective and competitive in our pricing; when there’s that much space in the market, there’s downward pressure on lease rates.”

And he projects that the overall commercial real-estate market will continue to fare well in 2024. Indeed, he said the market is showing positive signs in most major categories, including office, retail, and industrial.

The recent new additions at 1350 — and the promise of more — inspired Plotkin and his partners to bring valet parking back to the property.

It was initiated several years ago but rendered unnecessary at the height of COVID because few were to coming to the building — or any of the surrounding properties, for that matter.

The return of the valet service was made more necessary, he noted, by the demolition of the Civic Center parking garage, which made it necessary for tenants of 1350 Main, new and old, to park in lots further from the property.

When the new garage is open, the valet service will continue, he went on, adding that it will benefit not only his property, but others around it, including City Hall, Court Square, the MassMutual Center, and others.

Likewise, the new employees now coming to the building every day, as well as the agencies’ clients and customers of establishments like Keezer’s, should help existing and potential new businesses in the downtown, he noted, adding that the developments at 1350 Main are just part of a surge in momentum he’s seeing downtown.

Elaborating, Plotkin, who has worked downtown for more than 40 years and has long been a champion of the city and its central business district, said the needed ingredients for a successful downtown are coming into focus. These include people, places to live, things to do, and hospitality-related businesses such as restaurants and clubs.

People are perhaps the biggest ingredient, he said, adding that this means residents, workers, and visitors. Workers have been in shorter supply since COVID, he noted, and downtown businesses have certainly felt the pinch.

“That’s why what’s happening here at 1350 Main is so exciting to me,” he said. “All those new employees will patronize restaurants, businesses, banks, and stores. It’s an opportunity for a lot of good things to happen.”

Or more good things, to be specific.

New Facility Represents the Evolution of Remote Work

By
Chris Orszulak, left, and Bill Laplante
Commercial Real Estate Cover Story

Improving on the Model

Chris Orszulak, left, and Bill Laplante

Chris Orszulak, left, and Bill Laplante at the Modern Workspace facility they are building in East Longmeadow.

 

Before going into some detail about the new co-workspace initiative he’s part of in East Longmeadow, Chris Orszulak first wanted to talk about another project he partnered on in the town next door.

Specifically, he referenced restoration of the historic Brewer-Young mansion in the center of Longmeadow and, even more specifically, conversion of its third floor into what has become known as 734 Workspace, to match the mansion’s address on Longmeadow Street.

He started there because it was success in that endeavor that ultimately inspired the East Longmeadow project and, before it, something similar on the Cape.

Indeed, when they conceived the new co-work facility in Longmeadow in the year before the pandemic, Orszulak, a financial planner by trade, and partners Andrew Lam, Henry Clement, and Jason Pananos were not exactly sure what they would find.

What they found — and it took a while for things to fully shake out because the pandemic hit just after they opened, and it changed the dynamic in many respects — is that there are professionals, and a healthy number of them, who don’t want to work in a large office, but also don’t want to work at home — at least all the time.

Many need a place where they can bring clients; where they can access reliable, high-speed internet; where they can have some privacy; where they can get some work done; and where they can have their mail sent.

“What this has turned into is the evolution of working from home and remote work that is permanent now in the workforce, post-pandemic.”

And, yes, 734 Workspace became that place — a place where there is remote work, but with some twists and some style. There are 17 small offices there, all of them are leased out, and there is a good-sized waiting list, Orszulak noted.

“What I found attractive about the model, pre-pandemic, was simply its flexibility,” he explained. “When you have a membership with us, it’s month to month, and we include everything with your membership. But what this has turned into is the evolution of working from home and remote work that is permanent now in the workforce, post-pandemic.

“And the reasons why people would join a place like ours are what you might expectm” he said. “You can’t get everything you want to get done at home; you’re distracted by your pets, your kids, your husband, your wife; you need a change of scenery — you’re not productive at home.”

Brewer-Young mansion in Longmeadow.

Modern Workspace was in many ways inspired by the success of an earlier venture on the third floor of the Brewer-Young mansion in Longmeadow.

This model, this change of scenery, has worked so well that Orszulak, partnering with Pananos and East Longmeadow-based luxury homebuilder Bill Laplante, moved with confidence and optimism to create something similar in a commercial condominium in Chatham on the Cape.

Further inspired by success there, they are moving forward aggressively with construction of a unique co-working space on a small lot owned by Laplante in East Longmeadow that will be branded Modern Workspace — a name that will eventually go on all the facilities in the portfolio.

Unique — and modern — for several reasons, starting with energy efficiency. Indeed, this will be a net-zero building, said Laplante, adding that it features a solar array on the roof that will provide 100% of the electricity for heating, cooling, and hot water; a car-charging station; and more.

It also features 24 individual spaces across two floors; multiple conference rooms; printing, scanning, and copying equipment; 24/7 access; and more, said Orszulak, adding that the doors are expected to open late in the spring of 2024.

There has been considerable interest in the East Longmeadow facility already, said the partners, adding that results there will help determine if and where this concept might go next.

Indeed, Orszulak stressed that Modern Workspace is certainly scalable, but the model will likely work only in communities like Longmeadow and East Longmeadow, which don’t have existing co-workspace but do count large numbers of professionals among the population base.

The partners are considering Wilbraham and some communities in Northern Conn., such as Suffield and Simsbury. But for now, they are focused on the new East Longmeadow facility, getting it off the ground and on a path to success.

“We’re really excited to see how it does here in East Longmeadow,” Laplante said. “And if does well, and we expect that it will, we’ll see where we can go from there.”

For this issue and its focus on commercial real estate, BusinessWest talked with Orszulak and Laplante about this latest venture in the broad and ever-changing co-work realm, and what it might lead to down the road in terms of further expansion.

 

Right Time, Right Place

As he talked about this expansion of the model forged in Longmeadow, Orszulak first addressed the larger topic — the elephant in the room, if you will — of remote work and its long-term future.

And he was direct in his opinion that there is a large degree of permanence to what is being seen in most workplaces in terms of not simply flexibility, remote work, and hybrid schedules, but also the notion that, for many professionals, there will be a need for a place that isn’t home and isn’t the office, at least in the traditional sense.

“The hybrid model is the model of the future, where there’s partial work from home, and you also work from an office space,” he explained, adding that, in his estimation, this office space will not be in an office building or office park, but a smaller space in a co-working facility that will be used a few days a week, often with the employer reimbursing for space rental.

Chris Orszulak, left, and Bill Laplante

Chris Orszulak, left, and Bill Laplante say Modern Workspace was conceived and designed to reflect changes in the workplace they believe are permanent.

“This is a permanent thing,” he went on. “We’re in the very early innings of complete generational change to the way people work; it will never revert back completely.”

It is with this mindset, as well as the high degree of success recorded at the Brewer-Young mansion, that Orszulak and his partners are moving forward with the facility in East Longmeadow, which is quickly taking shape.

As they offered a tour of the work in progress, Orszulak and Laplante pointed to rows of studs outlining future individual offices and other facilities, such as a conference room and common space, and gestured to where flat-screen TVs, standing desks, and storage would be in those offices.

“You can basically come in with your laptop and immediately work,” said Orszulak, adding that he expects some tenants will come in several days a week, others a few, and still others maybe just one.

He expects this new facility will attract roughly the same demographic as the Brewer-Young mansion, which includes several lawyers, a few financial advisers, several entrepreneurs with various types of small businesses, and other professionals. There are men, women, both younger and older professionals — “it pretty much appeals to everyone.”

Also appealing are the various levels of membership — from simply having a mailing address to a 10-day membership, to a ‘common-space membership,’ which enables members to come in as many days a week or month as they want to use a common space that includes soft chairs, high-top tables, and stand-up desks and use of the conference room; from a ‘dedicated common-space membership’ (a member has his or her own desk) to rental of an office. The rates vary accordingly, from $150 for a mailing address to $850, on average, for office rental.

The lawyers within the membership base provide an effective snapshot of the type of client the partners are attracting there, and expect to attract at the East Longmeadow facility.

“In many cases, it’s attorneys who had office space, but they didn’t require as much office space as they had rented,” Orszulak said. “Some of them might be winding down the practice, but they don’t want to stop working, so they’ve reduced the size of the practice, and this facility gives them an area they can go to, one that gives them a great deal of flexibility.”

Like the 10-day membership, which, as that name suggests, enables members to use the various facilities 10 days a month.

“There are many people who permanently work from home, but they would prefer not to have their home be the place where they meet clients,” he explained. “So they’ll just use our conference room for meetings, and we have a really simple app on your phone where you can book time and meet clients. There’s a handful of attorneys that just do that; they’ll use the conference room half a dozen times a month.”

Meanwhile, some members just want a business address, he went on, adding that there are mailboxes for these individuals, as there will be in East Longmeadow.

 

Getting Down to Business

Overall, each of the successful elements of the model created in Longmeadow and followed in Chatham — where the partners have found a strong market for co-work space among permanent residents, professionals with summer homes in that area, and even those on vacation for two weeks who need a place to take a Zoom meeting — will be used in East Longmeadow, where the setting will be decidedly different.

Indeed, while the Brewer-Young mansion is more than a century old, historic, and in most all ways energy-inefficient, the facility under construction in East Longmeadow will be anything but.

“This will be a net-zero project; we will not be purchasing any electricity or gas — there will no gas to the property,” Laplante explained, adding that the building will be ultra-modern in many other ways as well, from reliable, high-speed internet to the car-charging stations.

And while they proceed with construction of the East Longmeadow facility, the partners are already thinking about where they might go next with the concept, although they obviously want to see how this space does before expanding further.

Overall, they believe it will work in mostly residential communities with many working professionals, scenarios where people can live and work in the same town, but not necessarily in the same place.

“We don’t see someone from South Hadley jumping in the car and going to the Brewer-Young mansion for their co-working office space,” said Orszulak, adding that several members at the facility actually bike or walk to the ‘office.’

Elaborating, he said there are co-work spaces that people can get on a highway and drive to, but there is an increasing need for something right around the corner.

Given those patterns, the concept could work in other area communities in Western Mass., such as Wilbraham, as well as Connecticut, he went on.

“We think Simsbury in Connecticut is a great market,” he noted, adding that other communities in that area, such as Suffield, may be attractive landing spots as well. “The towns are very similar to Longmeadow and East Longmeadow, and we see great potential there.

“We want to be smart about where we grow; I think we’re learning more as we talk to more people, and we’re learning a lot here,” he said, adding that there are certainly challenges to expansion, including finding appropriate locations and building facilities, often from scratch. “It’s a scalable model.”

For now, though, they are laser-focused on opening the doors in East Longmeadow. They said they have already received a good amount of interest and expect there will be much more as the facility starts to take shape.

Co-working is not a new concept, per se, but it continues to evolve, and this model represents what would be considered state-of-the-art.

It represents work in progress — in every sense of that phrase.

 

 

New Owners Writing Next Chapters in History of 1441 Main St.

By
Jeb Balise, left, and Jack Dill
Commercial Real Estate Special Coverage

It’s Business, Not Nostalgia

 

Jeb Balise, left, and Jack Dill

Jeb Balise, left, and Jack Dill

 

Jack Dill likes to say he’s been involved with the building at 1441 Main St. in Springfield since “before it was a hole in the ground.”

Indeed, Dill, now a principal with Colebrook Realty Services, was an employee at Colebrook back in the late 70s, when it was the real-estate arm of Springfield Institution for Savings (SIS), and was assigned to take the plans for building the bank a new headquarters at that address — plans that had been on the drawing board for some time but unable to move forward — and make something happen.

Dill looks back at that assignment, given to him by the bank’s then-President and CEO John Collins, with fondness, pride, and a large amount of self-deprecating humor.

“I don’t know how they ever let me do this,” he recalled. “John said, ‘look, we’ve spent a lot of money on this; we don’t think it’s going to work. We’re not paying you very much; take six months … before we throw the plans away, see what you can do.”

Long story short, he made it all work.

Dill recalls that the city of Springfield wanted some retail at that location (that sector was still a huge force in the downtown at the time, although not for much longer, as we’ll see), and the bank, as noted, wanted a headquarters building. He conceived something that served both masters.

And with the help of a $4 million Urban Development Action Grant from the Carter administration, the $20 million project did move off the drawing board. When finished, the complex boasted several stores and a few restaurants. Meanwhile, SIS had a large presence, and there were dozens of other business tenants in the office ‘tower.’

“I don’t know how they ever let me do this. John said, ‘look, we’ve spent a lot of money on this; we don’t think it’s going to work. We’re not paying you very much; take six months … before we throw the plans away, see what you can do.’”

Dill, as a principal at Colebrook, which became a private company in 1999, would go on to manage and lease the property for decades, steering it through changes in the business and commercial real-estate landscapes. And today, he does largely the same, but through a different lens and with a much-different title: co-owner.

Dill, his partners at Colebrook (Mitch Bolotin and Kevin Morin), and Jeb Balise, president of Balise Motor Sales (soon to be based in Springfield, on the third floor at 1441 Main St.) partnered to acquire the 12-story office building in early 2022.

The ‘birdcage,’ erected in 1986 to camouflage closed retail at 1441 Main St.

The ‘birdcage,’ erected in 1986 to camouflage closed retail at 1441 Main St., will soon be coming down, one of many changes coming to the downtown office complex.

They came together, they said, to bring the property under local ownership and make some changes to bring more vibrancy. The fact that Balise’s company has a new home for much of its operation (and roughly 55 employees) was always on the table, he said, but not a deciding factor in his participation in this venture.

“I went in with an open mind, and it was enticing, but I really had to do my homework, and one of the things I did was move my own office here and do a test drive,” he said, borrowing a term from his industry. “And what we found is that the location is incredibly convenient to all the places we go, between banks, attorneys, accountants, architects, and engineers that we deal with locally.”

That convenience extends all the way to Riverdale Street in West Springfield, where Balise has a handful of dealerships, he went on, noting that, because Riverdale is a divided street, employees can get to many of those dealerships from 1441 Main St. as quickly as they could from the current headquarters at Doty Circle, just off Riverdale.

Since taking ownership, the partners have undertaken several initiatives, including improvements to the elevators and recruitment of a new restaurant — Mykonos, one of the displaced tenants in the Eastfield Mall — with more in the planning stages, including replacement of an escalator (a remnant of sorts from the building’s retail roots) and extensive renovations to the mezzanine level, specifically the removal of its wooden façade and what Dill not-so-affectionately refers to as the ‘birdcage’ (more on that later).

For this issue and its focus on commercial real estate, BusinessWest talked with Dill and Balise about their acquisition of this downtown stalwart and what will likely come next for the property.

 

Building Momentum

Dill recalls with some fondness, and more of that humor, the first time he met Jeb Balise.

It was in 1976. Dill was 24 and looking for a new car, specifically a Camaro, a four-speed with a V8 engine. Balise was 17 and in his second year working as a salesman at the family’s Chevy dealership on East Columbus Avenue.

Dill liked the car, and the car liked him, but the sticker price was beyond his means at the time. So he stayed in his Volkswagen, the one with 112,000 miles on it and no heater.

Four and a half decades later, he did buy a car from Balise — a Volkswagen GTI, one of the few cars still on the market with a manual transmission, he noted. (Jeb stayed on the sidelines for that transaction.)

Over the years, Balise Motor Sales has been a client of the Colebrook company, and the parties have worked together on several projects. Meanwhile, at 1441 Main St., a succession of banks that had come into ownership had looked into selling the building, but ultimately decided not to, said Dill, because of the relatively low cost of owner occupancy; in short, being in that building was cheaper per employee than leasing space elsewhere.

But ultimately, TD Bank decided to sell what was the last building it owned, said Dill, adding that it went on the market in the spring of 2021. Soon thereafter, a unique and decidedly local buying group came together.

“Jack and his team approached me and said, ‘TD is probably going to put the building on the market, and we think it’s a great opportunity,’” Balise recalled. “I remember them being specific: Jack’s vision was, ‘we’d like to see it be Springfield-owned, and we’d like you to be a part of it.’”

It was at that point, he went on, that he first learned the story of how Dill had been involved in the building of SIS’s new home as a young employee of the bank.

“It was a great history lesson for me, and a fun history lesson, because I was reliving where I was at that time, and where Springfield was,” he went on. “So the way I would sum it up is … Jack, as the consummate sales pro, romantically lured me into wanting to be Colebrook’s partner.

“Jack and his team approached me and said, ‘TD is probably going to put the building on the market, and we think it’s a great opportunity. I remember them being specific: Jack’s vision was, ‘we’d like to see it be Springfield-owned, and we’d like you to be a part of it.’”

“I think it’s a timeless, beautiful building,” Balise added, “and I loved the notion of keeping it locally owned and jointly doing our part to help Springfield grow and prosper.”

Dill agreed, and stressed repeatedly that, despite his long history with the building, nostalgia was not a factor in this decision. Ultimately, this was a business deal.

“Obviously I’ve been involved with the building for a very long time, but we tried not to have an emotional decision,” he recalled. “We thought that having a good and reliable partner was a real plus; we’ve been in business a long time, and we’re friends; he’s a great partner.”

Elaborating, he said those at Colebrook and Balise were of one mind with regard to the property — that this would not be a buy-to-flip scenario, and that they were in it for the long haul, with Jeb Balise providing an invaluable “new set of eyes,” as Dill put it.

 

Signs of the Times

As he looked back on those 45 years of involvement with the property at 1441 Main, Dill jokes that there have been many times when he wished that he was in the sign business.

Indeed, the name over the front entrance and high on the façade has changed many times, usually taking on the name of the bank that owned the property. And that’s a long list, courtesy of a continuing wave of mergers and acquisitions in the financial-services industry that started in the early ’90s.

“I’m pretty sure we’ve had at least five or six signs on this building,” he said, listing Family Bank, First Massachusetts Bank, Banknorth, TD Banknorth, and then TD Bank. He admitted that it was hard to keep track, even for someone who managed the property.

But the letters on the building are not the only thing to have changed over the years.

Indeed, the retail component of the building collapsed, as it did across the street at Tower Square, a byproduct of the malls, especially the one at Ingleside in Holyoke, said Dill. The property’s owners adjusted, converting a mezzanine that was retail into back-office space for the bank and erecting, in 1986, the ‘birdcage’ — a wooden façade that looks like … well, a birdcage — as “camouflage, so it wouldn’t look like closed retail,” he explained.

A framed portrait of John Collins

A framed portrait of John Collins, the man who gave Jack Dill the assignment of making 1441 Main St. a reality, is now displayed in the lobby of the building.

The Colebrook team answered an RFP, and the property eventually became the home of the Western Massachusetts Economic Development Council (EDC) soon after it was created in 1996. Meanwhile, space formerly devoted to retail — a Falcetti Music store and a CVS, among others — was soon occupied by several agencies, ranging from the Springfield Regional Chamber to the Greater Springfield Convention & Visitors Bureau to the entity now known as MassHire Hampden County Workforce Board.

Over the years, it also became home to several prominent nonprofits, including the United Way of Pioneer Valley and the Springfield Symphony Orchestra.

The office tower, meanwhile, has become home to several federal and state agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Agency, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Office of the Attorney General, and others.

When the Colebrook/Balise partnership acquired the property, the occupancy rate was roughly 85%, said Dill, adding that it is now closer to 90%, with additions including a temporary office for Daniel O’Connell’s Sons, the general contractor for construction of the parking garage taking shape across Harrison Avenue.

That number won’t change when Balise moves its headquarters to the property early next year, but the number of people working in the building will, Dill said, noting that the 55 or so employees from Balise will bring more vibrancy to the property and more foot traffic to downtown service businesses, bars, and restaurants.

That includes Mykonos, which will occupy space on the first floor, Dill noted, adding that additional restaurants are certainly possible.

Meanwhile, on the second floor, to attract more office tenants, the new owners are opening up the back of the space, which faces the park where the Steiger’s department store once stood, by putting in a bank of large windows. There are also plans to remove the ‘birdcage’ and take out the escalator and replace it with a new staircase.

“With these new windows and the removal of the birdcage, we’ll have a lot more natural light on the second floor and first floor,” he said. “And we have some other ideas on new design and a new visual identity for those two floors.”

Looking long-term, both Balise and Dill believe they can retain current office tenants and add new ones, even at a time when work is in flux and the future of office buildings is more clouded than at any time in recent memory.

“Work is a social activity, and we’re seeing a lot of companies bringing people back,” said Dill. “Maybe not five days a week, 40 hours, but they’re coming back to the office, because work is a social activity.”

 

Bottom Line

Not long after the acquisition of 1441 Main St., Dill placed two portraits on easels in the building’s lobby, one of Richard Booth, another former president and CEO of SIS, and the other of John Collins; he considers both mentors and major influences in his life and career.

It was Collins who handed Dill the assignment to build a new headquarters building all those years ago. It led to what amounts to a lifetime of work stewarding the building through decades of change and positioning it for the decades to come.

Now, this work takes on new meaning and new urgency, because he has ownership of the matter — both literally and figuratively.

 

Macmillan Group Strives to Be a Partner with Its Clients

By
From left, Walter Kroll, Mark Healy, and Demetrios Panteleakis
Commercial Real Estate Special Coverage

Finding Their Place

From left, Walter Kroll, Mark Healy, and Demetrios Panteleakis

From left, Walter Kroll, Mark Healy, and Demetrios Panteleakis stand in front of the recently opened Big Y store at Tower Square.

Demetrios Panteleakis has talked often about the interview he and his partners at the Macmillan Group had with the new owners of Tower Square when they were searching for a leasing agent.

He remembers it vividly, and he refers to it often because … five years later, he’s still shocked they ultimately won the contract.

That’s because they, and especially Panteleakis, were candid — as in candid — when it came to their assessment of the state of the building, its future, and what the new owners (and future BusinessWest Top Entrepreneurs) Vid Mitta and Dinesh Patel could and should do with it. Or not do with it, as the case may be.

Indeed, the brokers who came to the interview table were telling the owners they couldn’t lease the office and retail spaces that were vacant or soon to be vacant, Panteleakis recalled, adding that Mitta and Patel were looking seriously at turning the property into multi-family housing.

“I thought I was brutally honest with them, and I had a list of 10 things they must do if they wanted to make this viable again in downtown Springfield,” he said. “It encompassed the totality of the space, how they looked at it, and how they approached it. It was one of those calls where you get off the call and say, ‘this is never going to happen — we just went in there and punched these guys in the mouth; there’s no way they’re calling us back.’”

But they did, and Panteleakis believes that’s because he and his partners, Walter Kroll and Mark Healy, didn’t tell Mitta and Patel what they wanted to hear — even if they didn’t seem too happy to hear it at first.

“With most of the responses, they didn’t like it — they didn’t like what Demetrios was telling them,” said Kroll, managing director of the firm. “They were not appreciative of the plan, but they listened.”

That strategy, if it can be called a strategy, is how the firm operates, said Panteleakis, adding that this mindset applies to clients of all sizes and questions of all kinds, especially those heard most often in commercial real estate, including ‘can you buy/lease my building?’ and ‘how much can I sell my building for?’

Too many people asking those questions are drawn to people and firms who will tell them what they what to hear, Panteleakis said, adding quickly that what they should be looking for is a firm willing to partner with them on the matter on hand, be it selling a property or leasing out the vast spaces within Tower Square.

“I have lost opportunities because I am rigid on giving the correct number to someone, more than I am giving the number that the client wants to hear and has been given to them by another broker,” he told BusinessWest.

The Macmillan Group is the latest incarnation, if you will, of the brokerage and property management firm known as Macmillan & Son. When the third-generation president of that firm, Doug Macmillan, ultimately lost his battle with cancer in 2016, the firm was in limbo, Panteleakis said, adding that he was told by Macmillan’s mother, Pat, who passed away in 2002, that Doug’s wishes were for Panteleakis to take the helm and ultimately write new chapters to the Macmillan story.

At first, he was somewhat reluctant to take that course — he already had a job working for MassMutual in its real-estate arm, and was fond of it.

He was more fond, though, of the opportunity to essentially run his own firm. And his eventual partners — Kroll and Healy — were of that same mindset.

“I have lost opportunities because I am rigid on giving the correct number to someone, more than I am giving the number that the client wants to hear and has been given to them by another broker.”

“I knew right away that I couldn’t do it myself,” Panteleakis said. “So I approached Mark and Walter, two of my closest friends, and we came together on this; we pretty much run a co-op here.”

Today, this co-op boasts a growing portfolio of clients and properties — topped by Patel and Mitta, Tower Square and the neighboring 1550 Main St., also acquired by those two serial entrepreneurs — in Western Mass., but also well beyond, as we’ll see.

Looking toward the future and what’s in the business plan for the Macmillan Group, the partners said the simple and direct goal is to continue growing the firm and the portfolio by convincing more property owners (and potential property owners) to become partners with the firm, in the same vein as those who own Tower Square.

For this issue and its focus on commercial real estate, we talked with the partners about their firm, the real-estate market in the region, and what is likely to come next for both.

 

Space Exploration

As they walked with BusinessWest from their offices on the mezzanine level at Tower Square to the ground floor and the ‘Dunk’ (Dunkin’ Donuts) for a coffee, the three partners pointed out many of the changes that have come to this important piece of real estate over the past five years.

These include the return of the Marriott flag to the hotel after it was lost for several years amid profound deterioration of the structure and the service provided in it, and the facility became known as Tower Square Hotel; the arrival of Big Y’s scaled-down supermarket next to the ‘Dunk’; White Lion Brewery; the Greater Springfield YMCA’s fitness center and daycare operation; and new tenants in the office tower, including Farm Credit Financial Partners, Wellfleet, and others.

Overall, Tower Square boasts a wide array of different types of tenants, which makes it ideal for the Macmillan Group and its partners, who bring different areas of expertise to the table. Panteleakis offers a diverse background, including work in succession planning, development, and construction management, but especially a strong focus on the office market through his work with MassMutual. Kroll, meanwhile, brings expertise in the retail market, while Healy has focused on the office market as well as industrial and medical.

And all three brought an understanding of this market and relationships with the brokerage community to the ‘new’ firm, as well as that mentality of partnering with clients rather than simply trying to sell or lease out their building.

This was especially true with Patel and Mitta, who were taking on a huge risk with Tower Square. Indeed, in addition to losing the Marriott flag from the hotel, MassMutual — the original owner of the building, and the primary tenant — was preparing to move out of several floors of the office tower. Panteleakis recalls that most of the talk, and speculation, was about converting the hotel, and perhaps parts of the complex, into multi-family housing.

It was with this backdrop that those two partners commenced their search for a brokerage firm.

“They interviewed every brokerage firm in Western Mass., and then it was our turn; we were the last ones,” Panteleakis recalled, adding that Kroll and Healy were face-to-face with the entrepreneurs, while he joined on a conference call. And they, and especially Panteleakis, were brutally honest.

“They didn’t like what they were hearing, but they listened,” Healy said. “And that’s why I give these guys a ton of credit.”

Kroll agreed. “With a lot of people, you talk to them and say, ‘you have to do this,’ or ‘what about this?’ and they’re insulted by it. These guys, they listened, and I think it’s because we were the first people not to tell them what they wanted to hear.”

Among other things, Panteleakis advised them to be creative when it came to leasing out the retail and office spaces, and also to be patient, and not chase tenants with attractive offers on rates, even with MassMutual set to vacate large amounts of space.

“I thought it was the most valuable building in Springfield, and I still think that,” he said. “Where others came in and told them to lower their prices, I did the opposite; I told them they needed to appropriately value the building against the competition and not chase tenants with rental rate. I advised them to establish their rate and strengthen it.”

This mindset of being honest and getting clients to listen has helped the firm grow its portfolio of clients and properties with Macmillan signs. These include Hadley Park Plaza, Palmer Plaza, the office complex at 877 South St. in Pittsfield, the Laurin Publishing Building at 100 West St. in Pittsfield, 20 Maple St. in Springfield, industrial land in Agawam, and many others.

It’s a diverse portfolio, Panteleakis said, adding that the obvious goal moving forward is to broaden and deepen it by being honest with clients and potential clients, and partnering with them to achieve whatever goals they’ve set.

Which brings Panteleakis back to those comments about numbers and projections that he and his partners give to clients, and not telling them what they think they want to hear.

“Some brokers will take the attitude, ‘don’t worry about what it actually sells for — just get the listing first, and then Mother Nature will take care of itself,” he said. “Here, we have a philosophy that this is not the kind of business we want to do. We rate success on how close we came with our assessment and analysis. Did we give that client the right information?”

 

Looking Ahead

As they survey the commercial real-estate landscape, and especially the local office market, the three partners at the Macmillan Group take what would be considered the optimistic view about the present and foreseeable future.

“We are past this concept of working from home — it’s losing traction,” Panteleakis said with a strong dose of conviction in his voice. “People are understanding that the productivity of their workforce is just not the same; whether it’s J.P. Morgan, Google, Apple … the trend now is ‘you have to be in the office,’ which is certainly a positive for the office market.”

Elaborating, he said corporations large and small are veering toward bringing their workers back the office, if they haven’t already, on the premise that teams of workers don’t work as effectively when some or all their players are working from home.

Persistently lower occupancy rates for office space in cities ranging from Boston to San Francisco notwithstanding, Panteleakis and his partners believe the office market locally, and especially in downtown Springfield, will withstand this post-pandemic environment and the trend toward remote work.

“What I see right now is the 3,000- to 5,000-square-foot users just starting to emerge,” Healy said. “This year has been incredibly slow, but I’m beginning to see people look to next year, for what space is available. And I think it’s going to be that way for the next 24 months.”

Meanwhile, Panteleakis noted that Regus, a leading provider of office space, co-working environments, shared space, and other products will be creating such opportunities on one floor in Tower Square, roughly 16,000 square feet, bringing more options to business owners in the wake of the pandemic and other shifts within the workplace.

Still, COVID and other factors have brought some changes to the landscape, Panteleakis said, citing law firms, a huge force within the local office market, especially in downtown Springfield, as one example. He noted there are fewer large firms, and the larger firms are getting smaller as Baby Boomers retire. Meanwhile, fewer clients are actually coming to the firms’ offices to meet with lawyers, some of whom are, in fact, working remotely. All this adds up to this segment absorbing less office space in the years to come.

Meanwhile, an even bigger challenge moving forward might be the growing number of businesses, across all sectors, that are not surviving the current generation of ownership.

Indeed, Panteleakis notes with concern that the pandemic convinced a number of Baby Boomer business owners to call it quits. Meanwhile, an alarming number of those still slugging it out have no real succession plan in place.

“They’ve put 40 years into a business, and COVID taught them that life’s too short and they really can find something else to do with their free time,” he said. “Their children don’t want their business, or they’re doing their own thing. And if they go to put the business up for sale, first you have to have entrepreneurs who are willing to take the risk and have access to capital … and when you add that kind of formula to what has happened with bank lending and interest rates, we’re seeing a lack of continuity with businesses.

“Initially, you say, ‘great, there’s so much for us to sell,” he went on. “The question is … who’s going to buy it?”

New England Farm Workers’ Council Transitioning Out of Real Estate

By
The Paramount Theater/Massasoit Hotel
Commercial Real Estate Special Coverage

Divesting the Portfolio

The Paramount Theater/Massasoit Hotel

The Paramount Theater/Massasoit Hotel complex is one of several properties in the New England Farm Workers’ Council portfolio now under agreement.

 

 

 

Dan Knapik says that, when he became executive director of the New England Farm Workers’ Council in the summer of 2021, he found a multi-faceted nonprofit agency at what amounts to a crossroads and in need of what he called a “kick start.”

That was especially true when it came to the agency’s broad commercial real-estate portfolio, assembled over the preceding decades with the goals of housing programs, spurring economic development, and creating revenue streams — goals that, in most cases, have not been realized.

“We needed to go aggressively to rent out what we could or sell it,” said Knapik, adding that, in most all cases, the latter option is being pursued. “We put a multi-pronged strategy together; we started renting what we could rent and sell what we couldn’t rent.”

Indeed, a few of the agency’s holdings were sold prior to his arrival, in the winter and spring of 2021, including 1600 Main St. in Springfield (the International Bier Garten), sold for $700,000; and 297-299-301 Main St. in Holyoke, sold for $150,000.

The selloff has continued into this year, with 276 Union Ave. in Bridgeport, Conn. (a rooming house) selling for $656,000 in January. Then, in May and June, the property at 21-23 Hampden St., home to the Shakago Martini and Piano Bar, sold to an Alabama-based real-estate company for $240,000; 2345 Main St. in Springfield sold for $85,000; 203-205 High St. in Holyoke sold for $134,900; 211-213 High St. went for $134,000; and 211-213 High St. sold for $49,900.

“We needed to go aggressively to rent out what we could or sell it. We put a multi-pronged strategy together; we started renting what we could rent and sell what we couldn’t rent.”

There are several other properties now under agreement, Knapik said, including the 1610 Main St./20 Fort St. complex, home to the Student Prince restaurant, and the Paramount Theater/Massasoit Hotel complex further north on Main Street, a historic property that has long been considered a key to revitalization of the downtown. And the agency is actively showing other properties, including 32-34 Hampden St. in Springfield and 217-225 High St. in Holyoke.

“I am determined to divest the portfolio,” Knapik said, adding that doing so gives the agency, an affiliate of Partners for Community, capital to pay down debt, while also freeing it from some heavy tax burdens — nearly $70,000 each quarter for the properties in Springfield alone — and debt service, an estimated $200,000 per quarter. And it will provide the agency the time and opportunity to focus on its mission.

Overall, this is not a particularly good time to be selling real estate, said Knapik, adding that higher interest rates — and they keep getting higher to due to actions by the Federal Reserve to cool the economy and tame inflation — have made this assignment more challenging.

The nonprofit’s board voted last fall to sell the remaining 13 properties in the portfolio, including 1666-1670 Main St. in Springfield.

“It’s been difficult — the Fed’s interest-rate environment has been less than favorable for us, and some of the buildings were not in great shape,” he told BusinessWest, noting that interest rates are more than five points higher than they were just a year or so ago.

But given these market conditions — and the state of the some of the properties — he is not unhappy with the results to date.

“I haven’t been horribly displeased,” he went on. “We’re obviously not selling class-A real estate, but we haven’t lost money on the sales, either.”

For this issue and its focus on commercial real estate, BusinessWest takes an in-depth look at the council’s active efforts to shift away from the commercial real-estate business, what this means for the agency, and what it might mean for area communities, especially Springfield and its downtown.

 

Setting Sale

When BusinessWest toured what is known colloquially as the ‘Fort building’ or ‘Fort complex’ not long after it was purchased by the Farm Workers’ Council in 2010, then-President and CEO Heriberto Flores (he still holds those titles at the agency) talked enthusiastically about bringing new life to the vast spaces in the multi-story complex that had been vacant for years, and, in many cases, decades, with some of the abandoned offices still featuring brightly colored shag carpeting.

The Fort complex

The Fort complex is one of several properties in the New England Farm Workers’ Council portfolio now under agreement.

Today, they are still vacant — the Student Prince and the Latino Economic Development Corp. (an affiliate of the council) occupy the ground floor, and they are the only tenants in the complex — and those quiet spaces speak volumes about why the Farm Workers’ Council is divesting itself of its real-estate portfolio, Knapik said, adding that, in many respects, the properties have been underperforming and losing money for several years.

Recapping the history and state of this portfolio, Knapik said the properties were acquired with good intentions and solid goals in mind, but most of the promise has not been realized.

“They weren’t really aggressive about seeking out new tenants, and there was a lot of deferred maintenance on the buildings,” he explained. “A lot of the buildings were bought years ago to put programming in, and one of the mistakes I think the council made was, when programming lost funding, for whatever reason, buildings should have been sold off, and they weren’t. They were held onto for a variety of reasons, and they then became big liabilities, and this is where a lot of the accumulated debt came from.”

“A lot of the buildings were bought years ago to put programming in, and one of the mistakes I think the council made was, when programming lost funding, for whatever reason, buildings should have been sold off, and they weren’t.”

This fact was certainly not lost on the nonprofit’s board, which voted last fall to sell the remaining 13 properties in the portfolio, he said, adding that many have been, and most of the rest are under agreement.

That list includes several properties in downtown Springfield, including 1666-1670 Main St., 1655 Main St. (the Board of Trade Block), 1628-1640 Main St., and 1618-1624 Main St.

As noted earlier, that includes the Fort complex, which is under agreement to a group led by Peter Pan Bus Chairman and CEO Peter Picknelly, one of group of local entrepreneurs who stepped in to rescue the Student Prince several years ago when closure seemed imminent.

It also includes the Paramount and adjoining Massasoit Hotel, a complex that has been envisioned as a multi-use property, with the theater being a host for events and the hotel being converted for housing.

“We have a purchase-and-sale with a development group that goes back pre-COVID,” Knapik explained. “We continue to work with that development group for a project; we continue to talk with them, and I’m hoping that, within the next 60 days, we can execute a final agreement.”

Shakago Martini & Piano Bar

The property at 21-23 Hampden St., home to the Shakago Martini & Piano Bar, is one of several already sold by the New England Farm Workers’ Council.
Staff Photo

He noted that the same rising interest rates that are making sales of these properties more challenging is driving up the cost of redevelopment of the Paramount/Massasoit Hotel complex.

Overall, the sale of the properties in the portfolio should provide the council with some needed capital, Knapik noted, adding quickly that there is substantial debt to pay down.

“There’s about $4 million in total equity after all the mortgages are paid, but there are some legacy debts, some operating debts that Farm Workers’ has accumulated over the years, and we’re hoping to clear that off,” he said, adding that many of the properties do not have mortgages.

 

Bottom Line

Meanwhile, by getting out of the commercial real-estate business, the council can concentrate its full energies on its programs, and there are many working in several different realms, from economic development to housing to youth and education.

And it can develop and execute the next strategic plan.

“This will allow the council to take a breath and figure out to position itself for what it wants to do in the future,” he said. “We’ve been in business for 52 years, responding to the needs of the community. When this gets done, we’ll propose some ideas to the board of directors and let them decide how they want to go forward.”

Retreating Cannabis Sector Changes Real-estate Landscape in Holyoke

By
Trulieve will soon be leaving the Massachusetts market
Commercial Real Estate Special Coverage

Building Anxiety

Trulieve will soon be leaving the Massachusetts market

Trulieve will soon be leaving the Massachusetts market, and its property on Canal Street in Holyoke, leaving questions about the site’s future.

Aaron Vega calls it the ‘year of reckoning.’

And he’s not the only one who uses such language when talking about 2023 and the cannabis industry.

This has been a year when a confluence of forces has brought stern challenges to a sector that got off to a fast and hot start in this region. These forces, including mounting competition and falling prices, have prompted some players to exit the market — Truelieve was the latest to make that decision — and others to delay or cancel entry into it.

The impact of these rather sudden changes in the fortunes of the cannabis industry has changed the landscape in many different ways and in many different communities. But perhaps the greatest impact has been on the commercial real-estate market in the city that has most aggressively pursued this sector: Holyoke.

Indeed, a market that was once white-hot as Holyoke officials, led by former Mayor Alex Morse, rolled out the red carpet for cannabis has cooled off substantially, said Vega, director of the city’s Office of Planning and Economic Development, adding that this trend will likely continue as the cannabis sector continues adjusting and responding to the changing climate.

“We’re wondering … how does that property move? What does that company want to sell it for, and what is the acquisition cost going to be? It comes currently with a $300,000 tax bill; that’s a lot of money to keep a building empty. We’re hoping they’re able to move it or work with the city to find a public solution.”

A number of properties have been purchased or leased, and at prices that could not have imagined a decade ago. And as some cannabis businesses close or leave the market and others delay their plans to start, questions mount about all that real estate and what will happen with it.

“A lot of the buildings were locked up because they were purchased at a much higher price than they were probably worth, and now those companies are not going forward, or their timelines are stretched out,” he said. “Are they going to sell these buildings? Are they going to be able to maintain these buildings? They come with tax bills, and they come with maintenance; if you don’t have anything going on inside that you’re making money with, it becomes more of a struggle.”

The most visible manifestation of this changing landscape is the property at 56 Canal St., home (but not for much longer) to Trulieve’s 126,000-square-foot growing, processing, and testing facility, the former Conklin Office Furniture building. Truelieve poured tens of millions into purchasing, renovating, and retrofitting the former mill for cannabis-related uses, said Vega, who wondered out loud how the company could possibly recover that kind of investment given the current fortunes of the cannabis industry.

“We’re wondering … how does that property move? What does that company want to sell it for, and what is the acquisition cost going to be?” he asked. “It comes currently with a $300,000 tax bill; that’s a lot of money to keep a building empty. We’re hoping they’re able to move it or work with the city to find a public solution.”

While some ventures are slated to open in the coming weeks and months, Vega said, there are at least 20 properties for which special permits have been approved — for one or more of the several types of cannabis-related businesses — but where there has been little movement, if any, on site toward opening those businesses.

Vega said he was only half-kidding when he suggested that Trulieve donate its Canal Street property to the city and its redevelopment authority, which could then try to attract more and different kinds of indoor agriculture businesses. Among other things, the transformation of old mills across the city for cannabis-related uses has shown what can be done with those properties, he noted, adding that indoor agriculture could be a growth industry for the city — literally and figuratively — moving forward.

Meanwhile, another emerging model for these mills could be an incubator-like facility, such as the one taking shape at 1 Cabot St., another old mill, the former Riverside Paper Co. building, purchased by Tom and Karen Cusano in 2018.

1 Cabot St. will become an incubator of sorts

Tom Cusano says the property at 1 Cabot St. will become an incubator of sorts for several small, cannabis-related businesses, a model he believes has a great deal of promise.

There, several smaller companies, many of them social-equity ventures, are moving forward with plans, Tom said, adding that this is a different kind of model, and one he believes has some staying power.

“We have one operating tenant and four tenants who are in the licensing process, and we’re building out their space — they should be operational within 90 to 120 days,” he said, adding that this model calls for reasonable lease rates, most buildout handled by the owner, and opportunities to grow if and when the businesses do.

For this issue and its focus on commercial real estate, we take a look at what’s happening in Holyoke — and not happening, as the case may be — and what it all means moving forward.

 

Pot Luck

Vega told BusinessWest that the cannabis experience — and it is ongoing — has benefited Holyoke in a number of ways.

Beyond the hundreds of thousands of square feet of old mill space that has been absorbed and the jobs created, the arrival of this industry has given the city a tremendous amount of exposure locally, regionally, and even nationally and internationally, he said, adding that many people in business who didn’t know about the city’s assets and benefits, from available real estate to green, comparatively inexpensive energy, now do. And this bodes well moving forward.

For the immediate future, though, the relative strength and resilience of the local cannabis industry is the primary topic of conversation in this year of reckoning. At the very least, there are now real questions about whether this sector has already peaked, and if not, how much more it can grow.

To quantify and qualify the changes that have taken place, Vega talked about phone-call volume — as in calls from cannabis companies calling with questions about the city and opportunities to land there — and his overall workload when it comes to handling license applications and related matters.

“When I started in this job two and a half years ago, we were talking to companies once a week, and we had that peak of having 70 host agreements,” he noted. “Working with the City Council, we got 38 special permits approved; that’s a lot of work on a lot of people’s part.

“But now, I think we had two host-community agreements in the last three months, and two projects in front of the City Council and other departments for review,” he went on. “In two years, it’s changed quite a bit.”

Elaborating, he said many of the major players and ‘funders’ in this industry have already moved on to the next emerging markets in this industry, such as Connecticut and New York, with their attention also focused on federal legislation to legalize cannabis.

“With the cannabis industry, it was kind of predatory; everyone looked at it like it was the golden goose. If you had a building, you asked for four times what it was worth, and if you had space to lease, you asked the tenant to spend millions of dollars to fix up your run-down building.”

All of this is reflected in the commercial real-estate market, he said, referencing the large question marks now hanging over several of the properties acquired or leased — at high prices — with cannabis businesses in mind.

Cusano, who purchased his property not long after cannabis was legalized in this state, summed up the market frenzy, if that’s the right term, this way:

“With the cannabis industry, it was kind of predatory; everyone looked at it like it was the golden goose. If you had a building, you asked for four times what it was worth, and if you had space to lease, you asked the tenant to spend millions of dollars to fix up your run-down building. And, quite honestly, very few people could afford that.

“Some of the big, multi-state operators came in with deep pockets and dumped tons of money,” he went on. “And as we can see with Trulieve, that doesn’t seem to work.”

He’s taking a different approach, one he thinks will generate some long-term success.

Indeed, at the Cabot Street property, he’s drawing on 20 years of experience with renovating and then leasing out a former mill building to emerging small businesses in New Hampshire.

“We’re trying to help these small businesses get started; we’re doing the lion’s share of the renovation work and essentially giving them a turnkey operation except for fixtures and whatever they need to run their business, whether they’re doing cultivation, manufacturing, or processing,” he said. “We’ve talked with multiple tenants; we’ll have a retail dispensary in the front of the building that we’re working on.”

Elaborating, he said he and Karen purchased the building “for a song” and have invested far more than $1 million in it thus far. He said he’s had some experience with the cannabis industry in New Hampshire and Maine and understands its potential, both as a source of tenants and its importance to the community in question.

At present, there is one business operating at the property on Cabot Street, Mill Town, a cultivation and light-manufacturing operation, Cusano said, adding that several more are in the pipeline, ventures that will occupy 10,000- to 35,000-square-foot spaces.

He believes this model will fare better than some of the other strategies that have been tried — mostly companies overpaying to purchase or lease property, a situation that adds another layer of challenge to their ability to remain competitive in a rapidly changing market.

“People were overpaying, dumping a ton of money into these properties, and then the market collapsed because of oversupply, and they were upside-down,” he said. “We have a saying in the retail business — you can sell below cost and make up the difference with volume. But not for long.”

 

Bottom Line

Returning to his thoughts about indoor farming and how properties like the Trulieve facility might be turned over to such uses, Vega said such prospects represent just one of the ways the changing real-estate climate in Holyoke represents both challenge and opportunity.

“Let’s keep the cannabis industry, but let’s also help the local food economy,” he said. “Someone growing lettuce and micrograins can’t afford a $40 million building, but if the redevelopment authority can gain control of that building or sell it without needing to make a profit, and we can get a whole industry or a bunch of small businesses going, we can create a food economy, and that would be huge.”

He acknowledged, without actually saying so, that such plans represent a real long shot. The reality is that, rather than solutions, there might be more question marks for the buildings bought with designs on entering what looked at the time to be a lucrative cannabis sector.

And if things break the wrong way, Holyoke may wind up with what it had before it rolled out the red carpet for this industry — a large number of vacant and underutilized properties.

Springfield Program Strives to Take Dining Option to the Next Level

By
Nadim Kashouh
Commercial Real Estate Special Coverage

The Great Outdoors

 

Nadim Kashouh

Nadim Kashouh has long offered outdoor seating at his downtown Springfield establishment.

 

The term ‘parklet’ isn’t exactly new.

Larger municipalities like San Francisco, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Chicago, and others have been using it, officially or unofficially, for at least a few years now to describe efforts to repurpose and reimagine parking spaces for recreation, dining, retail, and other uses.

It’s starting to be heard more in Springfield, and it will certainly become a part of the lexicon in the future thanks in large part to $2 million worth of grants being awarded to area establishments and properties to take outdoor dining in the city to at least the next level.

Indeed, there will be at least a few parklets created through these grants, including one at Granny’s Baking Table on Bridge Street.

Todd Crossett, co-owner of the bakery, said he’s been researching the concept and, working with a local architect, has come up with a plan to bring the popular eatery, which features pies, pastries, beignets, and sandwiches, out into a large parking space originally meant for a van — 8 feet by 20 feet — and a few feet of the adjoining sidewalk, and thus bring something new and different to the city.

“We’re going to do something a little funky and take over a parking space,” he explained. “I think it will be the first of its kind, and it will be great for the city because it will generate more revenue than a parking space, because the space is free.”

Elaborating, he said Granny’s, drawing inspiration from what has been created in Evanston, Ill. and other communities, will create a tented, three-season dining deck that will include three tables and chairs as well as an awning, which can all be easily removed for the winter.

“We’re going to do something a little funky and take over a parking space.”

Beyond the parklets, though, the outdoor dining grants, funded by ARPA money awarded to the city in the wake of COVID, are expected to change the landscape in many different ways, from reactivating properties, such as the small park across Main Street from Tower Square, to changing the look and feel of other properties, such as the TD Bank building next to that park. It doesn’t have a restaurant at present — a pizzeria closed down during COVID, and a replacement has yet to be secured — but Jack Dill, who purchased the property in 2021 with a few partners, believes it will happen soon, and the option to serve patrons outdoors will likely help in the process of securing one.

Granny’s Baking Table

Granny’s Baking Table plans a tented, three-season dining deck outside.

While the grants have become the subject of some controversy — a few city councilors have essentially accused Mayor Domenic Sarno of using the grant program as a way to reward supporters and perhaps create more of them during an intriguing and potentially challenging election year — most of the focus has been on what they might mean for individual businesses and sections of the city, especially downtown.

Tim Sheehan, the city’s chief Economic Development officer, said that, while there weren’t too many positives to come out of the COVID pandemic, especially when it comes to the hospitality industry, the emergence of outdoor dining — not just as a preference for patrons, but also as a catalyst for business growth and economic development — is certainly one of them.

“The restaurant businesses recognized that this is what patrons were looking for all through COVID,” he said, adding that, while the pandemic is officially over in most all respects, there remains a focus on public health and safety within this industry and thus a continued focus on providing outdoor dining opportunities.

Nadim Kashouh, owner of Nadim’s Downtown Mediterranean Grill on Main Street, agreed. He has long offered outdoor dining at his establishment, which abuts the office tower 1350 Main St. office tower and now extends to that property with outdoor seating through a lease arrangement, and said it has become an increasingly popular option for his patrons.

“The restaurant businesses recognized that this is what patrons were looking for all through COVID.”

“People feel more comfortable sitting in an open space in the open air,” he said, adding that, with his $100,000 grant from the program, he intends to add more seats, from the current 60 to 100, as well as industrial-strength umbrellas, fire tables, heaters, a tent, and a grill that will allow him to bring what he calls a “a different kind of dining experience to the area.”

“People can come up, select their meat, and we’ll cook it for them right there and then,” he explained, adding that he expects the initiative to bring more people to his eatery and the downtown in general.

For this issue and its focus on commercial real estate, BusinessWest talked with Sheehan and several restaurateurs and property owners about the outdoor dining grants and what they might mean for individual businesses, locations, and the proverbial big picture in the City of Homes.

 

 

Food for Thought

Crossett told BusinessWest that, as those at Granny’s were preparing their application for the outdoor dining grants, which they were encouraged by city officials to pursue, they did so with a specific mindset.

“We just didn’t want to give the city a reason to say no to us,” he explained, adding that this sentiment is reflected in everything from architect’s drawings and multiple bids on construction that accompanied the application to the very specific dollar amount requested.

Indeed, while most applicants rounded up, Granny’s requested $46,160. And that’s how much the city awarded the business.

Overall, 21 establishments applied for the grants, and 17 were awarded funds. Some of the awards matched or came close to what was requested, while others were a fraction of what was sought. And it was a diverse list of recipients, to be sure, with awardees ranging from the Student Prince Restaurant and the Fort to the John Boyle O’Reilly Club; from Two Guys Pizza on Page Boulevard to Uno Chicago Grill near the Basketball Hall of Fame.

park area outside 1441 Main St

Activating the park area outside 1441 Main St. could be a key element in bringing more dining options to the building.

Dollar amounts awarded ranged from $250,000 (City Line Café, the John Boyle O’Reilly Club, and White Lion Brewing) to $35,000 for the Springfield Business Improvement District to build on its improvements on Duryea Way.

There were scoring criteria, said Sheehan, listing everything from an initiative’s ability to encourage foot traffic and improve walkability in a neighborhood business district to whether an applicant had previously received ARPA money. And there were some broad goals behind the awards, but mostly an effort to promote outdoor dining and create more and better opportunities for the concept to spur growth and bring more diners to establishments.

The grant program, which was conceived just a few months ago and undertaken in aggressive fashion, recognizes that the landscape has certainly changed in this realm. In 2019, he explained, the city initiated a one-year pilot program for outdoor dining that did not garner much interest within the industry, with just a handful of applicants. In 2020, the City Council approved that pilot becoming permanent, he went on, adding that the broad objective was to activate commercial districts in specific neighborhoods.

But it wasn’t until the pandemic that the industry fully recognized the need to move to outdoor dining, he continued, adding that the grant program was initiated to help individual businesses and properties move into that realm, or move more aggressively, through initiatives ranging from parklets to White Lion’s reactivation of the Steiger’s park.

Speaking in broad terms, Sheehan said outdoor dining does more than provide an attractive alternative to the traditional experience.

“It heightens people’s engagement with the public realm that’s around them,” he explained. “And it begins to elicit the conversation of ‘how do we make the public realm better for everyone, not just diners, but also pedestrians? And how do we make the streets more accessible to all of the needs that we have relative to public rights of way?’ Because there’s growing competition for that space, whether it be bicyclists or pedestrians or outdoor diners.”

As he talked about his grant and what will happen with it, Crossett first went back in time, to the start of COVID, when many cities were gearing up for outdoor dining and providing assistance to establishments looking to enter that realm. He said he encouraged city leaders to do the same, but recalls that the response was somewhat lukewarm — ‘pusillanimous’ was the word he used.

Eventually, some money was made available, and Granny’s used it to put a few tables and chairs on the sidewalk, which was not a good fix, he said, because there simply isn’t much room on the sidewalk. The outdoor-dining grants come three years after most cities moved aggressively in this realm, he said, but they are at least a step in the right direction.

And while Crossett would prefer a cutout — similar to what the city has done on Worthington Street in front of Theodore’s and Jackalope because of the way they have slowed traffic down on those streets and enhanced outdoor dining opportunities — Granny’s will start with a parklet that he hopes to have ready for the Springfield Jazz & Roots Festival, slated for next month.

 

Designs on Growth

Meanwhile, other grants that were awarded will be used in different ways to introduce outdoor dining or enhance and expand already-existing outdoor facilities, Sheehan said.

At Nadim’s, for example, the grant will enable the restaurant to almost double the capacity of the outdoor dining that exists now, generating what Nadim believes will be more business overall, amid a growing preference for that dining option.

He acknowledged that outdoor dining has its limits — there’s essentially a five- to six-month window, from May to October — but it has become an important component of most restaurants’ business plans. And with more and better outdoor options, the city, and, especially its downtown, become more of a destination.

At 1441 Main St., the TD Bank building, Dill said he’s looking to essentially turn back the clock at that office tower, which once had a much larger retail and restaurant component (what he called a ‘mall’) on its first and second floors — the latter was actually connected to both the Steiger’s department store (now that aforementioned park) and Tower Square via airwalks — while also taking full advantage of the growing popularity of outdoor dining.

“People feel more comfortable sitting in an open space in the open air.”

He said the new ownership will be re-envisioning the former mall portion of the property and applied for a grant through the outdoor-dining initiative to lay the groundwork for such a facility at the property.

“We’re in early design now, but what we’re trying to do is position those underutilized parts of the building in ways that will more effectively address some non-traditional uses,” he said, adding that the plan is to find “the right operator” and then the right location within (and outside) the property for a dining operation.

“We have some flexibility,” he said, adding that there is space on more than one side of the building for an outdoor facility, including the area by the park. “We’ll want to work with the operator on what they want to accomplish from a design and operational standpoint.”

Dill said a restaurant would serve tenants in the property and neighboring office towers, obviously, but also be another key addition in a downtown that, by most accounts, needs more options for the people who come to the area for hockey games, concerts, gymnastics and dance competitions, and other gatherings.

“This is a logical place for part of that expansion to take place,” he said, adding that, while the number of office workers downtown has declined since the start of the pandemic, people are returning to offices, and he expects that trend to continue in the months and years to come.

Dill praised the entrepreneurs taking risks and opening new venues downtown, such as Jackalope and Osteria, two ventures on Worthington Street that are bringing more vitality, and people, to the area. And he said he hopes to add to the growing inventory of restaurants with an addition at 1441 Main St.

Such additions are part of the motivation behind the outdoor-dining grants, which, while small in size and scale in most respects, have the potential to have a big impact in terms of changing the landscape — figuratively and perhaps literally — and adding new words to the lexicon, like ‘parklet.’

Proposals Sought for Large Parcel Within Uniroyal Property

By
Lee Pouliot
Commercial Real Estate Special Coverage

The Last Big Piece of the Puzzle

 

Lee Pouliot

Since he’s only 37, Lee Pouliot has only known the buildings on the Uniroyal site as empty shells. With the request for proposals, that may finally change.

 

Lee Pouliot says he’s always had what he calls a bit of a fascination with what is known simply as the Uniroyal property in Chicopee — although there is nothing simple about it.

He grew up the city, but, because he’s only 37 (and a BusinessWest 40 Under Forty winner in 2020), all he’s known of the buildings — most of them, anyway — is as empty shells, the subjects of stories that almost every long-time resident of this community tells about working at the tire-manufacturing complex, or being related to someone who did.

While he was earning a master’s degree in landscape architecture at Cornell more than a dozen years ago, Pouliot took this fascination to a higher level, engaging himself and a few of his classmates in a final project — one that would create a development plan for the complex of buildings for the Uniroyal and adjacent Facemate properties, located in the center of the city.

Later, as an intern in the Chicopee’s Community Development office and then as a staffer in that office, he worked with city leaders to move a project to redevelop that complex, through a series of critical next steps.

“The reality is that there are a number of developers who have considerable experience with mill conversions. And so, in some ways, the city is trying to target developers who have this kind of experience, in the hope that we can see something creative done with those buildings that keeps them standing.”

And now, as city planner, a position he’s held since 2015, Pouliot is playing a lead role in writing what is essentially the final chapter in a long, complicated story that has, in some ways, been more than 40 years in the making.

This chapter involves a 9.58-acre parcel at the Uniroyal site, one of two yet to be developed, the other a 10-acre parcel being eyed by the city for recreational uses. A request for proposals was recently issued for the first of those parcels, which includes four buildings, including one that served as an administration building.

Those requests are due back on July 21, and Pouliot, like everyone else in the city, is anxious to see what the development community has in mind for this parcel, which is being marketed as RiverMills at Chicopee Falls, and especially the four remaining buildings on it, which the city opted not to demolish, in part because of their structural soundness.

the former Uniroyal buildings

This drone shot shows demolition of one of the former Uniroyal buildings. A request for proposals has been issued for the still-standing structures at the top of this image.

“The reality is that there are a number of developers who have considerable experience with mill conversions,” he explained. “And so, in some ways, the city is trying to target developers who have this kind of experience, in the hope that we can see something creative done with those buildings that keeps them standing.”

The bid package issued by the city touts this as “one of the largest contiguous areas of former industrial properties poised for redevelopment in Western Massachusetts.”

Further, the big package notes, “unlike other comparable sites, most of the costly and lengthy procedures required to prepare for redevelopment have been completed, reducing the risk and uncertainty typically associated with brownfield redevelopment.”

It is hoped that these amenities, if they can be called that, will trigger the imaginations of developers and yield some intriguing proposals, said Pouliot, adding that there are many possible uses for the buildings and the property. Housing is still a priority for the city and region, and the buildings, with some work, will lend themselves to that purpose. But there are other potential uses as well, he said, including retail, hospitality, and service businesses.

For this issue and its focus on commercial real estate, BusinessWest talked with Pouliot about the long journey that Chicopee has taken to reach this critical juncture with the Uniroyal property, and what might happen next.

 

Where the Rubber Meets the Road

When asked what it was like, personally and professionally, to see the project reach this important milestone, Pouliot exhaled, glanced toward the ceiling, and then shook his head a few times.

“Housing is still a priority. I think anyone looking at the state of housing in the Commonwealth, or this country, would be foolish not to consider housing a likely piece of redevelopment here.”

The body language spoke volumes about the length and complexity of this project, which has been ongoing — in some respects, anyway — longer than he’s been alive and has involved several different mayors, planners, and Community Development directors.

“In some ways, it feels odd that we’re nearing the end because so much of our time has been focused on getting to this point,” he said. “But it’s also significant — this has been no small feat for a community of Chicopee’s size; this is a huge milestone for the city.”

Recapping the Uniroyal story quickly, Pouliot said it starts back in the late 1800s, when that the land was first used for manufacturing. From 1896 to 1898, the property was owned by Spaulding and Pepper Co., which manufactured bicycle tires. Fisk Rubber Co., which later changed its name to United States Rubber Co. and then to Uniroyal, manufactured bicycle, automobile, and truck tires and adhesives at the site from 1898 to 1981.

a shift change at the Uniroyal plant

This photograph, taken some time in the 1930s, shows a shift change at the Uniroyal plant, which employed more than 3,000 people in its heyday.

Uniroyal closed its plant in 1980 and sold the property — which stretched over 65 acres and included 23 buildings — to Facemate Corp., located adjacent to Uniroyal, in 1981.

Fast-forwarding, he said the city spent years working to acquire both the Uniroyal and Facemate property (Facemate went bankrupt in 2003), and did so in 2009, soon embarking on a massive cleanup that would cost more than $40 million and involve federal, state, and local money, while also planning work for development.

Eventually, individual parcels on the site were developed; the initial redevelopment project involved construction of the RiverMills Senior Center. Later, a private developer built River Mills Assisted Living at Chicopee Falls on a three-acre parcel. A third, four-acre parcel has been optioned to Brisa Development LLC of New York, which plans to build a mixed-use development that includes a 107-unit apartment building, an indoor sports complex, and a brewery and restaurant.

The 9.58-acre parcel that is the subject of the request for proposals is essentially the last big piece of the puzzle, said Pouliot, adding that it’s dominated by the four remaining Uniroyal buildings.

One is the administration building, or Building 26. The city has an agreement with the Massachusetts Historical Commission to try to see that structure redeveloped, he explained, adding that it is eligible for listing on the National Historic Register.

There is also a smaller building, what Pouliot called a retail shop for Fisk Rubber Co., where it sold and even installed tires, as well as two large manufacturing buildings, numbered 27 and 42, that are considered to be in “structurally decent condition,” he said.

“Instead of incurring the cost of demolition, which would have been a few million dollars more than what we were paying for cleanup, we decided to preserve them and see if there was appetite within the development community to do something with them,” he explained, adding that, if there is no appetite for taking them on, the city will look at what developers are proposing and decide the best course from there.

“We’re not going to predicate a decision on just whether or not all the buildings can be reused,” he said. “Certainly it is the city’s intention to sell the land and see something happen; this is just one of the criteria we’re looking at to see what the development community can respond with.

“There are a number of developers who would prefer raw land, but the reality with this site is that it’s not raw land,” he went on. “You could consider this an industrial archaeological site; there are going to be limitations on development regardless of whether the buildings are standing or not.”

Elaborating, Pouliot said he’s learned much about the property — and tire manufacturing — over the years, including the fact that, at some point between the two world wars (exactly when he’s not sure), the U.S. government began to oversee rubber production to make sure there would be enough tires for the war effort.

This government involvement helps explain why many of the buildings at the Uniroyal site, including Buildings 27 and 42, were built to withstand aerial bombing, he went on, adding that the structures are still sound a century or more after they were built, in some cases, which may become a factor in whether those in the development community want to try to do something with them. “Their structural capacity is incredible.”

Returning to the matter of what the city would like to see by way of development, Pouliot said priorities were spelled out in the River Mills Vision Plan, the development plan created for both the Uniroyal and Facemate properties combined.

“We were looking for redevelopment that reconnected these properties to the Chicopee Falls neighborhood and supported the neighborhood with appropriate-scale development,” he said of the overarching objective, adding that there hasn’t been any connection, other than history, for many years.

aerial shot from 2008

This aerial shot from 2008 shows the Uniroyal complex before the start of demolition of many of the buildings at that site.

This effort would ideally be a mixed-use project that can connect people with the river, he went on, adding that housing was, and still is, a need within the city.

“Housing is still a priority,” he said. “I think anyone looking at the state of housing in the Commonwealth, or this country, would be foolish not to consider housing a likely piece of redevelopment here.”

When asked for a timeline for the project, Pouliot said the city will likely take six to eight months to review the submitted proposals before eventually choosing a preferred developer. That developer will then need time to secure the various forms of financing that will be needed, he said, adding that it will likely be two to four years before work actually commences.

 

View to the Future

Returning to that project that he and a few of his classmates took on at Cornell, Pouliot said that, while creating that development plan — one that in many ways mirrored the one crafted by the city — he and the others involved worked to get a “feel for the community’s relationship with this property, its context within the city, and what they wanted to see.

“And one of the big takeaways, even for me, having grown up in this city, was just how many families had someone who worked at this property throughout history,” he went on. “So many people could tie themselves back to a sports league or working there, or the shift changes — we heard so many stories about how loud and noisy Chicopee Falls was when that plant was operating, and the volume of people.”

For the better part of 40 years now, most all talk concerning Uniroyal has been in the past tense. But if the request for proposals yields the imaginative concepts that city officials are hoping for, that will soon change — and people will start talking about what’s happening there now, not what happened a half-century or more ago.

As Pouliot noted, it’s odd in some ways to be at this point in the process. But it’s also quite rewarding. There’s plenty of work left to do, but a milestone has been reached.

 

Creative Development Sought for Springfield Landmarks

By
Clocktower Building
Commercial Real Estate Special Coverage

Turning Back the Clock

Clocktower Building

The Clocktower Building, above, was home to Masonic Temple more than a century ago (right).

At other times in Springfield’s history, the properties at 113 State St. and 1155 Main St. were prominent players in the vibrancy, culture, and overall tenor of the City of Homes.

The former — long known, for obvious reasons, as the Clocktower Building — was home to the Masonic Temple when it opened in 1893, before a new, much larger facility was built further east on State Street. The latter, the Colonial Block, which opened in 1903, was one of the city’s first real mixed-use facilities, noted Tim Sheehan, Springfield’s chief Development officer, featuring a blend of office and retail space on the lower floors and residential units on the upper floors.

Until fairly recently, meaning before the pandemic, the two properties had still been somewhat vibrant, featuring a wide array of tenants, including nonprofits, small businesses, a bank (at 113 State St.), and a number of various-sized law firms taking advantage of the buildings’ proximity to the Hampden County Courthouse just down State Street. These days, though, they are almost entirely vacant and stand in stark contrast to the progress seen around them, most notably across Main Street at MGM Springfield and across State Street at the MassMutual Center.

City officials have been looking to change that picture, obviously, and are moving forward with a plan to return these buildings, and also 11-21 Stockbridge St., a smaller, better-occupied office property in that same area, to their former status and make them part of the city’s resurgence. After acquiring them as a package in 2021 for $2.75 million, the Springfield Redevelopment Authority (SRA) has invited the development community to step up and submit proposals for the properties, separately or perhaps collectively.

Responses to this request for qualifications (RFQ) are due later this month — the deadline was originally late March — and Sheehan and SRA Executive Director Amanda Pham are expecting some imaginative proposals because that’s what will be needed to turn back the clock and make them key players again.

“This will require a responsive, creative developer, someone who has a vision for preservation of these buildings,” Pham said. “They have great potential.”

Sheehan and Pham are expecting proposals that will likely blend office and/or retail with a residential component, noting that what emerges for one, two, or all three properties will likely require a public-private partnership, similar to what was needed to finally move the needle and create a new use — a mix of residential and retail — for the former Court Square Hotel, just a block or so from the three properties in the RFQ.

Finding a preferred developer is a two-step process, said Pham, adding that, after responses to the request for qualifications are received and reviewed, three finalists will move on to a request for proposals.

If all goes well, a preferred developer is expected to be named by June, they said, adding that it may not be long after that when people start talking about these landmarks using mostly the present and future tenses, and not the past.

 

Building Momentum

As she gave BusinessWest a tour of 1155 Main St., Pham referenced some reminders of, well … what it once was, starting with the large directory on a wall in the lobby listing tenants and their suite numbers.

Tim Sheehan and Amanda Pham stand outside the historic structure.

Tim Sheehan and Amanda Pham stand outside the historic structure.

The board still includes the names of dozens of tenants that are no longer there — from the law firm Pellegrini Seeley, Ryan and Blakesley, which once took much of the space on the third floor before moving to the Basketball Hall of Fame complex, to Revitalize Community Development Corp., which occupied a large suite on the second floor. In fact, the 82,000-square-foot property is currently only about 12% occupied.

Later, she pointed to a large bookcase full of law books left behind by one of the departing law firms.

“We have a lot of law books,” she said, adding that, apparently, many of the departing firms located in various-sized offices on the maze-like floors had no use for the books in this age of the internet and simply left them behind.

Thus, these law volumes become part of the dialogue concerning what this property used to be, said Pham, who took the helm at the SRA in 2021, adding that, increasingly, the focus is on what they can be moving forward.

The SRA has taken the matter from the discussion phase to what could be called the discovery phase with the request for qualifications. It includes a link to a six-minute video that features comments from Pham, Sheehan, Mayor Domenic Sarno, MGM President and CEO Chris Kelley, Peter Picknelly, chairman of Peter Pan Bus Lines and a key player in the Court Square project, and others, all inviting developers to take advantage of this “Main Street and Convention District development opportunity.”

“This will require a responsive, creative developer, someone who has a vision for preservation of these buildings. They have great potential.”

Together, they talk about the progress made downtown and the progress still to come, with projects like the $74 million parking garage and event space that will replace the facility torn down last fall. They also discuss how much of this progress was the result of public-private partnerships.

“This development behind me never would have happened if not for the cooperation of City Hall and the state of Massachusetts,” said Picknelly as he stood in front of the Court Square property.

The Colonial Block

The Colonial Block was one of the first mixed-use buildings in Springfield, with retail and residential space. It may see a similar blend in the future.

A number of developers, both with local ties and from outside the region, have expressed interest in the properties, said both Sheehan and Pham, noting that the city acquired the properties to move beyond the ongoing speculative nature of previous ownership and take redevelopment to a higher plane.

“We wanted the buildings situated so their redevelopment would ultimately fit the city’s overall planning as it relates to the Main Street Convention Center District Plan,” said Sheehan, adding that this plan, in general terms, calls for building on existing momentum and creating a true destination in the downtown, a place where people can live, work, and (especially with MGM and the MassMutual Center right next door) play.

A developers’ tour conducted several weeks ago attracted several parties, many in person, but some virtually, said Pham, adding that Springfield has managed, through its recent spate of progress, to put itself on the map with regard to regional and national developers looking to expand their portfolios.

There were site tours of the properties and the surrounding area as well, she went on, adding that firms brought full teams with them, including architects, engineers, and planners, to gauge future uses for the landmarks.

Given the current glut of office space, Sheehan said, especially the class B and class C variety that these properties have featured, future redevelopment will likely not focus on that use entirely, although it could be part of the equation.

“There is an overabundance of class B and C space in the office sector, so we’re really encouraging people to look at adaptive reuse to … something else,” he noted. “Developers may want to reduce the amount of office, but not completely eliminate it, either.”

A much larger part of the equation will likely be market-rate housing and activation of the ground floors with retail and hospitality-related businesses that will give downtown visitors more things to do and more opportunities to stay, he went on.

Colonial Block

Above, the directory inside the Colonial Block is quite dated, as most of those tenants have moved out. At right, one of the unique spaces in the building.

“Our planning ultimately calls for extensive ground-floor activation,” he explained. “You have two very strong anchors, in MGM and the MassMutual Center, adjacent to these properties, and we really think there is the ability to activate the ground floors so that it encourages people who want to come to the MassMutual Center or MGM to want to linger and stay in the area.”

As for housing, Sheehan said a recent study identified the need for 1,500 units of additional housing of this type in and around downtown.

And while conversion of such properties to housing is often difficult and expensive, developers need only look a few hundred yards to the south for inspiration, to the massive Stockbridge Court apartment complex, created more than 40 years ago and perhaps the city’s best market-rate-housing success story.

“Stockbridge Court is certainly an example of what can be done,” he said, adding quickly that any residential projects in these properties will likely require a public-private partnership to not only renovate the buildings in question but improve the overall area and its connection to Main Street.

“We’ll need to enhance the infrastructure to make it a much more walkable environment — and a pleasant walkable environment — if we’re going to attract that scale of residential development in this area.”

 

Right Time and Place

Overall, there are some building blocks coming together that could make development of these properties a more attractive and more viable opportunity, said both Sheehan and Pham, noting that leasing activity will start soon at Court Square, and construction is set to commence on the new parking garage. Meanwhile, a new entrance is planned at the southwest corner of the MassMutual Center.

Meanwhile, the two leaders are looking at adaptive reuse of these properties as just part of a larger effort in the city’s downtown.

“We’re looking at these as the first step in the redevelopment of the area,” said Sheehan, noting that that there are several other vacant or underutilized spaces, including the neighboring 1260 Main St., several surface parking lots, and other properties.

As he referenced a photo of the Clocktower Building, from the days before its stone exterior was mostly stripped away — it remains in some places as a reminder of what was — Sheehan waxed nostalgic on its place in city history.

“For a long time, this building has certainly played a major role in downtown Springfield in terms of being a major corner and a huge presence,” he told BusinessWest, adding that the hope is that this property, as well as the Colonial Block — and other properties in that area — can attain that status again.

Time will tell, of course, when and how soon that happens, but this is certainly a developing story — in every sense of that phrase.

How Landlords, Tenants Can Navigate the Commercial Market

By Contributor
Commercial Real Estate

This Is Not a Fire Drill

By Brion J. Kirsch and James F. Martin

 

Remember in elementary school when they would have a planned fire drill? The alarm would go off, and students lined up in an orderly fashion and walked single file to the nearest exit and out into the schoolyard. Inside, the school was completely empty.

Brion J. Kirsch

Brion J. Kirsch

James F. Martin

James F. Martin

Obviously, the circumstances are light years apart, but that’s essentially what occurred in office buildings in March 2020. One minute, every room is filled with people working at their desks; next thing you know, the entire place is vacant.

What would always happen after the fire drill — everyone was back at their desks in about 10 minutes — didn’t happen in office buildings. It’s been almost three years. Some are never coming back.

Remote or hybrid work is here to stay, and people’s habits and expectations have changed. As a result, the commercial real-estate market is facing challenging times. In Western Mass., for example, the vacancy rate for office space is of concern to landlords along with the reality of expiring leases for downtown office space. However, the more attractive rental price per square foot of class-A office space in Western Mass. serves as a significant advantage to retaining and attracting tenants when coupled with the lower cost of living in contrast to Eastern and Central Mass.

Thus, there are some reasons for optimism, and potential options for landlords and tenants alike.

The continuing development of multi-family apartment complexes in both the cities and the suburbs is a promising sign. And with the proliferation of shopping from home and consumer subscription services, industrial properties like warehouses and fulfillment centers are in high demand.

 

Options for Tenants

For employers who now have more workspace than on-site workers, subleasing is an interesting option that can both reduce expenses and boost revenue. This requires a conversation with the landlord, but if conducted in good faith, it can be a win-win situation.

With a landlord’s consent, a majority of commercial office leases allow subleasing and partial assignments. But finding an occupant to sublease part of your space is far from the final step; legalities and practicalities abound. The documentation must be specific and thorough as there’s an extra added layer of complexity in these situations.

Taking a contractual agreement between two parties and adding a third opens up room for all sorts of unexpected conflict and misunderstandings. The language in the agreement must be crystal clear.

“With a landlord’s consent, a majority of commercial office leases allow subleasing and partial assignments. But finding an occupant to sublease part of your space is far from the final step; legalities and practicalities abound.”

The biggest concern is historic and/or prospective liability. One party’s transgression may have a direct impact on the other party, even if there is fault on only one side. Something else to consider is the construction of a demising wall for the new tenant’s subleased space. To be up to code, this new area will also need proper access, exits, and restrooms, in addition to other possible requirements, such as a kitchen or metered utilities.

Depending on the terms of the lease, there may even be an express option that simply allows for the reduction in the total area being occupied and would prevent the need to sublease.

 

Options for Landlords

There’s an opportunity now for landlords to make a long-term play by allowing tenants to make modifications to their original lease. The value in this circumstance arrives in the form of an early renewal or extension of the current lease, in exchange for allowing the tenant to sublease a portion of their space or shrink their footprint.

As many business owners have discovered in other industries, incentives are becoming a more crucial part of attracting customers or, in this case, tenants. And just because a space was previously used for one purpose, that doesn’t have to remain the case. Repurposing is an exciting and risky but sometimes necessary option.

Taking an empty office building and converting it to multi-family apartments or mixed-use commercial space is a large undertaking. But the strong demand for housing seems likely to continue, while office space continues on a more uncertain path.

While interest rates and the cost of construction materials both remain high, supply-chain issues are easing, and real-estate profits from the past decade have some property owners’ war chests well-stocked. It’s also likely that property values will begin to fall in the coming months and years.

It’s anyone’s guess how the current confusing climate of high inflation, low unemployment, rising interest rates, and massive tech layoffs will shake out in the coming years. Some say a recession is inevitable; others are optimistic one will be avoided. One thing we do know for sure is that we’re not in elementary school anymore. And this is not a drill.

 

Brion Kirsch and Jim Martin are attorneys at the law firm Pullman & Comley, which has offices in Connecticut, New York, and Rhode Island, as well as Springfield. Kirsch co-chairs the firm’s real estate, energy, environmental, and land use practice and practices in both Massachusetts and Connecticut; Jim Martin is located in the firm’s Springfield office and is a recognized practitioner in the areas of commercial real estate and real-estate planning.

1350 Main St. Melds Art Gallery, Event Space into Unique Facility

By
Evan Plotkin in the 1350 Conference Center.
Commercial Real Estate Special Coverage

Art of the Matter

Evan Plotkin in the 1350 Conference Center.

Evan Plotkin in the 1350 Conference Center.

Evan Plotkin says he decided to call it the ‘Springfield Room.’

That’s because … most all of the paintings on the walls, courtesy of artist John Simpson and his students, depict well-known personalities who either live in the city or have strong connections to it.

It’s a diverse group that includes Herbie Flores, the long-time director of the New England Farm Workers’ Council, as well as philanthropist Lyman Wood, White Lion Brewery founder Ray Berry, and even Plotkin himself, who has become well-known for his work in recent years to being more people — and more vibrancy — to the city’s downtown.

The paintings, all of which are for sale, are just one of the selling points of this facility, part of what is now known as the 1350 Conference Center, one of Plotkin’s latest efforts to re-envision, and repurpose, the property at 1350 Main St., which he co-owns.

The center is located on the ninth floor, in space that had served as what Plotkin called “an informal art gallery and event space” that was used occasionally for fundraisers and other gatherings. It was not marketed or really open to the public, he said, adding that it has been given a facelift to bring another amenity to existing tenants, hopefully attract others, and bring new meeting space to downtown Springfield.

And Plotkin believes the timing is right for such an undertaking. After more than two years of COVID, he noted, gatherings of all sizes and types are becoming more prevalent as the region continues to move beyond the pandemic, even at a time when most meetings have at least some type of remote component.

“The artwork in here is spectacular, and combining an event space with a gallery made a whole lot of sense.”

“Most meetings are hybrid now,” he noted. “You have people who can attend the meeting live, and there’s an opportunity to bring in others via Zoom. With such formats, your meetings tend to be better-attended, but most groups are gathering in-person again.”

Plotkin acknowledged that there are several meeting spaces in the region, including others in downtown Springfield, but nothing quite like the one he has created.

Indeed, it is different because of the art, he said, but also the location, in the center of downtown, and the amenities, including state-of-the-art equipment and new furniture.

“The artwork in here is spectacular, and combining an event space with a gallery made a whole lot of sense,” he noted. “And the response I’m getting from social media and the tenants who have been up here has been very positive; people are excited about it.”

Meanwhile, the new conference center is not the only intriguing development at 1350 Main St.

Indeed, Plotkin said he has several new tenants coming in that will turn on the lights on floors that have been dark, or mostly dark, for several years.

art adorning the Springfield Room

Just some of the art adorning the Springfield Room at the 1350 Conference Center.

The long-vacant sixth floor is now home to lawyers and support staff with the Committee for Public Counsel Services. Meanwhile, the Department of Children and Families is poised to sign a lease to take the seventh and eighth floors and part of the 15th. In all, roughly 60,000 additional square feet will be under lease by the summer, he said, adding that these new additions should help bring more foot traffic to downtown businesses and help them make a full recovery from COVID.

For this issue and its focus on commercial real estate, BusinessWest talked with Plotkin about the new conference center and other developments, literally and figuratively, at 1350 Main St.

 

Drawing Interest

Plotkin told BusinessWest that he recently took a prospective tenant through the building for a detailed look-see. The last stop on the tour was the re-envisioned ninth floor.

“After going through, they said, ‘where do we sign?’” he recalled, adding that the business in question stages training programs on a regular basis and needs such a facility.

A desire to solicit such responses was one of the motivating factors for renovating the space, said Plotkin, adding that, overall, he believes there is room for additional meeting and event space in the region, especially something that falls into the category of ‘different.’

The art makes it so, he said, adding that the works currently on display are mostly from Simpson, a self-described painter, sculptor, muralist, and teacher, whose works can also be found throughout downtown Springfield, on museum and office-building walls and adorning the sides of buildings as well.

But new works from various artists will be rotated in and, hopefully, sold, said Plotkin, adding that the art gives the space a unique, always-changing look.

There are three rooms in the 1350 Conference Center, he said, listing a larger room ideal for presentations and meetings of up to 200 people, and two smaller rooms, including the Springfield Room, that are designed for smaller gatherings, training sessions, team meetings, and more.

“We’re still just moving the pieces around. We need to get some net gains in the downtown, and the region as a whole.”

The space can be used for a variety of different uses, including fundraising events, annual meetings, and even holiday parties, he went on, adding that he only recently opened the space to the public — the sign outside the entrance went up late last month — and has already had a number of inquiries.

“I’m ready now to get the word out to the public and offer it to organizations across the region as another option; I think it’s going to really take off,” he said, adding that the space will be free to tenants of the building, while there will a fee charged to for-profit businesses and a lower fee to nonprofits.

He expects interest to spread through word of mouth, and noted that the space is just one of several intriguing developments at 1350 Main St.

As noted earlier, three long-vacant floors — six, seven, and eight — will have new tenants. The Committee for Public Counsel Services, which includes the Public Defender division, Children and Family Law, and the Youth Advocacy division, will bring close to 100 people to the building. Meanwhile, the Department of Children and Families will bring an additional 200 people to that address.

As they do so, they will do more than activate some long-vacant space, said Plotkin, adding that these additions should help many downtown businesses that have been impacted by the pandemic and the accompanying trend toward remote and hybrid work schedules.

“We’re bringing 320 people downtown — that should make the restaurants happy,” he said, adding that history has shown the importance of the downtown office towers — especially when vacancy rates are low — to the surrounding business community.

With these new additions, 1350 will approach 70% occupancy, said Plotkin, adding that he is exploring all options for the remaining spaces, which include the 16th and 17th floors (the ‘penthouse’), which were occupied by Disability Management Services until last June, and several retail spaces on the ground floor, including the large space last occupied by Santander Bank.

As he goes about trying to fill those spaces, he reiterated his contention that what the city — and the region — need are positive momentum when it comes to absorption, and less movement by existing businesses from building to building.

“We’re still just moving the pieces around,” he said. “We need to get some net gains in the downtown, and the region as a whole.”

 

Imaginative Stroke

Talking in general terms about Springfield, the region, and its business community, Plotkin said there is an ongoing need to be creative and do more to bring people to Springfield and its downtown.

With the new 1350 Conference Center, he believes he’s doing both.

He considers this an exciting new addition to the landscape, event space that is a work of art. Time will tell if it generates the interest he expects it will, but this is certainly shaping up to be an intriguing brush stroke as he fills in the canvas that is 1350 Main.

 

New Ownership Brings Renewed Vibrancy to West Side Property

By
Michael Martin, left, and Nick LaPier
Commercial Real Estate

Building Momentum

Michael Martin, left, and Nick LaPier

Michael Martin, left, and Nick LaPier have acquired 333 Elm St. in West Springfield and made it home to their businesses.

In many respects, Nick LaPier is back where he started. Or at least back to where he started his own accounting firm in 2003.

That would be the office building at 333 Elm St. in West Springfield.

Back then, he took a tiny office (600 square feet) on the first floor. There, with his mother, Elaine, serving as an office manager, he quickly grew his firm and eventually moved out and up.

Today, he is co-owner of the property where he first put his name on the door, along with Michael Martin, managing partner of Paladin Wealth Partners, which will soon be expanding with a second office at 333 Elm, sharing the property with LaPier Dillon & Associates (LaPier partnered with Brian Dillon several years ago); New Valley Bank, which moved in last August; and tenants that will occupy roughly 1,500 square feet of space currently being built out.

Together, they’re filling the parking lot and bringing new vibrancy to the property known to many in the community as the ‘Checkwriters Building’ (the payroll company occupied most of the property before outgrowing the space and moving to Northampton in 2021) and, before that, as the home to a dental practice — Dr. James Sady built the property in 1975 — and other tenants.

It was also home years ago to Multi Bank, where LaPier and his wife, Kathy, secured their first car loan.

So LaPier has a long history with the property, and he and Martin intend to write more chapters, starting with the relocation of their businesses to that site, thus becoming part of the revitalization of West Springfield’s downtown, a work in progress that includes the redevelopment of the former United Bank property, 95 Elm St., just a few blocks to the south; some new restaurants; and planned traffic improvements, including a rotary at the intersection of Elm Street and Route 20 (more on that later).

“The hope with this move is that, as we continue to grow, we will have the space available to accommodate that growth.”

LaPier, Dillon, and the accounting firm’s other employees finished moving in just after the new year. Meanwhile, Martin and others from Paladin Wealth Partners are set to move in later this month. While the property was acquired last summer, the two partners have invested heavily in renovating its spaces.

“We essentially gutted it and designed it from the ground to function as a full-service CPA firm,” LaPier said of his firm’s 6,500 square feet, adding that the company now has 16 employees. “We designed it to be the most efficient operation format for a CPA firm, but, at the same time, designed for 2023.”

With both LaPier, Dillon & Associates and Paladin Wealth Partners, the acquisition of 333 Elm started with the realization that they had outgrown their existing homes. For the accounting firm, that meant space roughly a mile away at 71 Park Ave., and for Paladin, space in Tower Square.

“The hope with this move is that, as we continue to grow, we will have the space available to accommodate that growth,” LaPier said.

Martin said his firm, which he launched with partner Pat Donnelly in 2018, has seen steady growth over the past several years. Having outgrown the space in Tower Square, the logical decision was made to expand with a second office.

“We have 2,500 square feet in Tower Square, and we were full,” he told BusinessWest, adding that, at the advice of his son, Ryan, who once worked in sales at Checkwriters (and now works at Paladin Wealth Partners), he took a close look at the 333 Elm St. property. Later, he would partner with LaPier, his long-time accountant, to acquire it for $1.9 million.

But there were other considerations for this acquisition beyond the need for more space.

Both LaPier and Martin were looking for real-estate investment opportunities, and when the property came on the market in 2021, they gave it a close look and decided that, in addition to a storied past, it had a solid future, given its location, parking, and other amenities.

Nick LaPier, left, and Brian Dillon

Nick LaPier, left, and Brian Dillon in their renovated space at 333 Elm St. in West Springfield.

Soon after taking ownership, they signed New Valley Bank, an emerging player in the region’s financial-services sector, to a long-term lease for what is now its third location. A solid tenant, the bank also brings potential new customers to both LaPier, Dillon & Associates and Paladin Wealth Partners, he said, as well as needed foot traffic in the city’s emerging downtown — a story both partners wanted to be part of.

“Elm Street’s a growing area; that’s another reason to invest here,” LaPier said. “There’s been positive growth on the street for the past 10 years, and it appears that the city wants to continue developing it as a business corridor; we want to be part of that story.”

West Springfield Mayor William Reichelt confirmed those aspirations. He said there has been significant progress made in making Elm Street more of a destination in recent years, especially through the redevelopment of the former United Bank Building, which is now home to several tenants, including Tandem Bagel Company, Future Health, Kindred at Home, and several others.

Having 333 Elm vibrant again, especially with service businesses that will have employees but also bring people to that location, will certainly bring more momentum to that central business district.

“Just to have more bodies in the downtown is good overall,” Reichelt said, referring to employees working at that location. “There are now more people who are going to go eat at Tandem, the Celery Stalk, or the other restaurants in the area. They’re going to bring customers and more foot traffic down here, and that’s what our downtown is going to thrive on.

“That building being vacant really hurt us — all those employees who weren’t there anymore,” he went on, adding that the property had been largely vacant for roughly two years.

The parking lot is filling back up again, a positive sign for the city and the start of another intriguing chapter in the story of a property with an already-rich business history.

Tower Square Owners Add Neighboring 1550 Main Building

By
Commercial Real Estate Special Coverage

Building the Portfolio

 

Vid Mitta acknowledged that the emergence of remote work and its impact — still to be determined in many respects — on the region’s inventory of office space was certainly a consideration when he and business partner Dinesh Patel were deciding whether to submit a proposal for the purchase of the 1550 Main building in downtown Springfield.

But ultimately, this was just one of many considerations, he told BusinessWest, adding that the others — as well as his firm belief that business owners and managers will always see value in having people working together in one place — convinced the two serial entrepreneurs to move forward and answer the request for proposals sent by the property’s now-former owner, MassDevelopment, early last year.

Mitta and Patel eventually prevailed in the bidding to acquire the property — formerly occupied by the U.S. Federal Court and currently home to tenants ranging from Baystate Health to the Springfield School Department — for $6 million.

As he talked about its prospects for the future, Mitta focused on those other considerations that played into this decision, especially that age-old axiom when it comes to commercial real estate — location, location, location. Beyond that, though, the current tenant mix, the timeline on current leases, and the good overall condition of the building also played a factor in generating a green light.

“These properties are connected, and they are the two best buildings in Springfield’s downtown for class-A space.”

“Remote work is the main thing that comes to anyone’s mind when we talk about office spaces today,” he acknowledged. “But look at the location — this is what we were looking at, as well as the maintenance and good condition of the property. These factors led us to see this as a good investment. When vacancies arise, people have choices, and they’re going to move into the best building possible.”

Thus, another chapter has begun in what would have to be called a developing story, in every sense of that phrase. That would be the expanding portfolio of properties now owned by Mitta and Patel, either individually or collectively.

That list includes Tower Square and its recently renovated hotel, which has re-earned the Marriot flag, as well as several other hotels, 99 Restaurant & Pub locations, a Walgreens, three McDonald’s franchises, adult day-care facilities, early-education facilities, and more. These collective investments and entrepreneurial gambits earned Patel and Mitta BusinessWest’s Top Entrepreneur award just a year ago.

Mitta told BusinessWest that 1550 Main St. was a common-sense addition to the portfolio, one that gives the partners a property that is essentially full (97% occupancy), with a stable tenant base that also includes the Internal Revenue Service, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, regional offices for U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey, the law firm Alekman DiTusa, and an attractive, well-maintained property in the heart of the central business district.

“These properties are connected, and they are the two best buildings in Springfield’s downtown for class-A space,” he said of 1550 Main and Tower Square. “With these properties, we’ll be well-positioned to attract new tenants looking for quality space.”

The property that has come to be known as 1550 Main was acquired by MassDevelopment from the federal government in 2009. At that time, it was roughly 70% occupied, said a spokesperson for MassDevelopment, adding that, after achieving all its stated goals for the property, the agency decided to put the property up for sale through a disposition process to allow it to refocus its efforts on other projects.

Dinesh Patel, left, and Vid Mitta

Dinesh Patel, left, and Vid Mitta, who together orchestrated a stunning turnaround at Tower Square, believe 1550 Main St. is a logical addition to their growing portfolio of commercial real-estate properties.

That includes an initiative in Greenfield, where MassDevelopment is partnering with the city and the Community Builders in the acquisition and redevelopment of the former Wilson’s Department Store property in the heart of the community’s downtown. The redevelopment will create roughly 65 mixed-income rental units and reactivate prominent first-floor and basement retail spaces through the relocation and expansion of Franklin Community Co-ops’s Greenfield store, Green Fields Market.

Referencing 1550 Main, MassDevelopment President and CEO Dan Rivera said, “working with tenants, partners, and the city of Springfield over the years allowed us to cultivate this property to its best and highest use. This type of focused teamwork is how long-lasting redevelopment takes root. It is what makes converting an old federal courthouse into a stunning multi-tenant office building possible.”

The property went on the market in the spring of 2022, and the request for proposals issued by MassDevelopment attracted a number of bids.

Moving forward, Mitta said several of the leases of current tenants will be expiring over the next several years. He expressed optimism for renewals, but also for new tenants looking to take advantage of the property’s location and other amenities.

“Tenancy is not a permanent thing — tenants come and go; we know that,” he said. “Some leases are going to expire over the next few years, but we know how to market, and we have a very strong team here.”

“Even those working at home still go to the office — businesses prefer the hybrid model. They need a place where people can collaborate, meet, greet, that kind of thing. That need is still there, and I don’t know if it will ever go.”

Elaborating, he said this team is hoping to attract some current occupants of class-B space to properties that are not much more expensive but bring a number of amenities that class-B properties do not, including parking garages, lighting safety, and that aforementioned location in the heart of downtown.

The property at 1550 Main differs from its neighbor, Tower Square, to which it is connected by a skybridge, in many respects, said Mitta. He noted that Tower Square required significant investment and “re-imagining,” a word he and Patel use often, such as with new tenants that include the YMCA of Greater Springfield. The newer 1550 Main will not require much of either, he said, which is another of those considerations that prompted interest in the building.

As for the trend toward remote work and hybrid work schedules, Mitta acknowledged that there is likely permanence attached to these trends, but, ultimately, he anticipates that there will still be strong demand for office space, especially in the class-A category.

“Even those working at home still go to the office — businesses prefer the hybrid model,” he explained. “They need a place where people can collaborate, meet, greet, that kind of thing. That need is still there, and I don’t know if it will ever go.”

For evidence of this, Mitta points to Tower Square, where he acknowledged that the number of people in the office tower on any given day may be lower than it was prior to the pandemic. But overall, space needs have not changed to a great degree, and new leases continue to be signed.

“Overall, rent is a comparatively small item on the P&L statement,” he said, adding that, for this reason, he has seen few if any tenants at Tower Square downsizing.

MassDevelopment Sells 1550 Main to Mittas Holdings and DGP Properties

By
Business Management Commercial Real Estate Daily News News Real Estate

SPRINGFIELD — After 13 years of ownership, MassDevelopment announced it has sold 1550 Main in Springfield to Mittas Holdings, LLC and DGP Properties, LLC, owned by Vidhyadhar “Vid” Mitta and Dinesh Patel, respectively. 1550 Main is a 130,000-square-foot building with a highly visible public plaza and 103 parking spaces below grade, with physical connections via skywalks to adjacent garages.

“Revitalizing underused commercial properties helps bring additional jobs, foot traffic, energy, and economic growth to a neighborhood,” said Housing and Economic Development Secretary Mike Kennealy, who chairs MassDevelopment’s board of directors. “MassDevelopment’s stewardship of 1550 Main has sparked new life in a prominent building in downtown Springfield and demonstrated the value of investing in and modernizing properties to meet the needs of communities today.”

MassDevelopment President and CEO Dan Rivera added that “working with tenants, partners, and the city of Springfield over the years allowed us to cultivate this property to its best and highest use. This type of focused teamwork is how long-lasting redevelopment takes root. It is what makes converting an old federal courthouse into a stunning multi-tenant office building possible.”

In 2009, MassDevelopment purchased 1550 Main from the federal government. On arrival, the property was 70% occupied and in need of significant upgrades. After exceeding all goals, including reaching a current occupancy level of 98%, MassDevelopment put the property up for sale to the CRE market through a disposition process to allow the agency to refocus its investment efforts elsewhere. Current 1550 Main tenants include the Springfield School Department, Baystate Health, the Internal Revenue Service, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and regional offices for U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey. The new ownership group will assume all existing lease agreements.

“I want to thank MassDevelopment President and CEO Dan Rivera and his dedicated team for their continued belief and investment in our Springfield,” Mayor Domenic Sarno said. “The property at 1550 Main Street is a key piece to the economic stability of our downtown. Dinesh Patel, Vidhyadhar Mitta, and their team have a proven track record of property ownership, management, investment, and economic development, as they are also the owners of our Springfield Tower Square property at 1500 Main Street since 2018, and oversaw the grand reopening of our iconic Marriott Springfield Downtown Hotel. All of this makes them the ideal owners to continue the advancement and oversight of this important and vital economic-development property. I have the full confidence that they will continue to enhance our downtown Springfield footprint while providing the same quality of investment and management to the existing tenants of 1550 Main Street, including our Springfield School Department.”

Said Mitta, “I thank all public officials and local communities for supporting us to make such investments in Springfield. We will continue to do our best to match MassDevelopment’s role.”

Added Patel, “I am very excited to continue the fantastic job done by the MassDevelopment team. As a local real-estate developer, I also greatly appreciate Mayor Sarno’s support and trust in continuing the success at 1550 Main.”

Project is Transforming Westfield’s Historic Lambson Building

By
Lambson Building
Commercial Real Estate Special Coverage

Furnishing the Future

 

Lambson Building

Lambson Building

Gene Borowski has a keen sense of history.

So he was especially intrigued by an old hydraulic elevator in the former Lambson Furniture building in downtown Westfield, which was manufactured at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in the late 1800s and installed in the furniture business around 1896.

It was still operable, he said, but its cable shutoff system no longer meets modern building codes. So now, on the first floor of the building sits an array of 21st-century elevator parts, ready to be assembled — though Borowski still plans to use the original carriage in the new, modern shaft.

“It was one of the first hydraulic-powered elevators of its time,” said Phil Peake, one of Borowski’s co-investors on a project to rehabilitate the building. “And it actually worked.”

The development project known as Lambson Square includes both the four-story Lambson building at 89 Elm St. and the connected two-story building at 81-83 Elm St., which most recently housed Bentley Billiards, as well as a 15-space parking area in the rear.

“It’s quite a project. The goal is to take this business and turn it into some kind of resource for the town.”

Borowski bought the building in 2019 for $275,000, and has accessed $350,000 in Community Preservation Act (CPA) funds to painstakingly restore — as in brick by brick — the building’s Italianite exterior. Another award of $585,000 targeting underutilized properties in the downtown district will finish bringing the building up to code, including restrooms, handicapped access, and more.

“It’s quite a project,” said Peake, who is also a psychology professor at Smith College. “The goal is to take this business and turn it into some kind of resource for the town.”

Borowski plans to use the first floor of both buildings for restaurants, bars, and music and entertainment space. Among the items he’s secured are a chandelier from the old Union Station in Northampton and all the kitchen and furniture from the Sierra Grill restaurant in Northampton, which closed a few years ago. He also plans to turn a small roof off the second floor of 81-83 Elm into a courtyard and perhaps café space.

The second floor of 89 Elm will house small businesses and vendors and perhaps co-working space, while the third and fourth floors will feature a mix of residential units: two-bedroom, one-bedroom, and studio. Tenants will enjoy touches like the original, restored window trim and the original glass panes, all given a modern insulation seal — just one example of how “we’re trying to take this old building and bring it into this century,” Peake said.

Gene Borowski (left) and Phil Peake

Gene Borowski (left) and Phil Peake stand in one of the future living units in the Lambson building.

Borowski wants to rent the residential units for less than a typical rent in the district, as low as $900 a month, compared to a nearby building that was renting for $1,600 recently. The idea is to make the property as attractive as possible to residents, businesses, and hospitality entities alike as part of a revitalization of that stretch of Elm Street, across from the Olver Transit Pavilion and a plot of land the city plans to turn into an outdoor performance space.

“It is the intention of Lambson Square Properties to develop the shell of a building that was formerly the Lambson Furniture building into a vibrant, multi-use hub in a manner that we believe will catalyze the entire Elm Street business district,” Borowski and his partners wrote in their initial funding request from the city’s Community Preservation Commission.

“At present, there is limited foot traffic at Elm and Thomas streets in part due to the lack of compelling retail (and housing) options in the area,” they went on. “We believe the development Lambson Square will inspire redevelopment and spur occupancy rates throughout the Elm Street business district by re-establishing the Lambson Furniture building as a focal point for both attractive retail options and community housing.”

 

Historical Undertaking

Peake prepared a lengthy history of the Lambson property, which we’ll condense as much as possible.

The Lambson Furniture building was built at the corner of Elm and Thomas streets on a parcel of land that Clinton Lambson acquired from Reuben Noble, one of Westfield’s prominent early landowners and benefactor of what is now the Baystate Noble Hospital. Lambson had established the furniture company in 1860, began construction of the building in 1868, and occupied it for business in 1869.

In its early years, the building was the site of furniture manufacturing, and many would-be furniture makers traveled to Westfield to apprentice with Lambson and his partner, William Whitney. Over the years, the furnishings side of the business focused on the manufacture and sale of home-related items like baby carriages, bedding, and desk and parlor sets, all displayed on the expansive first-floor showroom of the building.

Also manufactured in the building were caskets, as Lambson also ran an undertaking business in the building. Historical records suggest that both the furniture and undertaking businesses were flourishing and highly competitive enterprises as industry — especially the whip industry — infiltrated Westfield in the late 1800s. The Lambson Furniture building continued to house the undertaking business until 1944.

second floor of the property

The second floor of the property is being envisioned as spaces for small businesses and/or co-working space.

“Back in those days, the furniture makers were also the undertakers. He also owned a piece of the cemetery,” Peake told BusinessWest. “He was a real entrepreneur.”

Around 1896, Lambson installed the hydraulic elevator, likely one of the first in operation in Massachusetts, and the first and only hydraulic elevator designed and manufactured at the Washburn Shops at WPI. The elevator was in continuous use until 1998.

Around 1910, a two-and-a-half-story warehouse was added to the rear of the building, probably serving as a shipping and storage facility for furniture that was shipped to the company. Finally, in 1924, a fourth story was added to the building.

After the furniture company closed in 2002, the building was purchased in 2004 by Brian Whitely, who operated Bentley Billiards on the first floor of the Lambson Building and the first and second floors of the adjoining building until it closed in 2007. During the 12 years that the property was unoccupied, Whitely upgraded many of the mechanical components of the main building.

In 2011, the city of Westfield purchased the rear warehouse, which had by then gone into disrepair, in an effort to develop increased public parking to support business in the Elm Street business district. Unfortunately, the demolition of the warehouse left the back wall of the main building physically scarred, while former egress points for the two buildings were eliminated, rendering the upper floors of the main building in code violation for occupancy. The access doorways were covered with plywood, and much of the brickwork on the rear of the building was damaged. In addition, both corners of the building suffered considerable damage. Finally, demolition of the rear warehouse removed the only directly accessible restroom facilities for the Lambson building.

“We are excited and already exploring design options that would allow us to use the space to support live music and arts events that are currently being initiated by other businesses in the Elm Street district.”

That exterior damage was repaired — and the aesthetics improved — with the help of that initial $350,000 grant, as well as investments by the Lambson Square Properties team. Besides Borowski, principal owner of Beyond Building Inc., and Peake, that team includes Eugene Borowski Sr., principal owner of Borowski Accounting Inc., and Tristram Metcalfe III, principal owner of Metcalfe Associates Architecture. Joining the Lambson Square Properties team for this project is Sidney Hubbell, construction manager with Jacobs Engineering Group.

Beyond the interior work, Borowski and the team see potential in developing the open space behind the building into a small public-park-like area that might be covered and provide public access to bench seating and perhaps some fixed-in-place board games.

One of the current tasks is modernizing the original, 126-year-old hydraulic elevator.

One of the current tasks is modernizing the original, 126-year-old hydraulic elevator.

“We see the back wall of the building as the least historically significant portion of the building, yet the part of the building that cries out most for creative planning and use,” the CPA funding application notes. “We are excited and already exploring design options that would allow us to use the space to support live music and arts events that are currently being initiated by other businesses in the Elm Street district.”

 

Spring Ahead

Before the pandemic, Borowski said, he had two restaurants lined up as first-floor tenants, but those plans later fell apart. He’s confident others will emerge, but at first, he might hire a general manager and open up a restaurant himself. “I know we would do well, and the city’s dying for some entertainment and good food.”

Meanwhile, professors from Westfield State University have visited, and ideas kicked around include a science museum or another educational project.

At any rate, if completion of the interior goes as planned, Borowski is looking at tenants moving in by the spring. “The sprinkler, electrical, water, sewer, all the infrastructure is done, and I can tell you, that’s the hardest thing.”

Borowski paused for a moment late in his tour of the buildings with BusinessWest and tried to capture what initially drew him to this investment.

“My father and I looked at this as a righteous project,” he said. “This is a Westfield jewel here. This is part of the community. I feel like we’re not the owners of this property; we’re simply the caretakers. And I am privileged to take care of it, to be able to do a project that means something, you know? There’s just something here.”

And soon, there will be much more.

 

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

SR Commercial Realty Is Finding Its Place in the Market

By
Willow State Building
Commercial Real Estate

Making Some Noise

Jeremy Casey, managing partner of SR Commercial Realty

Jeremy Casey, managing partner of SR Commercial Realty

Jeremy Casey had decided it was time to move on from the banking business.

He had already been with several area institutions, working in commercial lending and, to a large degree, commercial real estate, and was seeing the industry change — and consolidate — around him.

He was with Chicopee Savings Bank and doing well there, but could see the handwriting on the wall in the form of a seemingly inevitable merger with Westfield Bank, one of his former employers.

“I didn’t want to be one of those people who jumped from bank to bank and to higher positions in those banks and then to another bank,” he said, adding that he had decided it was time to think about a change.

It would come first with some entrepreneurial undertakings, including an ill-fated venture called Name Net Worth, an app that would essentially measure what he called the ‘ripple effect’ from networking encounters. When that initiative failed, he took a big leap into commercial real estate and a managing-partner position with Springfield-based SR Commercial Realty, a company soon to mark five years in business.

It’s a growing, evolving venture that is making some noise in the market — figuratively but also quite literally. Indeed, Casey said that one trait that separates this company from other players in the market is its progressive and aggressive — some would say loud — marketing of properties.

“We’re noisy — you can’t get away from us,” he explained with a laugh, noting that the company has used large signs (the largest allowed by local ordinances), drone footage, videos, and other methods for bringing attention to properties in the portfolio, which is dominated mostly by industrial properties, retail, and land for development.

Many companies are using some of these tactics now, but Casey says SR Commercial Realty was breaking ground with such methods several years ago.

“Some brokers were actually mocking us at the time, but now, it’s the standard five years later,” he said, adding quickly that ‘noisy’ marketing is only one of three pillars that shape the company’s operating style. The others are communication and responsiveness, traits that have helped SR consistently build on its portfolio and add properties ranging from Thornes Market in Northampton to the former Channing Beete complex in Deerfield, sold to Treehouse Brewery; from the former Berkshire Industries property in Westfield to several properties in downtown Springfield and also downtown Hartford.

“Commercial real estate has been the same forever, but it will change, whether people like it or not. Technology will pay a huge role, and that gives us a good competitive advantage, because we’ve already been using it.”

Each of these properties is in some way unique, and they have been handled differently, he said, adding that this is one of the linchpins of the company’s operating philosophy.

“In commercial real estate, no building is the same, and no buyer is the same,” adding that this reality separates this sector from residential real estate to a large degree. “Residential is so black and white; with commercial, there’s very black and white and so much gray.”

Moving forward, Casey said the goal is to obviously continue to build the portfolio and expand the company’s reach — it has already added properties in the Boston area and on Cape Cod — while also being on the cutting edge of changes coming to the industry, not just in how properties are marketed, but to how business is done in general.

These are changes he believes are needed — and also inevitable.

“The industry needs to be disrupted,” he said. “Commercial real estate has been the same forever, but it will change, whether people like it or not. Technology will pay a huge role, and that gives us a good competitive advantage, because we’ve already been using it.”

For this issue and its focus on commercial real estate, BusinessWest talked at length with Casey, one of its 40 Under Forty honorees from his days in banking, about SR Commercial Realty and where he hopes to take this company in the years to come.

 

Building Momentum

The wall behind the desk in Casey’s office features a treatment depicting several of the landmark buildings in downtown Springfield — Tower Square, Monarch Place, the Colonial Block, the Campanielle, among others.

It’s one of the countless touches in the Willow State Building (so-called because it sits at the corner of Willow and State streets in downtown Springfield), which he co-owns with a few partners, that he did himself.

In fact, the partners did just about everything themselves, he went on, pointing to everything from the red, black, gray, and a little bit of green paint used on the walls in the SR Commercial Realty offices to the bathroom fixtures in all the suites; from the exterior façade (more black) to build-out for several new tenants, which range from Suit Up Springfield to HomeCare Hands to a new restaurant in the early stages of construction.

“We’ve put thousands of hours into this property — we’ve been working on it for three years straight,” he said, adding that he and his partners have succeeded in creating what he called a “community.”

Willow State Building

Renovating and securing new tenants for the Willow State Building has been one of Jeremy Casey’s passions. Growing SR Commercial Realty and expanding its portfolio and geographic reach has been another.

The Willow State Building has been a passion for Casey since he and his partners acquired it just prior to the start of the pandemic — or, more accurately, one of his passions, with SR Commercial Realty being the other.

Both have been works in progress and studies in entrepreneurship, resourcefulness, and well, different ways of doing things.

In many respects, anyway.

Indeed, Casey said the fundamentals of the commercial real-estate business, mostly the same as they are in banking, have not changed and won’t change.

Both sectors are grounded in relationship building and responding to the needs of customers, he explained, noting that he has taken these principles from his time in banking to this next chapter in his career.

This chapter started just after the demise of Name Net Worth, a very difficult time in Casey’s life, one when he looked inward and decided to move forward rather than look back or dwell on the present.

“I could have sat there and pouted and gone ‘poor me’ … it was a tough time, I had a newborn baby, we just bought a house, and we were gutting the house and redoing it, and I had no job, nothing,” he recalled, adding that he called his eventual business partner, who already had a small commercial real-estate business, and proposed a new venture.

“I linked up with him, and we took the same methodologies we used in the startup world and took them to commercial real estate,” he explained. “Specifically, that means listening to customers, not just coming up with what we think, but listening to where the pain points are in the industry.

“And, candidly, there were a lot of them,” he went on, adding that the company was founded with that focus on marketing, communication, and responsiveness.

With marketing, as he said earlier, the goal was to push the envelope and look for new, different, and more effective ways to do things.

“The way things were marketed before, you put a sign up, and you put the property on LoopNet or maybe that book you see in the convenience store,” he explained. “No one was using social media, no one was using video, no one was using professional photography.”

Partnering with Seven Roads Media (so named because it was based in East Longmeadow, where seven roads come together at that famous rotary), which is now a tenant in the Willow State Building, SR Commercial Realty worked to take commercial real-estate marketing to the proverbial next level with video and other strategies, including large signs.

“The largest sign we did was nine by 18 feet, and we did two of them — they were so large, they needed wind slits,” said Casey, referring to a property in Middletown, Conn. “We’ve painted buildings to bring attention to them … we try to get as much exposure as possible.”

This is what Casey meant by ‘noisy,’ which he believes is just one of the company’s attributes as it works to expand its portfolio and grow market share.

Others include the staff itself. It is young, with the average age of the brokers being in the 30s, and diverse, with brokers coming from different backgrounds in business, he said, adding that these various attributes are beneficial in this market and many others where demographics are changing.

“Not one person in this company had commercial real-estate brokerage experience prior to joining,” he said, adding that the different work experiences have brought fresh perspectives on how to do things.

Also beneficial, he said, is the high level of involvement, and communication, with clients, that has been the company’s MO.

“A broker is, by definition, someone who introduces two parties to consumate a relationship of a deal,” Casey explained. “But we’re very involved … the staff that we have here act like paralegals, so our deals don’t fall apart. We like to say that we provide a hands-on, white-glove experience with transaction coordination and transaction management; we work with clients so they truly get the experience they want.”

 

Signs of the Times

Like the lobbies of most all commercial-real estate firms, the one at SR boasts photos of properties it handles or has handled.

Casey pointed to framed aerial images of Thornes Marketplace, a section of downtown Hartford, and the Channing Beete property in Deerfield, before it was transformed by Treehouse.

The goal moving forward, obviously, is to build on this collection and fill more walls with pictures.

This can be done by focusing on the proverbial big picture, he went on, referring, again, to the company’s focus on listening to customers, hearing what they’re saying, and responding accordingly.

By continuing to do that, this growing company can make even more noise in this highly competitive industry.

 

George O’Brien can be reached at [email protected]

Holyoke to Launch ‘Permanent Pop-up’ Featuring Local Works

By
Commercial Real Estate

Art of the City

As part of transformative development initiatives and rapid-recovery tourism efforts to attract more visitors to downtown, the city of Holyoke, in collaboration with the Greater Holyoke Chamber of Commerce and Print Shop Inc., will open the Artery, an art store and gallery at 289 High St., this month. It will run throughout 2023 and feature original and remade works crafted by a diverse array of regional talent. A grand-opening event is planned for Friday, Oct. 14.

“We are excited to see this project coming together,” said Aaron Vega, director of the Office and Planning Economic Development. “Our focus on tourism is supporting the economic development and future of the city. We are excited to invite people to visit the Artery and see for themselves the exciting things happening downtown.”

The Artery will be an assorted marketplace curating an eclectic mix of original and remade works of art and artisan products from creative makers from Holyoke and Western Mass. Shoppers will find unique, handcrafted, upcycled, and refinished pieces across a wide variety of disciplines and range of prices, including one-of-a-kind paintings and sculpture. The space will regularly feature local and visiting artists, hold openings and community events, and offer programming, workshops, and activities. Also functioning as an ad hoc tourism office, the Artery will promote and direct patrons to the other stores, galleries, studios, restaurants, and interesting spaces that can be visited while in the area.

The Artery will be adjacent to Cravo, a bustling restaurant, food truck, and catering business known for its fresh approach to hybrid cuisine. Owner and Head Chef Nicole Ortiz is excited to have a new neighbor, saying, “we’re elated to have this new art and culture hub right next door to our brick and mortar. This is something that downtown Holyoke has desperately needed for so long. We look forward to partnering with the space in any way possible.”

This project has been initially funded by a Massachusetts Regional Economic Development Organization grant managed by the Western Massachusetts Economic Development Council. Organizers continue to seek additional grant funding and sponsorships for startup and operating expenses. Working with Arrow Properties Inc., organizers have secured the location for six months with plans to renew as earned revenue and additional funding allows.

The Artery will be managed by Print Shop Inc., a Holyoke nonprofit running the DIY makerspace and classroom at 62 Main St. As the city’s former Creative Economy Industries coordinator, Print Shop Executive Director Jeffrey Bianchine has layers of experience popping up vendor fairs and retail storefronts in downtown Holyoke since 2013. Many of the maker members producing some of their work at the Print Shop will be featured in the Artery. The nonprofit has also incorporated into its mission an involvement with civic event organizing, placemaking, and tactical urbanism activities to spur transformative development.

“We are thrilled to be helping with this. Arrow Properties has been great getting the space ready, and there is plenty of time to get the word out there for the holidays this year,” said Bianchine, citing the rushed and short nature of pop-ups in the past. “I am looking forward to making this one stick.”

Anyone interested in selling their work at the Artery may visit www.holyokeart.com and register their work, or email [email protected] with any questions.

Law Firm Will Write the Next Chapter in History of the Alexander House

By
Commercial Real Estate Special Coverage

A Landmark Decision

The historic Alexander House

The historic Alexander House

Amy Royal first started taking notice of the Alexander House in Springfield when she was a high-school student at nearby MacDuffie, and soon became taken in by its beauty, 200 years of history, and place in the city. Later, she started viewing the property in a different light — as a potential home for her growing law firm. Earlier this year, that dream came true.

Amy Royal says she’s long had an affection for the historic Alexander House in Springfield.

She first took hard notice of it when she was in high school at MacDuffie, located a mile or so away from the home’s former location on State Street. Back then, she recalled, it was a beautiful home with a lot of history, and she’s always had a fondness for structures that fit that description and now lives in a home that is nearly 250 years old.

Later, after beginning her career as an employment-law attorney and eventually starting her own firm, she started looking at the 6,000-square-foot home, built in 1811, in a much different light — as a place to locate her business.

Amy Royal, seen at the grand staircase of the historic Alexander House, has long had her eye on the landmark as a home for her business.

“I’ve always really, really loved the building,” she told BusinessWest. “Everything about it — the design, its place in the city’s history … it’s magnificent.”

These thoughts only intensified after the Alexander House was moved from its long-time location around the corner to Eliot Street to make way for the new federal courthouse in Springfield that eventually opened its doors in late 2008. Royal had business in the courthouse, and eventually found parking a few hundred yards down Eliot Street, necessitating a walk past the Alexander House.

“At that point in time, it was beautiful, but you could tell that it needed a lot of help — even though it had been moved by the federal government, it needed a lot of love,” she recalled. “I remember thinking ‘I wish I could buy that building; I wonder if that building is for sale?’”

Today, Royal is living the dream, literally — the one about moving her growing business, the Royal Law Firm, into the Alexander House’s 14 rooms, and the basement as well.

She’s needed a new home almost from the day she moved into her now-former home, leased space in the large office building at 819 Worcester St. in Indian Orchard. She looked at both options, leasing and owning, and decided that the latter made far more sense.

But owning the Alexander House? Like she said, this was a long-held dream come true.

“I’ve always really, really loved the building. Everything about it — the design, its place in the city’s history … it’s magnificent.”

For this issue and its focus on commercial real estate, BusinessWest talked with Royal about how her affection for this historic home became a quest — and eventually a dream realized. We also got a tour, one that quickly revealed why this landmark has been a career-long pursuit for Royal.

 

At Home with the Idea

Royal said she’s looking forward to being able to walk to the federal courthouse when she has business there, especially when she considers the large amounts of paperwork she traditionally brings with her when she’s in court.

Which … isn’t very often at all, she told BusinessWest.

One of the 14 rooms at the Alexander House

One of the 14 rooms at the Alexander House has become home to the Royal Law Firm’s main conference room.

“We’re civil litigators … if I don’t see the inside of a courthouse in a year, that’s not unusual,” she said, adding that location, location, location, the driving force in many decisions concerning real estate, was only a minor factor in this case. It was the property that drove this decision.

Since launching her own law firm, Royal has had lengthy drives to that federal courthouse. After starting in a small office on Center Street in Northampton, she relocated to larger quarters on Pleasant Street, and remained there until moving her headquarters office — she has satellite locations in several other cities — to a suite of offices in the building on Worcester Street in March 2020, just after the pandemic found its way to Western Mass.

She wasn’t expecting to be looking for a new home so quickly, but rapid growth — traditionally put in the ‘good problem to have’ category, although it does present challenges — made a change necessary.

“I knew we were outgrowing our space where we were — I just didn’t expect to outgrow it as quickly as we did,” she explained. “I just casually started looking for something.”

In a nice twist of fate, this casual search coincided with the Alexander House being put on the market in June 2021, signaling the start of a new chapter for a home that had seen plenty of history and had become historic in its own right.

Designed by the prominent architect Asher Benjamin and built by noted builder Simon Sanborn, the Greek revival home draws its name from its fourth owner, Henry Alexander Jr., a mayor of Springfield who acquired the property in 1958. But it has another, less-known known name, the Miss Amy House, derived from Alexander’s daughter, Amy, who lived in the house for many years and was quite active in the community on a number of philanthropic fronts.

Rooms at the Alexander House have been converted into a small conference room and lawyers’ offices.

The home has had a relatively small number of owners over the years, said Royal, who has come to know the history of the property — she learned in high school that one of the dorms there was designed to reflect the Alexander House — and is always seeking to learn more about it.

When a search was commenced for a home for a new federal courthouse at the start of this century, those involved, and especially U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, became determined to find a location on State Street, long the cultural and historic thoroughfare in the city and home to several schools, churches, and government buildings.

The property on which the Alexander House stood became the preferred location, and to make it happen, a short but complicated — because of the size, age, and condition of the home — move had to undertaken, one that was well-chronicled and captured the attention of the city.

After the move, the home became to several small businesses, including an architect and an attorney, but much of it was unoccupied. As noted, it came on the market in the summer of 2021, and soon after, Royal commenced her pursuit of the home.

Because of that aforementioned move, the home now has a new foundation, one of many features that caught her eye when she toured the property after it went on the market.

“The foundation they put in is incredible — there must be 10-foot ceilings there,” she told BusinessWest, adding that her firm will use that space as a filing center but may eventually build it out.

“I’ve always really, really loved the building. Everything about it — the design, its place in the city’s history … it’s magnificent.”

But there was so much more, obviously.

“I thought it was magnificent — the spiral staircase alone just stood out to me,” she recalled. “But every facet of the architecture — the crown molding, the ornate craftsmanship in all of the trim work, the grand ceilings, the chandeliers, the fireplaces … to me, it just spoke of having a law-firm practice inside; it’s a magnificent place to have a law firm.”

Royal said she heard anecdotally that there were a number of other suitors for the Alexander House when it came on the market. She believes she prevailed because her passion for the property quickly became evident, and she convinced then-owner Thomas Schoeper that she would be a good custodian of the landmark.

“He really wanted someone who would be a good steward of the property and really cared about its history and character and the integrity of the building itself,” she noted. “I spent a lot of time talking with him about all that.”

Royal closed in February of this year and has spent the past several months giving the property that ‘love’ she said it needed. Improvements have included a new HVAC system, an alarm system, remodeling the kitchen, installing IT wiring throughout, and painting many of the rooms, she said, noting that the property is subject to historic covenants and monitored by Historic New England, and also subject to an annual inspection and historic preservation.

The firm moved in a few weeks ago and is still settling in, Royal said, adding that, with a property of this vintage, there will always be work to do.

“That’s going to be a never-ending project,” she said. “That’s the way it is with historic buildings.”

Meanwhile, her new mailing address is everything she hoped it could be and would be when she first started thinking about it as a future home all those years ago.

“Everyone here just loves it — it’s a great place to work,” she said.

 

Right Place, Right Time

Noting the continued growth of her law firm, Royal was asked if the Alexander House provides the requisite space for additional team members.

She said it did, but in a more emphatic voice, she noted that she would not be moving again — soon or probably ever.

“We may grow in other regions — that’s the plan — but this will be our headquarters building,” she said. “This is home.”

 

George O’Brien can be reached at [email protected]