Page 21 - BusinessWest January 24, 2022

several early-education facilities oper- ating under the name the Learning Experience, as well as Synergic Solu- tions, which provides information- technology solutions to businesses around the globe.
And they continue to invest in new ventures, including development of a 14-acre parcel in Windsor, Conn. into
a mixed-use complex that will include a hotel, apartments, a gas station, a car wash, and other components. Work on the project, to be called Windsor Cross- ing, is set to commence next spring.
The top line on each résumé now, though, is Tower Square, and how these two came together to purchase the 50-year-old landmark is an intrigu- ing story, which they summed up as a calculated risk well worth taking.
The two certainly knew each other well — as noted, they both had owner- ship stakes in the Thunderbirds, and Patel had sold some properties to Mitta — but they had never launched a joint venture together ... until Tower Square came on the market in late 2017.
“When I came across this par- ticular listing from MassMutual, I approached Dinesh and asked him what his thoughts were,” Mitta said. “He said that if I was interested, he was willing to partner, and that got the ball rolling.”
“This project has given us a lot of confidence. If there’s a space, and the structure is good, like we have here, we know we can create something in our mind and move forward.”
Patel recalls them having a lengthy discussion concerning the property — which came in two parts, the hotel and the retail/office complex adjoining it — on opening night of the Thunderbirds’ 2017-18 season, which came only a day before the deadline for submitting bids for the Tower Square property.
“Between 4 and 5 o’clock, I was in Northampton on a bike ride, and I thought to myself, ‘I want to pull the trigger on this,’” he went on, adding that a bid was submitted mere minutes before the 5 p.m. deadline.
Bidding on Tower Square was cer- tainly not a slam-dunk proposition
at the time; in fact, it was far from it. While the building, which changed the downtown Springfield skyline in dramatic fashion when it opened in the late ’60s, had some core tenants
in its retail space — UMass Amherst, Cambridge College, and a CVS, among others — and several more in its office tower, the complex had certainly seen better days.
MassMutual was soon to be vacat- ing several floors in the office tower, many spaces in the retail portion of the building were vacant or underutilized, and the hotel on the property had lost the Marriott flag that had flown over it for decades and was now known as the Tower Square Hotel.
But while others were looking at a glass half-empty — or far worse — the two partners saw potential, and some- thing else as well: an important prop- erty in a city that they had invested in and become part of.
“My wife and I were having lunch together and started talking about Tower Square,” Patel recalled. “She
The partners say they are not renovating Tower
Square and its hotel, but ‘reimagining’ those spaces.
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