Page 24 - BusinessWest January 24, 2022

Tower Square was decades ago but hasn’t been for some time.
“If you look at the building today, it efficiently serves the needs of modern office tenants, and that’s been though significant upgrades to that space,” Sheehan said. “The investment of more than $20 million in completely refurbishing the hotel and restoring the Marriott flag will attract new and more visitors to downtown and enhance the city’s attractiveness as a meeting and conven- tion destination. Additionally, they’ve created a sense of excitement — I don’t think you can use any other word — about what the building’s pub- lic space could actually be.”
back. We don’t want to stop, so we had to pay these higher prices and keep going.”
As just one example, Patel noted that steel prices have risen 48% this year, an increase that could not have been foreseen when they bought the property.
“Increases of 10% or so, you anticipate that; you can factor that in,” he noted. “But 48% to 50%, you can’t plan for that. It’s all about supply and demand.”
Despite the skyrocketing cost of the project, the partners remain optimistic about the hotel and its prospects for the future. They said COVID will eventually relent, and when it does, people — if not businesses — will be ready and willing to travel again.
sor Crossing and continually looking for new entrepreneurial opportunities. That thirst for new opportunities brought them to Tower Square in the first place, and it has seen them through this challenging but ultimately fulfilling time.
“It’s been exciting,” Mitta said. “Every day is a new adventure.”
Landmark Decision
Flashing back to when the partners acquired the Tower Square property, Mitta noted that they had both a plan as well as a backup plan, one that called for converting the office tower into resi- dential space if the office market didn’t develop as anticipated.
That backup plan wasn’t needed, obvious- ly, although there have been some struggles, and COVID certainly has brought many unan- ticipated challenges.
Instead, the partners are moving forward, as Mitta noted, achieving one target at a time. The larger goal is not to turn back the
clock and make Tower Square exactly what it was decades ago, but turn it back to the extent that the landmark is a destination and center of vibrancy.
There is still work to do, but if Mitta and Patel have proven anything, it’s that they are persistent and determined to make the plan they put on the drawing board more than four years ago a reality.
They’ve also shown that they’re quite worthy of BusinessWest’s Top Entrepreneur honor. u
George O’Brien can be reached at [email protected]
While progress has been made on many dif- ferent levels at the Tower Square property, the pandemic has certainly slowed its pace, due
to everything from the soaring cost of materi- als to labor shortages, said the partners, add- ing that it has also made improvements and enhancements more expensive — and far more expensive, in many cases.
“We knew what we were getting into.”
That’s especially true with the ongoing work at the hotel, where supply-chain issues have made
it difficult to obtain needed materials in a timely fashion. Overall, the project, with a price tag that has risen past $30 million, is well behind the origi- nal schedule, which had the hotel reopening last year, but the partners are confident that the facil- ity will be welcoming guests by the end of the sec- ond quarter of this year.
“COVID has hurt us because the cost of con- struction has shot up, and the cost of raw materi- als has shot up as well,” Mitta said. “Every time we import things from China or some other country, the container fees alone are almost four to five times what they used to be two or three years
“People are coming back,” Mitta said. “They’re traveling, they’re using hotels, and the travel industry is coming back — especially when it’s not related to business travel.”
COVID has also brought a halt to any plans
to develop the parcel across Main Street from Tower Square, known to many as the ‘Steiger’s lot’ because that’s where the department store once stood.
Original plans called for building a Hyatt on that property, but the pandemic and its deep impact on travel of all kinds put that initiative on ice, said Patel, adding that their plans will be revis- ited once the Marriott opens.
Meanwhile, they’re advancing plans for Wind-
We’ll Take Care of Your Finances. You Focus On What’s Important.
Berkshire Bank Private Banking helps you manage the everyday while planning for the extraordinary.
Private Banking Benefits:
Exceptional Service
Preferred Access to a Full Suite of Financial Services Customized Banking Program
One Dedicated and Trusted Point of Contact
berkshirebank.com/PrivateBanking
Private Banking
Our Private Bankers manage all of your personal and business financial needs to simplify your life. To learn more we invite you to contact:
Beth Mineo at 413.523.7918
Banking products are provided by Berkshire Bank: Member FDIC. Equal Housing Lender. Berkshire Bank is a Massachusetts chartered bank. Private Banking is the marketing name for an offering of Berkshire Bank deposit and loan products and services. Rev. 01/22
24 JANUARY 24, 2022
TOP ENTREPRENEUR 2021
BusinessWest