Page 67 - BusinessWest November 24, 2021

about Congress and feds giving the state — we could recapitalize those dollars and give a return on investment that would be a million times what they would give us,” Daley said. “We have very, very large properties in Ludlow, specifically, that, without an infusion of cash, it’s going to hard to redevelop. With a small infusion of cash, several million dollars, we can generate a return on investment of $300 million or $400 million,
“Western Mass. is getting more attractive
to investors and to people in general. Over- land Lofts is 97% leased, and it has been 97% leased for some time,” she told BusinessWest. “We thought we were going to have a problem leasing these apartments, and we have not, and what surprised us is that we’ve attracted a lot of residents from the Worcester and Boston areas, because this location is near things that are
Impact Statement
Returning to that town in Minnesota using ARPA money to send young people to commu- nity college, Nesbitt said this is the kind of long- term, high-impact investing that state and area leaders should be thinking about as they consid- er options for allocating funds in the broad realm of economic development.
“These kinds of human-capital investments need to be prioritized,” he said, adding that the workforce crisis now impacting every sector of the economy must be considered a long-term problem and not one that will correct itself in a quarter or two or with the end of additional unemployment benefits.
Stratton agreed, noting that expanding voca- tional-education programs to assist the trades and the region’s large manufacturing sector should also be a priority. Meanwhile, he noted that other forces are converging that might bring more people into the local workforce, such as the ability to work remotely. He said there are more individuals like that executive now living in Over- land Lofts, and, moving forward, they will need places to live.
“We have to have more market-rate housing in the region and be creative about it, and that’s where we talk about downtown developments,” he said. “We can leverage Western Mass. and our lower cost of living by investing in market-rate housing, and such investments will help our businesses, because they are struggling to find and keep employees, and if we have robust mar- ket-rate housing, that will certainly help.”
Meanwhile, with these changes in how and where people work, communities like Springfield
“We thought we were going to have a problem leasing these apartments, and we have not, and what surprised us is that we’ve attracted a lot of residents from the Worcester and Boston areas, because this location is near things that are about to happen — it’s not far from the casino, it’s near the train station ... it checks a lot of boxes for urban living at a much lower cost than living in Boston or Worcester.”
realistically, within five to 10 years — and create a lot of jobs and tax dollars; there are three or four projects we could do that would change the face of Ludlow.”
Martin concurred, noting that this infusion
of federal money comes at an intriguing time, as many forces are coming together to make West- ern Mass. a more attractive option for individuals and businesses alike. These include the much higher cost of living in other areas such as Boston and New York and the opportunity to now work in those areas but live in a lower-cost region like the 413.
about to happen — it’s not far from the casino, it’s near the train station ... it checks a lot of boxes for urban living at a much lower cost than living in Boston or Worcester.”
Elaborating, she said one of the units is being leased by an executive with a Boston-based firm who is now able to work remotely, and chose to do so in downtown Springfield.
With these trends, or developments, in mind, those we spoke with said area cities and towns need to be thinking about ways to utilize the ARPA funds to take full advantage of the opportu- nities currently presenting themselves.
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