Page 15 - BusinessWest November 24, 2025

“This is a very
substantial
requirement
from the largest
commercial tenant in
Massachusetts that
also happens to be
one of the strongest
credit tenants
available in the
marketplace, and
this is a time when
the commercial real
estate market is not
as strong as it has
been at other times.”
ADAM BAACKE
of downtown.”
That’s his opinion.
And everyone, it seems, has their own opinion on
this project, which has captured the attention of the
development community, the business community,
the legal community, and the city as a whole — to an
extent that has impressed Adam Baacke, commission-
er of the State Department of Capital Asset Manage-
ment and Maintenance (DCAMM), which issued the
RFP and will decide — probably in Q1 of next year —
which of the 11 proposals received will be the winner.
“We do a lot of projects, both construction and
leasing, and the vast majority of them don’t garner the
level of interest and, dare I say, excitement that this is
generating in Springfield,” he said. “We’re happy to be
involved with something that the community sees as
such a significant project for its city.”
Efforts to build a replacement for the troubled
Roderick L. Ireland Courthouse reached an intriguing
phase last month, when DCAMM released the list of
11 proposals submitted by a wide range of local and
regional developers (see box).
The submissions cover an eclectic mix of proper-
ties, ranging from the park created when the Steiger’s
department store on Main Street was razed nearly
30 years ago to the building that houses the Republican and its
giant printing presses; from the site of a factory where Absorbine
Jr. was made to a now-vacant property that was home to a strip
club.
Meanwhile, the list of developers includes a notable who’s
who when it comes to major projects in Springfield and the
Commonwealth, from Davenport and HYM to the brothers Pick-
nelly (Paul and Peter, each heading their own proposal); from
Greatland Realty Partners, which recently prevailed in a similar
competition to build the state’s new crime lab in Marlborough, to
the team of Jeb Balise, president of Balise Motor Sales, and Tom
Dennis, president of the Dennis Group, which both have down-
An architect’s rendering of the proposal submitted for the
property at 55 State St.
town Springfield development projects in their portfolios.
These groups were drawn in by a unique opportunity whereby
DCAMM has decided to use a private developer to identify a site,
permit, and build the new justice center and then lease it back to
the Commonwealth. The terms are quite attractive — a 40-year
lease, a rarity in commercial real estate — with an obviously
high-credit tenant, and these conditions certainly contributed to
what Baacke considers a robust response.
“We’re very happy with the quantity of responses, and I think
The original
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