Page 73 - BusinessWest September 18, 2023

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 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 grow-
ing 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 con- tinue growing the firm and the portfo- lio by convincing more property own- ers (and potential property owners) to become partners with the firm, in the same vein as those who own Tower Square.
“We are past this concept of working from home — it’s losing traction.”
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 point- ed 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 facil- ity 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 ten- ants, which makes it ideal for the Macmillan Group and its partners, who bring different areas of exper- tise to the table. Panteleakis offers a diverse background, including work in succession planning, development, and construction management, but
BusinessWest
especially a strong focus on the office market through his work with Mass- Mutual. Kroll, meanwhile, brings exper- tise in the retail market, while Healy has focused on the office market as well as industrial and medical.
And all three brought an under- standing of this market and relation- ships 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. Pante- leakis recalls that most of the talk, and speculation, was about converting the hotel, and perhaps parts of the com- plex, 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,” Pan- teleakis recalled, adding that Kroll and Healy were face-to-face with the entre- preneurs, while he joined on a confer-
ence call. And they, and especially Pan- teleakis, 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
<< COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE >>
SEPTEMBER 18, 2023 33