Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | January 7, 2019 | Worcester Business Journal 5 B R I E FS Worcester increases biz property tax burden Despite pleas from a host of business owners and others in the business community to narrow the gap between the residential and commercial tax rate, the Worcester City Council in December again opted to decrease the tax bill for homeowners at the expense of commercial and industrial property owners. e new rates of $18 per $1,000 of valuation for residential properties and $34.90 for business properties will raise the average tax bill by $47 and $135, respectively. e 2018 rates were $18.91 for residential and $34.03 for commercial properties. Although the tax rates decreased, property valuations across the city are up, leading to the tax bill increase despite the lower rate. At the council meeting, first to speak was Alex Guardiola, director of government affairs and public policy for the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce, which for several years has been advocating to narrow the gap Gold Star is the best neighborhood for retail e Girl Scouts of Central & Western Massachusetts has sold its buildings on Worcester's Gold Star Boulevard to Leominster retail developer Lisciotti Development, which plans on building a new 9,000-square-foot plaza. New retail there would join a 55,000-square-foot development called the Trolley Yard rising just down the street where the Worcester Regional Transit Authority had its longtime facility. ey join other planned developments throughout the city including new storefronts downtown and the WooSox stadium development in the Canal District. When polled online, the plurality of WBJ readers felt this area was the best in Worcester for retail. F L AS H P O L L What Worcester neighborhood is the best location for retail? 6% between commercial and residential tax bills in hopes of eventually getting Worcester back to a single-tax rate since splitting the two in 1984. Guardiola noted several neighbor- ing towns have taken steps to reduce the tax burden on business owners, including Auburn, Fitchburg, Webster and Clinton. "is leaves Worcester as the only local community who instead of nar- rowing the gap has increased it over the past three years," he said. e high tax rate, he said, is partic- ularly damaging to manufacturers and inventory-heavy companies. Continued on next page Downtown 18% Worcester City Hall Hanover completes Chaucer sale for $940M Worcester insurance firm Hanover Insurance Group has completed the sale of its London specialty insurance business Chaucer for $940 million. at price is about $10 million less than what the company originally announced in September when it said it reached a deal to sell Chaucer to China Reinsurance Corp. Hanover first bought Chaucer back in 2011 for $510 million. LakePharma opens Hopkinton facility e California company once rumored to be an anchor tenant at the Worcester Biomanufacturing Park is now fully operational at a facility in Hopkinton. LakePharma, Inc., a bio- logics company based in San Carlos, began commercially manufacturing plasmid DNA at 35 South St. e company in December 2017 purchased the building, the former home of Bristol-Myers Squibb and Olympus Biotech, for $4.5 million. e Hopkinton center allows the company,which collaborates on proj- ects at all stages of biologics devel- opment, to provide fully-integrated solutions. Craft beer restaurant owner buys strip club e owner of a cra beer restaurant franchise has purchased the Riviera Show Club on Southbridge Street, but no changes are planned just yet. Attorney Caroline O'Connell, representing Cra Brewers Exchange owner Michael Carney, told Worcester License Commission the current busi- ness will run as is for the time being. Carney decline to detail plans for the space, but he does have plans else- where for beer-centric restaurants. Work begins on $44M Hudson senior facility Site work has begun for a senior living facility in Hudson with 147 total units. e $44-million project, Sage Life at Bay Village Hudson, will include 86 assisted living apartments and 61 independent living apartments. e site sits at a high-traffic and high-visibility intersection where the Route 85 connector to I-495 meets Washington Street. Across the street is a Stop & Shop, near a Walgreens and Ninety-Nine restaurant. Hudson Towne Center, anchored by a Shaw's and Petco, stands just up the street. Shrewsbury Street 18% Canal District 12% Gold Star Boulevard 32% Lincloln Street 14% * 0% Grafton Hill Main South

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