Worcester Business Journal

4 Worcester Business Journal | October 28, 2019 | wbjournal.com C E N T R A L M AS S I N B R I E F Two of Worcester's tallest skyscrapers sell in October V E R BAT I M Prostate robot "Methods for detecting prostate cancer early are not nearly as ac- curate as we need them to be, and they are not risk-free. My goal is to create a minimally invasive, easily accessible and cost-effective way to better detect this cancer." Haichong Zhang, an assistant professor in biomedical engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, who received a $2-million National Institutes of Health grant to research a robot capable of detecting prostate cancer Solving the vape problem "We all want to find the silver bullet of what is causing this but unfortunately some used just nicotine, many use just THC, many used a combination of both and we just don't have one thing yet that we can point to." Massachusetts Public Health Commissioner Monica Bharel, on the research to determine what is causing vaping-related illnesses, in the wake of Massachusetts' four-month ban on all vape products English as a Second Language "A vast majority of our population would like to master the English language but may not have the means, or time, to do so. Offering ESL allows us to help the people we employ, and in turn create a positive experience while they are here." Jarrod DiZazzo, general manager of supply chain service for Industrial Packaging, on the Worcester manufacturer's free English as a Second Language program for its employees W orcester Plaza, a 24-story glass office tower in downtown Worcester, sold for $16.5 million, just a few weeks aer the sale of the tall- est residential building in the city was announced. e Worcester Plaza purchase by Synergy Investments, a Boston commer- cial real estate firm, puts the value of the tower at $59 per square foot. Synergy Investments says it has 4 mil- lion square feet of space in its portfolio, primarily across the Boston area. Worcester Plaza is its first Worcester property, its tallest building and its first in an Opportunity Zone, a federal tax program incentivizing new investment in lower-income neighborhoods. Synergy says on its website it is fo- cused on Opportunity Zone potential in the Boston and Worcester areas. Worcester Plaza is one of the two tallest commercial buildings in Worces- ter. e Mercantile Center at 100 Front St. is also 24 stories and was purchased by in 2015 for for $33 million Wellesley developer Chip Norton, who invested an additional $36 million in upgrades. Worcester Plaza was last bought in 2000 for $21.5 million by S-BNK Worcester Main LLC, an entity registered to the Casey Brothers Trust of Boston. It was last assessed at $25.1 million. Skyscrapers selling e Worcester Plaza tower, whose sale closed Oct. 10, is the second major prop- erty in downtown Worcester to change owners in a matter of weeks. Sky Mark Tower, an apartment tower that is also 24 stories, sold for $28.8 million in a transaction announced Oct. 1 by Capstone Apartment Partners, the Charlotte firm brokering the deal. e deal comes out to $139,806 for each of the building's 206 apartments. e building, at Main and Austin streets at the southern edge of downtown, is 95% occupied and 98% leased, Capstone Apartment Partners said. e tower was bought by Los Ange- les-based Benedict Canyon Equities. e building had been owned since 2003 by a limited liability corporation registered to Framingham property management company VTT Management. e founder of Benedict Canyon Equities, Bob Hart, is a 1979 Worcester Polytechnic Institute graduate and a member of its board of trustees. Hart is the president and CEO of TruAmerica Multifamily, a Los Angeles real estate investment firm. e Sky Mark Tower, which was built in 1990, was last assessed by the city at $18.5 million. The Worcester Plaza (right) was purchased by a Boston firm looking for tax breaks while the Sky Mark Tower was bought by a Los Angeles graduate of WPI. BY GRANT WELKER Worcester Business Journal News Editor W

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