Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | February 17, 2020 | Worcester Business Journal 5 B R I E FS Worcester approves $4.6M tax break for Table Talk Pies e Worcester City Council on Feb. 11 voted unanimously to approve a tax-increment financing plan to provide $4.6 million in tax relief over 20 years to dessert manufacturer Table Talk Pies as the company prepares to move its headquarters to a new $21-million facility in the Main South neighborhood. Before the vote, city officials announced Table Talk had changed the amount of time it would take for new employees to receive $15 an hour. e timetable was changed to six months from two years. Franklin retail building sells for $5M A new multi-tenant retail building on the busy commercial stretch of Route 140 in Franklin has sold for $5.1 million. e building opened in 2019 and includes a Jersey Mike's and Gentle Dental. e buyer was three limited liability corporations registered to the address of Arin Realty of Needham. e seller was West Central Plaza LLC, which is registered to Roger Calarese and Joseph Vendetti of Franklin. Bramble Hill developers sue City of Worcester Developers of a proposed age- restricted housing development at the former Bramble Hill mansion on Salisbury Street in Worcester have filed suit against the city. e 10-page complaint in Boston Land Court asks the judge to overturn the Worcester Planning Board's December decision to reject plans by property manager Premier Property Group LLC of Dunstable to replace the abandoned 119-year-old home with 123 apartments in three low-rise buildings. Wakefield realty firm buys Northborough warehouse A 55,000-square-foot warehouse in Northborough has been bought by a Wakefield real estate firm for $9.5 million. e facility at 5 Beeman Road was owned by Marlborough's Ferris Development. e nearly eight-acre site was bought by NorthBridge Partners, a commercial real estate investment and advisory firm. e deal closed Dec. 18. Northbridge is led by founders Dean Atkins and Greg Lauze, both of whom attended Boston College. Owner of Auburn Mall buys competitor Simon Property Group, the owner of the Auburn Mall and Solomon Pond Mall in Marlborough, announced Feb. 10 is has acquired competitor Taubman Realty Group, a Detroit-area group whose only New England mall is Westfarms in West Hartford, Conn. In addition to the Auburn and Solomon Pond malls, Indianapolis-based Simon owns 10 other shopping centers in Massachusetts. It has 176 total locations including outlet malls. WBJ honored for cannabis, investigative reporting Worcester Business Journal on Feb. 8 received eight awards from the New England Newspaper & Press Association's Better Newspaper Competition. News Editor Grant Welker and Editor Brad Kane earned first place for Excellence in Newsroom Collaboration and Partnerships, for their work with the Worcester Regional Research Bureau on the City of Immigrants series. Former staff writer Zachary Comeau received two first place awards for his coverage of the marijuana industry. Other second and three places awards included investigative reporting, feature writing, health reporting serious columnist and editorial cartoon. Worcester pot shop receives license for medical In about a month, Resinate will open on Millbury Street as Worcester's fourth marijuana dispensary, aer it received final approval on Feb. 6 from the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission to sell medical marijuana. e last step before it can open is a final inspection by the CCC when the 6,500-square-foot dispensary is stocked. Table Talk Pies is leaving its Canal District headquarters. Y O U R B U S I N E S S . IS Jessica McGarry Vice President, Commercial Lending www.countrybank.com/business/lending-officers jmcgarry@countrybank.com DIRECT DIAL: (413) 277-2065 Meet Jessica. She takes great pride in making sure her customers are well taken care of, with the right products, a high level of service, and a lender that is both qualified and caring. She lives and works in Worcester County, so the success of the people and businesses here is something that she holds close to her heart. M E M B E R F D I C M E M B E R D I F 2 7 8 P A R K A V E | 3 1 5 M A I N S T W O R C E S T E R T H E T I C K E R 3.5% Drop in the percent of opioid-related overdose deaths in Massachusetts from its 2016 peak to 2019. Source: Massachusetts Department of Public Health Housing units approved for the former St. Patrick's School in Natick, where real estate company Stonegate Group is creating a mixed-use development. 54 $48K Source: NCMDC Microloan to Lunenberg coffee shop Smokestack Roaster from the North Central Massachusetts Development Corp. Massachusetts Workforce Transportation grant awards to be split by six Central Mass. communities for initiatives like bus service to Webster and a Fitchburg-to-Worcester shuttle $1.2M Source: Worcester County Registry of Deeds Source: Town of Natick W Resinate hosted a grand opening at its Worcester marijuana dispensary in January.

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