Worcester Business Journal

4 Worcester Business Journal | March 2, 2020 | wbjournal.com C E N T R A L M AS S I N B R I E F WooSox-related projects get four more tax breaks V E R BAT I M Biomanufacturing anchor "We hope to close on the land sale with WuXi within the next 60 days, which will allow them to start construction this spring." Craig Blais, president and CEO of the Worcester Business Development Corp., developer of the biomanufacturing campus The Reactory, after it proposed anchor tenant WuXi Biologics of China was recommended for a $11.5-million property tax break FLEXcon's new leader "This promotion is a reflection of the leadership that Lavon has demonstrated as we transform into the FLEXcon of the future." Neil McDonough, chairman of FLEXcon Holdings, on the promotion of Lavon Winkler to CEO of the Spencer manufacturer of coated and laminated films. Pictured is Winkler. Disability training "The mission is to create most accessibility and inclusivity for adaptive athletes." Brendan Aylward, owner of Lancaster fitness center Unified Health and Performance, on his new online training business AdaptX meant to help fitness centers better serve athletes with disabilities T he Worcester City Council has approved four new tax breaks for a mixed-use development slated to rise across Madison Street from the $132-million Polar Park public baseball stadium. e council voted unanimously on Feb. 25 to approve tax agreements for four components of the project being undertaken by Boston-based Madison WG Holdings and its owner Denis Dowdle: a dual-branded hotel with 262 rooms, a 121,000-square-foot com- mercial building, a 60,000-square-foot commercial building, and a 125-unit residential building. ose agreements add to what's already substantial public financing support for Polar Park and new development expected to complement the stadium. e city is borrowing money to pay for building the ballpark, for which costs have risen by roughly $30 million since the project's initial approval to now hit more than $132 million. e Pawtucket Red Sox, who will move into the ball- park and become the Worcester Red Sox in April 2021, are paying $43.5 million toward those public costs. e City Council previously approved a tax break for Dowdle for an office building expected to rise beyond Polar Park's le field wall. e four new tax breaks approved Feb. 25 don't specify how much Dowdle will save on his tax bill. e buildings will have a combined value of $73 mil- lion, according to the contracts. e tax breaks will take the form of tax-incre- ment financing agreements and range from 10 to 15 years. Other public funding is also playing a role in remaking the Canal District. e state is paying $23 million for a parking garage on Dowdle's develop- ment site to accommodate the project's own tenants and visitors, along with those for the ballpark and surround- ing businesses. Another $12 million will subsidize market-rate housing. A smaller city tax break of $838,000 was approved in 2017 for the Kelley Square building where the Worcester Public Market opened this month. Two other state grants have gone to benefit projects just outside the development and the ballpark, but both given with the ballpark in mind: a $16-million overhaul of the Kelley Square intersection, and a $3.5-million rebuilding of the General Pickett city parking lot at 45 Green St. into a new plaza leading to the ballpark. e City Council voted Feb. 11 to approve a $4.6-million tax break for Table Talk Pies, which is planning to relocate from a facility next to Polar Park to a new site in Main South on Gardner Street. As for Dowdle's project, site work is underway but the project won't open as soon as initial documents described. e first phase of the development was originally said to open by Jan. 1, 2021 in an agreement reached in 2018 between the city and Dowdle. at date has been moved back for all aspects of the project. A 225-unit residential building is set to open by September 2021, and a second one, with 125 units, by the end of 2022. ose buildings will also have approximately 3,000 and 20,000 square feet of retail space each. Conjoined hotels of 140 and 122 rooms each are slated to open by May 2022. e 121,000-square-foot commercial building is targeted to open by the end of 2023. e le field building isn't targeted for completion until Sept. 1, 2021, but the core of the structure is planned to be done by the Red Sox opening date in April 2021. BY GRANT WELKER Worcester Business Journal News Editor W Construction crews in January were making significant progress on the building of the Polar Park stadium shell.

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