Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | May 25, 2020 | Worcester Business Journal 7 R E A L E S T A T E & D E V E L O P M E N T P O W E R 5 0 Denis P. Dowdle PRESIDENT MADISON PROPERTIES, BOSTON Allen W. Fletcher PRESIDENT WORCESTER PUBLIC MARKET, INC.; HARDING GREEN LLC, WORCESTER David Fontaine Jr. VICE PRESIDENT FONTAINE BROS., INC., WORCESTER & SPRINGFIELD Residence: Newton College: University of Wisconsin Before the Pawtucket Red Sox came along, Dowdle was going to build something off Madison Street in Worcester similar to what he put up at the former U.S. Steel facility in Quinsigamond Village with a Walmart Supercenter-anchored development. Now, the minor league baseball PawSox will become the Worcester Red Sox in April 2021, and they'll play at Polar Park, a ballpark being built across from the formerly contaminated and long-underutilized land Dowdle bought. Dowdle has pitched a major project potentially doing as much to reshape the Canal District as the ballpark itself: a dual-branded hotel with 262 rooms, a 121,000-square-foot commercial building, a 60,000-square-foot commercial building, and a 125-unit residential building. What could be a brutal recession, particularly to the retail industry, will add a hurdle to a project whose revenue is expected to largely account for enough new tax income for the city that – city officials insist – the $132-million ballpark will more than pay for itself. Even though in January he downsized the size of his WooSox-related project from $140 million to $125 million, his efforts still remain a vital piece of the Canal District overhaul and the financial future of the city. Dowdle isn't a big name, but he's already pulled off development of another infamous site: a contaminated plot in Woburn whose history was so sordid it was made into the 1998 movie "A Civil Action" with John Travolta. Residence: Worcester Colleges: Harvard University & University of California, Berkeley In early March, you would have said Fletcher's big bet had paid off. In building the European-style food-centric Worcester Public Market off Kelley Square in the Canal District, he knew he was taking a risk with such an aggressive $21-million development in a neighborhood with relatively few workers and well-off residents within walking distance. Yet, after it opened on Feb. 6, the public market became the new place to be in Worcester, as the buzz built around both smaller vendors and the planned Wachusett Brewing Co. taproom, even while the Kelley Square construction turned traffic and parking into chaos. All that momentum came to a screeching halt about a month later when efforts to stem the spread of corona- virus forced the market's closure. Luckily for Fletcher, he still has the residential component of his development, the Kelley Square Lofts, generating revenue until the mar- ket gets back to full strength. In the meantime, Fletcher still has the shiniest new development in the Canal Dis- trict until the Worcester Red Sox stadium opens in April. What makes Central Mass. unique? The region has a strong sense of place, and its chains of interconnected- ness are relatively self-contained. He could guide you around West Africa: I speak Wolof, the language of Senegal. Residence: Somers, Conn. College: Bentley University Fontaine Bros. is constructing the largest public project in Worcester's history, the $200-million South High Com- munity School. That might never have happened if David hadn't recognized the large potential of the Worcester market for the Springfield-based company and opened an office off Shrewsbury Street in 2016. In his time as an executive of the four-generation company, David has seen its revenues grow from $65 million in 2010 to more than $250 million. The company has more $400 million of work underway in Central Massachusetts right now and typically utilizes local subcontractors, tradespeople, unions and suppliers on those projects. David's projects have included the New Contemplative Center for the Col- lege of the Holy Cross in Worcester, the expansion of the historic Shrewsbury Public Library, and the new Nelson Place Elementary School in Worcester. He and his wife, Sarah, focus their community giving-back efforts on the Nativity School in Worcester and do an annual toy drive for Worcester Public Schools. What makes Central Mass. unique? The people and how they care about the community! I love that while Worcester is the second biggest city in New England, it still feels like a small town where everyone knows and supports one another. He's a bit of a thrill seeker: I have done the world's largest bungee jump (in Queenstown, New Zealand), skydiving, and scuba diving, and I also fly airplanes. Kathryn Krock MANAGING MEMBER CENTRAL BUILDING DEVELOPMENT GROUP, WORCESTER Charles F. "Chip" Norton PRESIDENT & OWNER FRANKLIN REALTY ADVISORS IN WELLESLEY & WORCESTER James G. Umphrey PRESIDENT KELLEHER & SADOWSKY ASSOCIATES, INC., WORCESTER Residence: Worcester College: Drexel University Looking at the major development projects in Worcester: The Mercantile Center was redeveloped by a Wellesley- based firm, the Grid District is the work of a Quincy company, and two other Boston companies are behind the redevelopment of the old Worcester County Courthouse in Lincoln Square and planned improvements at the Worcester Plaza tower. It's a Worcester group, though – the Krock family, led by Kathryn – behind the Central Building Development Group, which brought 55 apartments to a long-underutilized building at 332 Main St. in 2019, a $26-million project including two important businesses for the neighborhood on the ground floor: a grocery store (the Maker to Main market) and a child care center (the Strawberries Early Learning Center). The same company in 2018 bought the vacant 300,000-square-foot office building on Chestnut Street for $1.9 million. The family also owns the adjacent Commerce Building at 340 Main St., with more than 300,000 square feet of office and retail space. What makes Central Mass. unique? Central Mass. is a great value. Over the past decade, investment in the infrastructure and the commitment to culture has brought smart investors and families to the region. There is such a sense of comradery and support. The people genuinely want to see others and the region succeed. Classy & chic: Before I started my career in real estate, I studied to be a fashion designer. Residence: Dover College: University of New Hampshire Much of the new development projects happening around downtown Worcester can be traced back to the success Norton had in buying 100 & 120 Front St. in 2015 for $33 million, which was hardly a foregone conclusion. He was able to obtain an anchor tenant in UMass Me- morial Health Care, invested $36 million in a renovation and rebranded it as the Mercantile Center to create a premier office space destination. Norton remains a fixture in the Worcester redevelopment scene, pushing for the Midtown Mall to be renovated and scoring buzz-worthy announcements of planned new restaurants from Ruth's Chris Steak House and the Broadway Hospitality Group. His first major project in Central Mass. was the 1.2-mil- lion-square-foot Southbridge Innovation Center, an old mill complex anchoring the city's downtown with the Southbridge Hotel & Conference Center. What makes Central Mass. unique? As it rapidly devel- ops as a place where people want to work, live and visit, its commercial and retail growth isn't slowing. Full-time developer; part-time athlete: I have done the 200-mile Ragnar running relay race from Hull to Provinc- etown, the 24-hour bike marathon in Central Park, the Mount Washington Hillclimb, the Best Buddies Century Challenge (a 100-mile bike ride from Dorchester to Hyannis Port), the Pan-Mass Challenge (from Sturbridge to Provincetown), and the Boston Marathon. Residence: Northborough College: UMass Amherst Check out any major real estate purchase or develop- ment in Worcester in the past five years, and you'll likely see Umphrey's fingerprints all over it, in his role as head of the largest commercial real estate firm in Central Mass.: the Mercantile Center in 2015; Worcester Plaza, a 24-story downtown office tower in downtown, last fall; the Guaranty Building on Main Street in 2014; Reliant Medical Group's major new office next to the Greendale Mall in 2017, just to name a few. The firm is handling the marketing for leasing at The Reactory, a planned roughly 500,000-square-foot biomanufacturing park off Belmont and Plantation streets in Worcester. Umphrey, who's worked at Kelleher since he graduated from UMass Amherst with a degree in finance in 1985, prides himself in leading by example and being a highly effective broker, working to find buyers for other potential development sites from Pleasant Street in Worcester to Whitney Street in Northborough. What makes Central Mass. unique? Worcester has successfully shifted its economic foundation from traditional manufacturing to education, health care, life science and technology. These segments of the econ- omy are growing and require a great deal of intellectual capital. With 35,000+ college students in the Worcester area, this has created a large pool of young talent. Umphrey & Bill Belichick would get along: Whether it is in sports or business, I love to compete (and I hate losing more than anything)!

• Cover