Worcester Business Journal

www.wbjournal.com • Worcester Business Journal • 2021 Economic Forecast 17 R E A L E S TAT E Bo Menkiti Founder & CEO The Menkiti Group, in Washington, D.C It was Menkiti's father, Ifeanyl, who first planted a flag for both the family and Bo's development company in Worcester. e el- der Menkiti, a Wellesley College philosophy professor, died in 2019, about two years aer buying the Shack's building at 406 Main St. with plans for a cultural institute. Bo's company has only increased its holdings in Worcester since, adding 201 Main St., 536 Main St., and 6 Chatham St. Progress has moved slowly, but work is underway on Chatham Street to create 25 residential units. Bo Menkiti pledged in a talk in Worcester late in 2019 he found something familiar here with the neigh- borhoods hidden in the shadows of D.C. he has helped improve. "Sometimes it's the small project that makes no economic sense that unlocks the authenticity and the energy of a neighborhood," Menkiti said. Craig Blais President & CEO Worcester Business Development Corp. Blais' WBDC quietly has a hand in almost every major development announced in Greater Worcester: the Mercantile Center, the Draper Mill, even Polar Park. WBDC played a ma- jor role in what could actually be the city's most important development underway: remaking the old Worcester State Hospital site off Belmont Street. It doesn't get the buzz of some other construction sites, but nothing else is on track to bring in the same mix of tens of millions or more of investment, hundreds of well-paying jobs and corporate names to help place Worcester more firmly as a place to be for life sciences. e Reactory, as the site is known, gives Worcester a better chance to grab a chunk of that pie than most other communities could ever hope for. Robert Hart President & CEO TruAmerica, in Los Angeles Hart has his eye on Worcester's Main South neighborhood, even from the other side of the country in Los Angeles. Hart, a Worcester Polytechnic Institute graduate and trustee, became a major landowner in the neighborhood by first buying the 24-story Sky Mark Tower in October 2019 for $28.8 million, and then adding a trio of properties just around the corner on Chandler Street, including one long-va- cant building that doesn't take a lot of imagination to see becoming lo apartments. Hart has said little about his plans for the neighborhood, but his success elsewhere speaks for itself. TruAmerica, which he founded, touts 43,000 units worth $10 billion under management. Three people in real estate to meet in 2021 Real estate to feel pandemic's effects e commercial office market will have increased vacancies, while retail will suffer from trends accelerated by the coronavirus BY GRANT WELKER Worcester Business Journal News Editor F iguring out exactly when people may be able to comfortably and safely return to in-person shopping on the same scale they did before the coronavirus pandemic will be difficult. But 2021 should, at some point, give customers the ability to shop in person safely again. As for employees who've been able to work from home, the question may be a matter of whether their employer will have them back in – or whether they even have an office to return to. A turning point for retail By the time it's safe to shop in person as people used to, there may not be nearly as many places to shop in person anymore anyway. e Greendale Mall will close as soon as T.J. Maxx and HomeGoods move out, and it's slated – ironically – to be replaced by what appears to be an Amazon fulfillment center. e Natick Mall is losing two anchors, Neiman Mar- cus and Lord & Taylor. e Solomon Pond Mall in Marlborough may lose its Regal cinemas as the movie theater giant fights off bankruptcy. If Black Friday was an indicator, shoppers' habits may have changed dramatically, with analysts estimating in-person sales dropping by 20%, according to e New York Times. Shifting role of offices For years, working remotely was for sick days or snow days. For those fortunate enough to have the option, the pandemic brought the possibility of working from home indefinitely. In the most notable instance, the insurer Unum said in July it will close its downtown Worcester offices and have 400 employees work permanently from home. Other indicators have similarly not been cause for optimism among land- lords or those who benefit from having offices full. As of early fall, downtown Worcester's office market was roughly 18% vacant, according to the Worcester Busi- ness Development Corp. In Framingham and Natick, which could benefit from big tenants decamping from cramped spaces in Boston, more than 100,000 square feet of office space was available for sublease in the fall as major tenants offered up space, according to R.W. Holmes Realty Co. of Wayland. Endlessly climbing home prices If a pandemic can't bring down home prices, what can? e problem, for those looking to buy, is the pandemic has only caused even fewer homes to go on the market, which caused so little supply demand had nowhere to go but up. rough October, year-to-date median sale prices in Worcester County were up 11.2%, coming in at $322,500 compared to $290,000 the year prior, according to e Warren Group. In the city of Worcester, prices were up 15.9%. While the pandemic's eventual end may put more homes back on the market, the only way to stabilize home prices enough for more people to buy is for more new hous- ing to be built in the area. W W Unum no longer occupies the Unum building in downtown Worcester, as it has switched employees there to working from home. PHOTO/GRANT WELKER

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