Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | Janaury 25, 2021 | Worcester Business Journal 5 B R I E FS Worcester office space for sublease doubles Office employers in Worcester are finding during the coronavirus pandemic that they don't need nearly as much room as they used to. Space available for sublease in the city nearly doubled in the fourth quarter of 2020 compared to a year prior, according to a new report by the Boston offices of Colliers International, a real estate industry analyst. Such sublease space for offices and labs totaled 100,000, or a little over 3% of the city's total inventory. A year prior, that number was 53,000. Pawtucket sues WooSox over stadium upkeep e Rhode Island city of Pawtucket is already losing its longtime Red Sox minor league baseball team, but it isn't quite turning the page. Pawtucket is suing the now-Worcester Red Sox for what it alleges are the team's failure to perform required maintenance and repair of their longtime home, the city-owned McCoy Stadium. e team was due to play its last season at McCoy, its last of 50 years in the city, but the 2020 season was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic. Pawtucket is alleging that the team didn't properly keep up McCoy Stadium, including when it continued to use the field last year for training purposes with its parent club, the Boston Red Sox. e city said it first notified the team last October of its failure to perform upkeep as described in their lease, and that there are no plans for the work to be done by the time the lease formally expires at the end of January, leaving the city with a facility it describes as in disrepair. MAPFRE names new North American CEO MAPFRE's Jaime Tamayo has returned as president and CEO of the Webster insurance company's North American operations, returning to a role he held from 2008 to 2016. Tamayo le the role in 2016 to assume the role of CEO of international territory for MAPFRE Group. Tamayo replaces Alfredo Castelo, who will now serve as chief business and clients officer for MAPFRE Group, with oversight responsibility for the company's Eurasia region. Tamayo will be joined by Jose Manuel Corral, who has taken over the company's new chief operating officer position at MAPFRE USA. Corral most recently served as the company's chief business and clients officer in Spain. IC Federal picks UMass hospital exec as new CEO IC Federal Credit Union in Fitchburg has named Chris Hendry, former senior director of external affairs for UMass Memorial Health Alliance-Clinton, as its new president and CEO. Hendry has served on IC's board of directors and supervisory committee since 2014. Hendry, who holds an MBA from Fitchburg State University, has served on local boards, including Fitchburg nonprofits NewVue Communities, Arc of Opportunity and the Fitchburg Art Museum. Outgoing interim president and CEO Philip Richards, who came out of retirement aer previous CEO Tony Emerson gave the credit union notice of his departure, will stay on temporarily to ease the leadership transition. Worcester property manager pays $2.3M for multifamilies near Becker A Worcester property management firm has paid $2.3 million for multifamily buildings near Becker College. A limited liability corporation registered to Brentwood Management bought 1 Dayton St., a 12-unit building, and 1 Lancaster St., an eight-unit building about four blocks away. Both buildings were sold by Gary Margolin in deals closed Dec. 4. e two properties are assessed at a combined $1.5 million by the City of Worcester. Cytiva named as founding member of Watertown biomanufacturing facility Marlborough's Cytiva, the rebranded GE Healthcare Life Sciences, has been named as a founding member of a forthcoming 40,000-square-foot manufacturing center at the e Arsenal on the Charles in Watertown. Once ready, the facility will be home to the Massachusetts Center for Advanced Biological Innovation and Manufacturing, or CABIM, which was founded in 2019. e site is expected to open in early 2022. Cytiva sits on CABIM's board of direc- tors, which includes Harvard University, MIT, FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies, and Alexandria Real Estate Equities. e initiative recently completed a $76-million fundraising effort. Despite overruns, we support Polar Park F L AS H P O L L If you had known in 2018 the public cost of the WooSox baseball stadium would be $104 million (instead of $65 million), would you have supported the project? When Worcester city officials first proposed the Polar Park baseball stadium in 2018 as the new home of the Pawtucket Red Sox, the cost was estimated at $101 million, with the team paying for $36 million of that expense. On Jan. 8, city officials increased the stadium cost estimate for the second time, with the total expense now at $157 million, and the team covering $53 million; and city officials remaining steadfast the stadium would pay for itself over 35 years. When polled online, 58% of WBJ readers said the project should keep moving forward. Yes, I supported it then, and I support it now. 35% Yes, I didn't support it in 2018, but now I see the positive impact it is having on Worcester. It doesn't matter. The decision has already been made, and we need to move it forward. 22% No, the costs seemed reasonable then, but now they are out of control. 17% T H E T I C K E R $14M Sale price of a site on Simarano Drive in Marlborough approved for 475 units of housing, purchased by Boston developer Rockpoint Group and Connecticut-based Post Road Residential Source: Worcester and Middlesex counties registries of deeds 4,732 Source: Massachusetts Department of Public Health New coronavirus cases reported in Worcester County in the week ending Jan. 15, an all-time high Spending approved in economic development bill signed by Gov. Charlie Baker $626M Source: State House News Service Number of vaccines administered daily at Gillette Stadium, although there are plans to eventually administer 5,000 or more per day as the first Massachusetts mass-vaccine center 300 Source: Gov. Charlie Baker Chris Hendry 1% No, I didn't support it then, and I don't support it now. 25% COMMENTS "I feel for the city because I'm sure that a large amount of this latest additional cost was due to delays caused by the COVID crisis, over which they had no control. It is a complex project being done at a time when construction costs are high, and I feel they should have been better prepared for design changes and cost overruns." W

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