Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | March 7, 2022 | Worcester Business Journal 5 Developer proposes 21 units for former Bridge In an application to the Worcester Historical Commission, Boston-based Dalfior Development, Inc. laid out retail and residential plans for the property at 300 Southbridge St. in Worcester, formerly known as e Bridge Academy and Community Center. Dalfior's plans include partial demolition of the historic building, which was built in 1866 and previously used as a textile manufacturing facility. e existing building is 27,200 square feet and would be converted into a 25,300-square-foot apartment building with 21 units. ere would also be a retail component. In the spring of 2021, the previous tenants of the building, who used it as a community center for arts and youth programming, launched a fundraising campaign in an attempt to dissuade the property owner from agreeing to the redevelopment plan. e campaign raised around $750,000, but the owner – a trust managed by Benjamin Mantyla – sold to Dalfior instead. Natick firm passes $1B annually 1st time In 2021, Cognex Corp, a Natick machine vision systems manufacturer, earned $1 billion in annual revenue for the first time in its history. e company reported $244 million for fourth quarter revenue and $1.04 billion in total annual revenue. is new figure reveals a 28% increase over the prior year's annual total of $811 million. For the year, profits were $280 million, up 59% from 2020. Central One CEO retires after 32 years David L'Ecuyer, president and CEO of Central One Federal Credit Union in Shrewsbury, announced his retirement aer 32 years with the financial institution. "I have had a truly gratifying and fulfilling career over the past 32 years with Central One Federal Credit Union. It has been a privilege to work with such a talented and inspiring staff, and I am incredibly grateful for the support and confidence shown by the board of directors over the course of my tenure here," L'Ecuyer said in a written press release. L'Ecuyer began his leadership role with Central One in 1994, and he grew the credit union's assets nearly seven-fold to $735 million and doubled membership to more than 35,000 members. e board of directors has hired credit union consulting firm D. Hilton Associates of Texas to conduct a nationwide search to find L'Ecuyer's replacement. Berkshire officially removes Commerce name e Commerce Bank brand name is being removed on all remaining Central Massachusetts branches, five years aer Berkshire Bank of Boston acquired the Worcester institution for $230 million. e process of retiring the Commerce name started in mid-February as the Leominster location became the first of 13 former Commerce Bank branches to receive new Berkshire Bank signs. e name change is taking place years aer the acquisition closure as a show of respect as Berkshire slowly phases out the former financial institution's brand, said Paul Kelly, Berkshire regional president. Gardner supermarket property sold for $13M A property off Route 2 in Gardner containing a Hannaford supermarket sold for just over $13 million, according to the Worcester South District Registry of Deeds. It was sold by an entity registered to John Vezza of Tuckahoe, N.Y. Vezza sold the property for $75,000 more than he bought it for in 2015. ExchangeRight, a California-based company, was the registered buyer on the deed. e firm specializes in 1031 exchanges, a tax-deferred property transfer where ExchangeRight works with a long- term corporate tenant. B R I E FS W BJ has partnered with the Worcester Historical Museum to run a year-long trivia contest in celebration of the 300th anniversary of Worcester's founding on June 14, 1722. Readers should email their answer to the question below by March 17 to bkane@wbjournal.com or visit the trivia page on WBJoural.com to compete for a special year-end prize package. Sponsored by Worcester 300 trivia contest -part 5 And the answer to last edition's question: e famous Hollywood actor for whom Worcester native Samuel Behrman contributed as screenwriter for three of her movies was Greta Garbo. Hospital legacy Supported by a bequest of nearly $150,000 from Worcester wire manufacturer Ichabod Washburn in memory of his wife and daughters, the Washburn Memorial Free Dispensary opened in 1871 as one of Worcester's first hospitals. Initially located at the corner of Front and Commercial streets, the hospital has since relocated to Belmont Street and has been renamed. n Trivia question: What hospital system is Washburn Memorial Free Dispensary part of today? Washburn Memorial Free Dispensary T H E T I C K E R $3.35 million Sale price of a 12,800-square-foot Leominster plaza containing a D'Errico's Market butcher shop franchise, which was sold by D'Errico's Owner Rodrigo DeOliveira Source: Worcester Northern District Registry of Deeds 302 to 133 Source: Massachusetts Nurses Association MassWorks grant awarded to the Town of Oxford to help improve infrastructure for commercial and industrial parks, as well as a mixed-use, 320-unit residential complex $2.8 million Source: Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development 71 Source: UMass Memorial Health Vote count by nurses at Saint Vincent Hospital, against an effort to decertify the Massachusetts Nurses Association union at the healthcare facility Planned beds to be added to UMass Memorial Medical Center's University campus after the former Beaumont Rehabilitation and Skilled Nursing Center in Worcester is rezoned to acute care W

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