Worcester Business Journal

4 Worcester Business Journal | October 3, 2022 | wbjournal.com C E N T R A L M AS S I N B R I E F V E R BAT I M Electric vehicle R&D "Unprecedented growth in the electric vehicle market generated the need for Aspen Aerogels to seek a dedicated facility to further support our customers as we continue to innovate on the future of thermal barrier materials." Donald Young, president and CEO of Northborough tech firm Aspen Aerogels, on its new 59,000-square-foot Marlborough research facility for its battery technology First female CEO "I approach this opportunity with reverence and humility, and gratitude to the board for its confidence and support." Sarah Iselin, who will succeed Andrew Dreyfus on Jan. 1 as the president and CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts and become the first woman CEO of the largest health insurer in the state $4-million gift "We are so humbled by the opportunity to honor Vaughn and his tremendous generosity, through our philanthropic work. With this amazing, unrestricted gift, he leaves a legacy of caring, compassion, and generosity that will impact the needs of our community for years to come." Kelly Stimson, vice president of donor services and relations for the Greater Worcester Community Foundation, on an unrestricted $4-million gift GWCF received from the estate of late Westborough resident Vaughn Kaprelian C onstruction of SilverBrick SkyHouse, a proposed $55-million, 312-unit renovation of 340 Main St. in Worcester, is on hold. e Worcester Executive Office of Economic Development told the City Council that New York developer Silver Brick Group LLC confirmed in May the project had not begun, and due to the rising costs of materials and construction, the project has been put on hold. Developer halts $55M Worcester project, considers sale of Main St. site BY TIMOTHY DOYLE WBJ Staff Writer The building at 340 Main St. was owned by Commerce Associates before Silver Brick Group bought it in 2020. PHOTO | TIM DOYLE SilverBrick will determine if it will move forward with the project or consider other options such as a sale, according to the EOED's communication to the City Council, which was part of the Semi-Annual Tax Increment Financing / Tax Increment Exemption Report. In the event of a sale, the TIE plan would not automatically be transferred to the new owner, according to EOED. SilverBrick did not return requests for comment. SilverBrick promised to give $100,000 to the city's Affordable Housing Trust at the completion of construction and delivery of the certificate of occupancy, said Robert Burgess, spokesman for the City of Worcester. SilverBrick purchased 340 Main from Commerce Associates of Worcester in November 2020 as part of a $14.5 million multi-property deal. While multifamily starts are at levels not seen since 1986, construction costs, labor shortages, supply-chain issues, and higher interest rates have led to 143,000 multifamily units authorized but not started in August, just shy of the record set in July at 147,000, according to national real estate news organization CoStar. SilverBrick has run into controversy in Western Massachusetts over the past two years. In Chicopee, SilverBrick Mills was closed in February by the city because the building was deemed unsafe, then the 55 tenants of the building were unable to access their belongings for months, according to separate reports from Spectrum News and Springfield television station WWLP. In Springfield in 2021, MassLive reported the company refused to turn on central air conditioning during an early June heat wave in a luxury property, SilverBrick Los, with SilverBrick saying it was not required to do so until June 15. W

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