Worcester Business Journal

4 Worcester Business Journal | October 17, 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 New leader "I was immediately drawn to Bancroft because of its deep spirit of community and its active and forward- thinking learning environment." Stephanie Luebbers, who on Oct. 7 was announced as the new head of school for the private Worcester institution Bancroft School and will start on July 1 New Gardner housing "This is the first time a project like this has been done in Gardner in well over a decade, and I look forward to seeing people call Gardner their new home through this project." Gardner Mayor Michael Nicholson, on a project supported by a $3-million MassDevelopment grant to build 29 market-rate apartments downtown Small business loan "The opportunity to purchase additional equipment through this loan will enable us to expand our dedication to strong loyalty, trust and satisfaction with our customer projects." Paul Ferreira, co-founder of Leominster contractor JC Ferreira Construction, Inc., on a $112,500 loan the company receivedfrom the North Central Massachusetts Development Corp. BY TIMOTHY DOYLE WBJ Staff Writer T wo massive industrial projects, each approximately 1 million square feet, are beginning construction in Sutton and Douglas, amid high demand for industrial space. In Douglas, Chicago-based developer CRG is holding a groundbreaking for its $100-million, 1.1-million square- foot distribution facility at 123 Gilboa St., according to a Sept. 29 press release. e facility is being constructed by CRG's parent company Clayco and will feature 40-foot ceilings, 171 docks doors, and four drive- in doors. It is expected to provide approximately 450 permanent jobs. Leasing for the property, called Blackstone Valley warehouses totalling 2M sq. . begin construction, amid Route 146 industrial development bonanza A rendering of the proposed UN1F1ED2 facility in Sutton Cubes at Gilboa, will be handled by Newmark, a New York-based real estate giant with offices in Boston. CRG purchased the property in July for $17.6 million. In Sutton, Boylston contractor RP Masiello Inc. began construction Sept. 26 on two buildings for Sutton's UN1F1ED2 Global Packaging Corp. e warehouse and manufacturing space features 40-foot ceilings and 160 loading docks. It will be located on a new street, Unified Parkway, on UN1F1ED2's 448- acre site off of Providence Road and Boston Roads in Sutton. Masiello built the first UN1F1ED2 facility in 1998, added onto that facility, and designed and built the company's 418,000-square-foot headquarters in 2009. UN1F1ED2 is a custom packaging design and manufacturing company a joint venture of AGlobal Solutions of Sutton and Rand-Whitney Packaging LLC of Worcester. Rand-Whitney is owned by e Kra Group of Foxborough, which owns the New England Patriots football team. In addition to these two sites, the Blackstone Logistics Center, a 646,000-square-foot facility in Douglas, Sutton, and Uxbridge, is under construction. Illinois-based medical supply manufacturer Medline opened a $90-million, 840,000-square-foot distribution center in Uxbridge in 2020. e Boston area had an industrial vacancy rate of 3% at mid-year 2022, compared with 4.3% a year earlier, according to Newmark. Demand for quality space continues to push larger requirements to markets such as Worcester and southern New Hampshire. A rendering of the under construction 1.1-million square-foot Cubes at Gilboa W

• Cover