Worcester Business Journal

4 Worcester Business Journal | January 27, 2025 | wbjournal.com I N B R I E F Candlepin icon "The 'dash' between Ernie's years of life were well spent with love and hard work." The obituary reads for Ernest Sawyer, who died at 96 after spending 70+ years operating the candlepin bowling destination Sawyer's Bowladrome in Northborough. A U.S. Army veteran and former baseball pitching prospect, he dug out the basement for the business by hand in 1953. New CMO "Having lived in Central Massachusetts for the past 10 years, I've had the privilege of growing alongside this vibrant region. I look forward to leading our talented team and strengthening connections with clients, partners, and the Central MA community as we continue to support the region's growth." Maria Adamo, from Worcester real estate firm NAI Glickman Kovago & Jacobs, on being promoted to the C-suite as chief marketing officer First female solicitor "I am excited to be a part of the city manager's vision for Worcester during this transformative period and ready to start implementing policies that will positively impact the community for years to come." Alexandra Kalkounis on being named the City of Worcester's first female city solicitor BY ERIC CASEY WBJ Managing Editor T he Worcester Redevelopment Authority is demanding the key developer in the Polar Park district pay taxes and fees to the City of Worcester over the termination of the project to build a commercial building next to the baseball stadium. e WRA wants Madison Properties, the Boston development firm which pulled out of a key Ballpark District development deal, to provide the fees and taxes it would have paid if Madison had completed the so-called Le Field building. In the demand letter to Madison, the WRA says Madison's failure to complete multiple projects is directly responsible for the substantial revenue deficit in the district, which now needs to tap general taxpayer funds to cover the bond payments on the $160-million stadium. When announced in 2018, the stadium was proposed as a pay-for-itself project, where the money for its construction would be covered by increased tax revenues and other fees from new developments around the stadium, particularly Madison's projects. "[Madison's] claim that it must only proceed with its responsibilities under the agreement 'when it is ready' and that it will not do so to the extent that it affects Madison's profits ignores both the letter and the spirit of the agreement, and has directly led to the substantial deficit in the Project revenues for 2024," WRA Chair Michael Angelini wrote in a Dec. 13 letter to Madison Properties obtained by WBJ via a public records request. e letter written by Angelini on behalf of the WRA was draed following a tense November meeting between the authority and the firm where Mark Donahue, director at Worcester law firm Fletcher Tilton and legal counsel for Madison Properties President Denis Dowdle, outlined the difficulties the firm had in completing projects in the district. Donahue told WBJ Madison Properties has been in communication with the City and is working on a response to the letter. Angelini wrote in the Dec. 13 Worcester demands Polar Park developer pay taxes & fees over terminated project The foundation for the Left Field Building has been poured since before the Worcester Red Sox first game in 2021, but the pad has sat undeveloped since. PHOTO | ERIC CASEY letter Madison has decided to devote its resources to projects outside of Worcester instead of meeting the commitments it made in a 2021 land disposition and development agreement. e most glaring example of Madison's failure pertains to the Le Field building, a building which was supposed to have its skin, shell, and core construction completed by last April. at project has not moved forward, resulting in a large open area next to Polar Park which has since been partially taken over by the Worcester Red Sox as a temporary fan zone. "Madison has not only disregarded its contractual obligations [to construct the building] but expects to benefit from that disregard by proposing to pay approximately $250,000 less in real estate taxes and building permit fees purely by reason of not having done what it was obligated," Angelini wrote. e WRA's concerns were not confined to le field, as the authority took issue with Madison's inability to build a second residential building it had committed to completing following its completion of e Revington, a 228- unit apartment building across Madison Street from Polar Park. "Madison represented that the second residential building would be completed within one year of the completion of what is now the Revington, but Madison apparently lacks either the operational or financial capability, or perhaps both, for constructing that building," Angelini wrote. "Given the robust market for residential properties in the City, as reflected by the recent completion of two large residential developments in the same area as the project, there can be no other reason for Madison's disregard of its obligation." W Denis Dowdle, president of Madison Properties

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