Worcester Business Journal

4 Worcester Business Journal | March 10, 2025 | wbjournal.com I N B R I E F Chief operating officer "By strategically aligning tech- nology with our business goals, we can enhance our customer experiences and fuel sustainable growth. I look forward to collab- orating with our talented team to shape the future of community banking." Kate Gallo Megraw on her promotion to chief operating officer at Auburn-based Webster Five. Gallo Megraw will take over for Brian Westerlind as he ascends to the top leadership position as the bank prepares for the July retirement of current President and CEO Don Doyle. Grocery-delivery program "This is a targeted intervention that looks to improve their health during this program, but also to equip them with the skills and resources so that they can continue preparing healthy meals on their own after this program ends." Amie Shei, president and CEO of The Health Foundation of Central Massachusetts in Worcester, on the nonprofit's novel grocery-delivery program, developed with Jamaica Plain-based Community Servings, to provide medically-tailored groceries to those living with chronic illness and food insecurity in Central Massachusetts Bilingual education study "Our goal is to find out what those teachers are doing and use that as the basis for empirical work so that policies and practices are based on actual evidence." Alena Esposito, professor at Clark University in Worcester, on receiving a $780,000 grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation to study which teacher pedagogical practices correlate with best student outcomes in bilingual Worcester Public Schools BY ERIC CASEY WBJ Managing Editor T he U.S. Department of Government Efficiency has terminated seven com- mercial leases at Central Massachusetts properties, which were home to offices for federal agencies like the Food & Drug Admin- istration, Department of Agriculture, and Internal Revenue Service. "We've been DOGE-ed," said Chris- topher Egan, president of Carruth Cap- ital in Westborough, which owns one of the impacted properties, 10 Bearfoot Road in Northborough. e canceled leases had combined annual rent of $1.34 million and total 60,182 square feet, according to a WBJ analysis of the DOGE website cross-ref- erenced with leases agreements released by the U.S. General Services Adminis- tration in January. e canceled leases represent 37% of the federal govern- ment's leased space in Central Massa- chusetts, as listed by GSA. e cuts are part of a broad effort by the new President Donald Trump Administration to significantly slash the size of the federal government. ere was some confusion over whether all the leases were actually can- celed. e DOGE website has posted erroneous information previously about federal government cuts it later had to retract, although the informa- tion about the canceled leases was still live as of March 5. As an example, the owner of Worces- Trump Administration cancels leases for 37% of Central Mass. commercial space used by federal agencies warehouse space used by e United States Geological Survey, which was set to expire in November 2029. 118 Turnpike Road, Southborough - A lease for 10,787 square feet of office space used by the Internal Revenue Ser- vice set to expire in November 2029. 146 Mendon St., Uxbridge (Stanley Mill) - A lease for 4,852 square feet of office space used by U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service set to expire in No- vember 2029. 9 Main St., Sutton - A lease for 1,273 square feet of office used by U.S. Depart- ment of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service space set to expire in July 2027. 120 Front St., Worcester (Mercantile Center) - A lease for 14,511 square feet of office space used by the Internal Reve- nue Service set to expire in June 2028. 446 Main St., Worcester (Glass Tower at 446 Main) - A lease for 5,506 square feet of office space used by the U.S. Trustee Program, a component of the Department of Justice, set to expire in November 2030. Nationally, the total number of canceled federal office leases doubled in February, with more than 254 leases encompassing more than 3.8 million square feet of space in 48 states, accord- ing to CoStar. DOGE, created in the wake of Donald Trump's January inauguration, has rapidly accelerated pre-existing efforts to shrink the amount of space leased by various federal agencies across the country. W ter's Mercantile Center at 120 Front St. received a notice terminating a lease for 14,511 square feet in the building, but then the building's owner received a second notification rescinding the termination, according to an email sent to WBJ by T.K. Skenderian, spokesperson for Welles- ley-based Franklin Realty Advisors, which is owner of 120 Front St. At least three of the prop- erty owners confirmed their leases to federal agencies had been canceled. Robert Haddon, owner of an impacted property at 140 Shrewsbury St. in Boylston, said the cancellation was disappointing but noted he understood the move as a taxpayer, saying the 2,360 square feet he leased to the Food and Drug Administra- tion was underutilized. "It is what it is," Haddon said. "I got the notice last Tuesday." Nicholas Deane, owner of Stanley Mill in Uxbridge, confirmed the lease had been terminated for 4,852 square feet of office space at the site used by U.S. De- partment of Agriculture. He expressed concern for the impacted workers. "ey're the ones who are saving us from bird flu," Deane said. "ey have real work, and it's stuff we need." WBJ was able to determine which leases have been terminated by matching the DOGE data with a full list of federal government lease agreements released by GSA. e full list of Central Massa- chusetts federal leases listed by DOGE as terminated are: 140 Shrewsbury St., Boylston - A lease for 2,360 square feet of office space used by the Food and Drug Administration, which was set to expire in June 2027. 10 Bearfoot Road, Northborough - A lease for 20,893 square feet of office and The Glass Tower at 446 Main St. in Worcester was one of seven commercial properties where DOGE canceled federal leases.

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