Worcester Business Journal

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Franklin Realty Advisors' Worcester properties Property Address Built Occupancy Notable tenants Mercantile Center Worcester District Registry of Deeds, Planet (storefront retail/office)* 90-110 Front St. 1960 57.0% Fitness, Ruth's Chris Steak House Mercantile Center Reliant Medical Group, Mirick, Fletcher Tilton, (21-story office tower) 100 Front St. 1970 94.9% Worcester Telegram & Gazette Mercantile Center (eight-story office tower) 120 Front St. 1970 83.4% Kelleher & Sadowsky, M&T Bank, Federal Bureau of Investigation Worcester Business Center 67 Millbrook St. 1950 86.0% UMass Memorial Health, Mass. Department of Revenue, Geisel Software * FRA also manages the parking garage behind 90-110 Front St Source: CoStar of Fidelity Investments, according to the website for Merrimack College, where he sits on the board of trustees. Mark Wetzel is a retired president of Connecticut-based Fiducient Advisors, according to the website for the Universi- ty of Vermont, where he sits on the board of the university's business school. Eastport retained the on-site FRA staff and other personnel who operated the building during FRA's time managing the property. Donahue said the proper- ties are financially stable, with the City of Worcester confirming Front Street Associates is up-to-date on all real estate taxes and other payments. "It is our understanding that the Mer- cantile Center and [Worcester] Business Center properties are stable," said Tom Matthews, media and public relations administrator for Worcester City Manag- er Eric Batista. e 21-story, 468,400-square-foot of- fice tower at 100 Front St. has a vacancy rate of 5.1%, according to real estate data provider CoStar. A net of about 20,000 square feet of space has become available in the last 12 months, ending a nearly two-year run where the building was nearly completely full, with a vacancy rate of 0.8%. is compares to a vacancy rate of 10% a decade ago. e eight-story, 176,523-square- foot office building at 120 Front St has a vacancy rate of 16.6%. A net of 14,900-square-feet has become available at the site in the last 12 months, causing the occupancy rate to drop from 8.4% in the second quarter, but still well above its 10-year low of 41.1% in 2016, before FRA was involved at the site. e building continues to see high demand, said Will Kelleher and Jim Umphrey of real estate firm Kelleher & Sadowsky Associates. e firm is among the building's tenants, which includes M&T Bank and federal agencies like FBI. Both office towers at Mercantile Center benefit from the relative lack of available high-quality office space in Worcester, said Kelleher and Umphrey. e two office building's vacancy rates compare to Worcester's overall 8.3% vacancy rate for 1.88 million square feet of four- and five-star office space. Both are much better when compared to the 19.9% vacancy rate for the 32.44 million square feet of four- and five-star space found in Boston's Financial District, according to CoStar. Five-star office spaces, also referred to Class A, are generally defined as state-of- the-art buildings featuring high-quality lobbies, top quality finishes, and plenty of national lighting. Four-star buildings are above-average spaces exhibiting some qualities of five-star buildings but are generally older. Worcester's top-level office spaces draw an average asking rent of $26.48, compared to the Financial District's av- erage rate of $69.15. Worcester's available stock of high-quality office space was further reduced by the ongoing conver- sion of the former Fallon Health head- quarters at One Chestnut Place, which Boston-based Synergy is developing into 198 market-rate apartments. e 218,422 square feet of mixed-use space surrounding the office tower at 100 Front St. has a vacancy rate of 43.1%, with office tenant Worcester District Registry of Deeds occupying the most space, at 93,092 square feet. e property had a vacancy rate of 23.6% in 2022, but lost a key tenant when the CVS at the site closed in fall 2023. Empty retail space makes up a majority of unused space at the site, with the unoccupied 25,649-square-foot Foothills eater accounting for available space. e site has managed to find some new tenants, signing Planet Fitness to a 12-year lease for 15,578 square feet in February. Kelleher & Sadowsky found a creative use for the 22,287 square feet of empty space at Mercantile Center once used as a COVID-19 testing site during the pandemic, inking a deal in November with Belgium-based immer- sive exhibition company Exhibition Hub. at firm operated a Vincent Van Gogh immersive art exhibition in the space and is now hosting a similar attraction featuring the work of Claude Monet. Business Center owes $531K in taxes Worcester Business Center, located at 67 Millbrook St. adjacent to the inter- change between Interstates 190 and 290, is working to catch up on some of its financial obligations in the wake of Norton's bankruptcy, Donahue said. e City said the property owes $530,976 in overdue real estate tax balances. e entity behind Worcester Business Center is now solely-managed by David Woodbury, with Norton removed in May. Woodbury is the retired president of Worcester printing and engraving firm Woodbury and Co. He sits on the board of trustees for the EcoTarium. e 265,000-square-foot office build- ing was formerly a mill building, but has undergone an extensive renovation into Class A office space. e site's tenants include UMass Memorial Health, Elder Services of Worcester Area, the Depart- ment of Revenue, and Geisel Soware. Worcester Business Center's vacancy rate sits at 13.8%, up from a rate of 3.3% in 2020. e site has seen a net leasing of 5,200 square feet in the last 12 months. Will Kelleher (left) and Jim Umphrey, of Worcester-based Kelleher & Sadowsky Associates PHOTO | COURTESY OF KELLEHER & SADOWSKY ASSOCIATES W

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