Worcester Business Journal

10 Worcester Business Journal | March 23, 2026 | wbjournal.com BY ERIC CASEY WBJ Managing Editor T he owners and employees at AlphaGraphics Worcester and its signage-focused di- vision AG Signs & Graph- ics are about to undergo a project near and dear to their hearts: putting up signage and graphics at their new Worcester headquarters. Yet finding that $1.2-million head- quarters as the companies sought to consolidate their existing locations in Downtown Worcester and Auburn was something of a miracle, as small manu- facturers and service firms are creating intense demand for midsize industrial space in the city. "It's like a unicorn," said Matt Man- tyla, sales principal at AlphaGraphics Worcester. "It's either selling off the books or it doesn't exist, because no one's leaving it. Everyone wants that specific type of size." Vacancy rates for industrial properties in Worcester between 9,000 and 20,000 square feet are considerably lower than industrial properties of any size, accord- ing to real estate data provider CoStar. Even as the vacancy rate for midsize industrial properties rose above 4% for the first time this decade, availability at such properties remains limited. "Standalone industrial or flex build- ings in the 10- to 20,000-square-foot range rarely come on the market," said Drew Hig- gins, commercial real estate broker with Worcester firm Kelleher & Sadowsky Asso- ciates, who was a listing broker for the AlphaGraphics purchase. e opening of the new headquarters is the latest evolution for a business that began as an office furniture and supply firm. Al- phaGraphics Worcester expanded into the signage business from its existing printing company about a decade ago when it launched AG Signs & Graphics. e two firms are technically separate entities but will now share a location, among other resources. A unicorn location With the company split between a Downtown Worcester location and an Auburn facility, consolidating in one larger space made sense, said Mantyla. e firms lucked out by finding a location on the edge of Worcester's Hamilton neighborhood, a roughly 10,000-square-foot industrial space at 19 Wells St. e firm purchased the property for $1.2 million in January. ese types of properties in Worces- ter are hard to come by, Higgins said. Another listing for a similar building in Worcester attracted around 30 inquiries in a short time frame, most of them from owner-occupiers like AG. While demand is high, the ability to create more supply is limited by a relative lack of suitable land in the city, he said. "It's tough to find land that can kind of suit this type of building, and construction costs are obviously high," Higgins said. "For an investor to actual- ly build a building like this, they have to put a lot of capital down." Owners of existing Worcester prop- erties similar to 19 Wells St. may want to test the waters on a sale, if they can figure out another space that would work for them, he said. Even though Worcester's commercial tax rate is nearly double Auburn's rate – $29.06 vs. $15.83 per $1,000 of assessed value – moving to this property in Worcester was the right fit, Mantyla said. "From the municipality to the Perfect fit In its search for a new Worcester headquarters, AlphaGraphics found a rare $1.2-million industrial building in the Hamilton neighborhood Worcester industrial and flex space vacancy rates Vacancy rates for midsized industrial and flex properties in Worcester have been consistency lower than all buildings of these types. 9,000-20,000 All industrial/ square feet flex buildings 2016 5.44% 11.16% 2017 2.84% 6.43% 2018 3.06% 5.16% 2019 2.07% 3.78% 2020 4.24% 4.58% 2021 2.84% 4.01% 2022 3.50% 5.13% 2023 3.87% 5.94% 2024 1.34% 4.69% 2025 1.66% 5.28% 2026 4.48% 6.86% Source: CoStar Drew Higgins, commercial real estate broker at Kelleher & Sadowsky Associates AlphaGraphics installed this mural at Worcester Public Library created by local artist Sharinna Travieso. REAL ESTATE INSIDER

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