Worcester Business Journal

www.wbjournal.com January 4, 2016 • Worcester Business Journal 13 W orcester is showing many signs of being in the midst of an economic revival. With nearly $40 billion in GDP, the city has been recognized by Forbes as one of the country's top metropolitan areas and a great place for business. Over a recent three-year period, the region's manufacturing sector grew 15 percent – and health care remains a key industry in the area, employing more than 128,000 people. Downtown Worcester is also under- going a positive shift. A 12-acre parcel, known as the CitySquare redevelopment project, promises to usher in an even greater era of regional economic development. As one of the largest public-private devel- opment projects in the commonwealth, this $565-million project is bringing mixed-use development to a key part of the city. Already the 65,000-square-foot St. Vincent Hospital medical facility has been completed and Unum Insurance's move into a recently finished 214,000-square-foot office tower dem- onstrates the desire for large companies to set up shop downtown. More projects, like a new 150-room hotel, are under way as well. At Citizens Bank, our commercial real estate team continues to play an impor- tant role as a leader in financing eco- nomic development deals in key cities across Massachusetts. And CitySquare is no exception. Earlier this month, we announced that Citizens would provide a $41.5-mil- lion construction loan to MC Roseland, which will fund a crucial element of this mixed-use project: a 237-unit apartment complex. Located on Front Street at the intersection of Foster Street, the first phase of Roseland's project will feature residential apartments with approxi- mately 12,000 square feet of indoor ame- nity space, and a courtyard featuring a swimming pool, fire pit, BBQ grills and a dog run. At full build-out, the entire Roseland project is slated to include two four- and five-story residential buildings with a total of 365 units, 402 parking spaces and approximately 11,200 square feet of street-level retail. Today, the United States is experienc- ing the highest growth rate of 20- and 30-somethings since the baby boom, resulting in a huge demand for housing, especially in urban cores with greater access to vibrant social and cultural activ- ities. With the Roseland complex now shovel-ready, CitySquare promises to be just that kind of destination for prosper- ous and well-educated millennials. But new housing does more than just attract young people to the city; it helps to keep the vibrant core of knowledge workers we already have here. With a medical school that produces Nobel Prize-winning research and attracts some of the sharpest medical minds in the world, UMass is a driving economic force in the region. The area's many higher education institutions help pro- duce a Central Massachusetts life sci- ences and innovation base that is already formidable and growing stronger every day. The high number of educated work- ers is helping to revive the manufactur- ing sector, which now concentrates on advanced manufacturing. As bankers, we often focus on the numbers, as we should. With the Roseland deal, however, we're helping to support a whole new community and bolster a city and a region in a way that is both rewarding and humbling at the same time. In the short term, a $41.5 million con- struction loan helps create jobs and promotes continued economic activity for Worcester and Central Massachusetts. Down the line, this project and every- thing else going on – including CSX's decision to invest $140 million in a new regional headquarters facility – promis- es to be a boon for the region. By supporting CitySquare's down- town apartment complex, we are dem- onstrating our commitment to the com- munities where Citizens colleagues live and work. It is a commitment that Citizens makes throughout Massachusetts and our entire 11-state Northeast footprint. We're happy to play a part in Worcester's exciting future and look for- ward to the successful completion of CitySquare and the promise that it holds for the city. n Quincy Miller is the Massachusetts president of Citizens Bank >> R E A L E S TAT E GUEST COLUMN BY QUINCY MILLER Worcester revival justifies $42M development loan "The high number of educated workers is helping to revive the manufacturing sector, which now concentrates on advanced manufacturing." Quincy Miller, Massachusetts president, Citizens Bank of youth dedicated to their particular sport, with equally dedicated parents. "Everyone has their kids in structured activities, and dance and cheering is a big part of that on the female side of things. And you have the hockey, soccer, baseball that are big for males and females," Mowen said. "It is a total dif- ferent world from the one I was growing up in 30 years ago. A lot of these kids take part in these competitions. It is a major part of their world." Businesses have been capitalizing on this burgeoning market. In December, Mike Covino, who is best known as the president of the Niche Hospitality res- taurant group but is trained as a physi- cal therapist, opened Peak Fitness in Worcester. This facility caters to adult fitness but also extends to injury pre- vention and fitness training for youth athletes. For Covino, this was about serving a growing need in the youth market that keeps kids on the field. "How do we keep these kids from getting hurt and predisposing them to injury, and a certain number of kids want to get better," he said. Large, dedicated playing facilities have been cropping up throughout the region. In 2010, the New England Sports Center in Marlborough undertook an expansion to seven rinks. The latest facility to join the ranks is the New England Baseball Complex in Northborough. This facility with three full-size turf baseball fields – two of which can be converted into four little league size fields – opened in 2015. It was the vision of CEO Steve August, who has a long history with baseball, having worked as assistant general man- ager for the Red Sox among other vari- ous baseball-related positions. August views this unique to the northeast facility -- complexes in the south and Midwest can have over 10 fields – as not only an investment but also a community service. During the extended winter season, high school teams were clamoring to make use of the fields for their spring training. "We were slammed with high school baseball requests," August said. "These guys couldn't get on the field, they were begging us for practice time." These facilities can also add an extra stamp of approval to programs that make use of them, Mowen said, noting that many of the cheer competitions have moved from large high schools to the DCU Center, which is a full-service facility and location. The central loca- tion of Worcester helps not only with travel to and from the event but with the affordable hotel rooms, Mowen said. Dedicated facilities like the Marlborough location are still expensive to build and maintain, making them a bit of a hard sell for developers and landowners, August said. The Northborough baseball complex is making use of office space on their grounds to help round out the baseball facility's business case. No one is arguing against the need for more playing space. That was a major factor in the Worcester Business Development Corp. getting involved with the creation of a hockey rink in the Canal District. Not only does this project help with the organization's mission of cleaning up contaminated brownfields sites, through state and federal funds, but it puts the property back to a positive, taxable use, said Roberta Brian, WBDC's vice presi- dent of projects. As the organization was rehabilitating the former Telegram & Gazette building at 20 Franklin St., among the challenges of intellectual issues and retaining grad- uating entrepreneurs in the area, ice time was raised. "We started to hear a similar theme. That it would be great to have Worcester ice," Brian said. The location at 112 Harding St., a former GKN Sinter Metals site, will be remediated by the WBDC to the tune of $2.7 million, clearing the way for re-use. "Twin rinks in that area serve not just the schools but a very large youth pop that is now traveling outside of the city," she said. "The private market has responded, but they really have been responding east of us." The downtown location will be a departure from the suburban model but bring with it access to hotels, shopping and dining all within walking distance in the Canal District. n The Worcester Business Development Corp. is remediating the former GKN Sinter Metals site for $2.7 million in order to create a hockey rink in the city. P H O T O / S A M B O N A C C I

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