Worcester Business Journal

4 Worcester Business Journal • February 15, 2016 www.wbjournal.com T he Front Street office towers in Worcester have been rebranded Mercantile Center as their owners pursue an aggressive timeline for reno- vations and seek an upscale character for the downtown office buildings. What is it? Mercantile Center, the property for- merly known as 100 and 120 Front Street, is a joint venture of Franklin Realty Advisors LLC and Great Point Investors LLC. The property includes 636,100 square feet of office and retail space and a 1,647 space structured parking garage. The developers purchased the office tow- ers for $32.5 million in October. While that price was a large number to throw around in Worcester, the renovations carry an even greater $36-million price. The plan is to turn the property into the premier mixed-use space in down- town Worcester, with the developers soon to be seeking rents to match. The com- pany has been hard at work at the prop- erty that includes a portion of the former Worcester Center Galleria mall. Distancing that portion of the property from its former roots seems to be a key goal for developers. What is the goal of these renovations? Simply put: boosting the bottom line of the properties. To talk with Norton is to be told that once everything is completed, this property will be able to pull in lease deals rivaling the best in the city that reach up in the $40 per square foot. The renovations include not only improve- ments to the common spaces, but the addition of ground-level retail and even the revival of the Foothills Theatre. All of this is designed to not only boost the property itself, but contribute to the over- all rebuilding of downtown Worcester. "The innovative redesign of Mercantile Center, featuring new colors, banners, special signage and activation of our main lobby and large courtyard will cre- ate a vibrant and welcoming atmosphere for existing and future tenants, shoppers and visitors," said Gary Schwandt, princi- pal of Great Point Investors LLC. Will it pay off? We can't see the future here at the Worcester Business Journal, but all indi- cations are if Norton and his partners can follow through on their vision, they will be able to pull in some prime businesses. It has already been announced that UMass Memorial Health Care will bring 500 information-technology employees downtown in a 74,000-square-foot lease agreement. This is in addition to the approximately 1,250 people currently working within the towers. n Ocata Therapeutics purchased for $384M Tokyo's Astellas Pharma Inc. has com- pleted its $384 million purchase of Marlborough's Ocata Therapeutics. Astellas completed the purchase of all outstanding stock for Ocata Therapeutics, which researches treatments for eye dis- eases, through its subsidiary Laurel Acquisition Inc. Laurel was then merged into Ocata on Feb. 10. Neither company has said how the acquisition will impact Ocata's 39 local employees or operations. The purchase was approved by the boards of directors of Ocata and Astellas. As a result of the merger, Ocata's com- mon stock has ceased to be traded on the NASDAQ Global Market. Framingham firm pens $10M Australian deal Framingham's SCIEX has partnered with the Australian Cancer Research Foundation International Centre to pro- vide the organization with $10 million in equipment that will be used to investigate cancer causes and treatments. The new Proteome of Cancer (ProCan) facility, in Westmead, Australia, will do profiling studies of thousands of tumor samples per year. It was established using $10 million in seed money that will be used to purchase SCIEX equipment, according to a release from the company. SCIEX solutions reduce the variability associated with working with cancer samples and enables a higher sample throughput, which will help to accelerate cancer research and precision medicine at large, Chris Radloff, global vice presi- dent and general manager of the LC-MS Business at SCIEX, said in a statement. The agreement provides ProCan with the high sample throughput required for the industrialization of proteomics via a large suite of SCIEX spectrometers and NanoLC 400 HPLCs. Marlborough tool maker acquired for $7M A Marlborough company specializing in blade sharpening tools was purchased by a Connecticut firm for $7 million. The assets of Vogel Capital, Inc., doing business as Diamond Machining Technology (DMT), are expected to be transferred this year to Acme United Corp. DMT has been in operation since 1976, using finely dispersed diamonds on the surfaces of its sharpeners and holding over 50 patents and trademarks. Walter C. Johnsen, Chairman and CEO of Acme United, said that DMT will compliment the company's existing brands and products. Acme United intends to keep the DMT operations in Massachusetts and expects to expand the business and distribution through its customer base. WPI program part of White House computer science initiative Bootstrap, a program developed by faculty at Worcester Polytechnic Institute and Brown University, will be part of a new White House initiative to enhance access to computer science education. The White House has announced a major nationwide effort to bring com- puter science education to all students across the country, noting that computer science skills are considered "a new basic skill necessary for economic opportunity and social mobility," according to a release. A computer science curriculum developed in part by faculty at WPI and Brown University will play a role in the Science for All Initiative, as it is called. Bootstrap is a middle and high school curriculum in which students learn key concepts in computer programming and algebra in the process of creating their own video games. Bootstrap creators are also using the program to help train math teachers in computer science education. Community health firm expands into Worcester Civitas Solutions of Boston has acquired Worcester's Renaissance Adult Day Care center in a three-center deal as the firm looks to grow. The deal that closed on Feb. 1 also included two other Adult Day Health (ADH) centers in Brighton -- the Dacha and Winter Gardens -- in addition to the 1040 Southbridge St. Worcester location. The three sites provide person-centered day services to elders, including medica- tion management and nutritional and nursing support, according to Civitas. The three centers have the capacity to serve 410 people, with the Worcester center not yet running at capacity. Civitas generated revenues of approximately $8.7 million for the 12-month period prior to the acquisition. Sunny D plant in Littleton sells for $4.6M A former Sunny Delight Beverage company bottling plant in Littleton has been purchased for $4.6 million by a joint venture of real estate investment firms. The fate of the 16.5-acre facility on Harvard Road was in limbo when Sunny Delight announced in August of 2015 that it would shutter its operations at the location where 63 people were employed. Production at the plant, which bottled Fruit 2O and Veryfine fruit juices, was transferred to other facilities. The loss of the bottler was a blow not only to the local job market, but the town that was preparing to lose $400,000 in revenue from the water it used. The plant was purchased by a joint venture of investment firms that includes New Mill Capital Holdings of New York that will collectively be called Littleton Holdings. REGIONAL BRIEFS Verbatim "When President Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act of 1963, women earned 59 cents on the dollar. It's been 53 years, and we've closed the gap to 82 cents on the dollar in Massachusetts. We cannot – we will not – wait another half century to finally achieve equal pay for equal work." Senate President Stanley Rosenberg, on a pay equity bill. >> "Through periods of recession and expansion, boom and bust, inflation or deflation, you and your succes- sors in the General Court would be virtually powerless to modify this key state tax policy in a timely manner." High Tech Council Executive Vice President Mark Gallagher, on the Millionaire's Tax. >> "We need to take every step and every measure to be as vigilant as we can." Attorney General Maura Healey, on the need to combat MassHealth fraud. >> In Review CENTRALMASS >> Continued on next page Rebranded Worcester towers aim for top-shelf tenants BY SAM BONACCI Worcester Business Journal Digital Editor Gary Schwandt, principal of Great Point Investors LLC, speaks at the Mercantile Center's rebranding event. P H O T O / M A T T V O L P I N I

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