Worcester Business Journal

www.wbjournal.com August 15, 2016 • Worcester Business Journal 11 Looking for a host offering Four Diamond hospitality in a central, convenient location? Well... Offering space for 5 to 300 guests, world-class cuisine and Central Massachusett's only AAA Four Diamond approval rating, we host exceptional meetings and dinners of all sizes. Let's meet. 363 PLANTATION ST • WORCESTER • 508.754.5789 • BEECHWOODHOTEL.COM Tickets and information at worcesterchambermusic.org or 508-217-4450 FALL CONCERTS Media sponsor: Worcester Chamber Music Society Our Passion. Our Community. Music in the Garden Thursday, September 15 7:30 pm Tower Hill Botanic Garden Sunday, September 18 4:00 pm Tuckerman Hall, Worcester Into the Abyss Thursday, September 29 7:30 pm Clark University, Worcester The Power of Five Café Concert Thursday, October 6 6:30 pm At the award-winning Nuovo Restaurant Facets and Reflections Thursday, November 3 7:30 pm Grafton Congregational Church Saturday, November 5 7:30 pm Worcester Historical Museum A place for natural gas Today, nearly 50 percent of the elec- tricity that powers homes and busi- nesses across New England comes from natural gas, according to a January report from ISO-New England, the region's grid operator. Several pipeline projects to expand the fossil fuel's reach in the region are in the works, but one, a $3.3-billion plan from Kinder Morgan, was suspended in April. While the law didn't add anything specifically for natural gas, the final version did leave out a provision in an earlier Senate bill banning electricity tariffs as a way to pay for natural gas pipelines, where the cost of the project is cov- ered by an additional charge on ratepayer bills. Since that's usually how gas pipelines are paid for, the clause would have rendered natural gas transmission projects effec- tively lifeless. Roy Nascimento, president and CEO of the North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce, said he was glad the clause was left out of the final version and was also encouraged the law diversified the state's energy supply portfolio. The north central region has the state's highest concentration of manu- facturers, Nascimento said, so high energy costs are a big concern. "Our electricity plants rely on natural gas – they've moved away from coal and oil, and we have nuclear coming offline. That was a big part of our energy mix, and we do need to have diversity," he said. "It's good that we have hydro and wind, but the fact of the matter is we are reliant on natural gas, so we have to increase capacity in order to improve reliability and make elec- tricity more affordable." Bachrach said his group would have preferred if the final bill kept the tariff ban. Ratepayers could end up covering costs associated with pipeline construc- tion for decades after they're built, and energy storage initiatives developed over the next few years could make pipelines useless anyway, he said. "If in five years, if storage batteries made pipelines obsolete, we would still have to pay it for 30 years." he said. "It's a question of either moving forward into 21st century or falling back into the last cen- tury." Regarding energy storage, a section in the bill requires the state Department of Energy Resources to deter- mine possible statewide tar- gets for energy storage by the end of the year. New targets would be put in place by July of next year and achieved by Jan. 1, 2020, according to the law. The state previously announced a $10-million energy storage initiative to study sup- port opportunities for the state's energy storage market. Storage technologies could present an opportunity for the state's manufac- turers, Bachrach said. "If we can lead in the area of storage and storage batteries, we will create a potentially huge industry," he said. n Roy Nascimento, CEO and president, North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce Rental costs are on the rise across Massachusetts, however the median rental prices in Worcester still remain affordable. Worcester stays affordable amid rising costs $1,000 $1,500 $2,000 $2,500 Nov. 2010 June 2011 Nov. 2011 June 2012 Nov. 2012 June 2013 Nov. 2013 June 2014 Nov. 2014 June 2015 Nov. 2015 June 2016 Boston - $2,580 Framingham - $2,280 Worcester - $1,542 Median rents according to the Zillow Rent Index The stability of affordability Even while Worcester seeks to add luxury with the 145 Front Street devel- opment and the 168-room, high-end AC Hotel by Marriott, market-rate housing remains the city's mainstay, Traynor said. One of the developers creating that type of housing is Rob Branca, president of Branded Realty Group LLC. He is building the El Morocco Restaurant on Wall Street in Worcester into 80 to 90 market-rate units. For developers, this type of housing is more of a long-term play that might not see the speed of return some investors and developers are looking for, Branca said. However, in return he finds that these professional tenants in the middle of the market tend to be stable, staying for a long time even if they change jobs within the community. They are simply a larger portion of the Worcester community, giving the development access to a larger market than if it had gone for a luxury angle, he said. The trick is providing amenities these professionals want in what will be their home without pricing the project out of the market. n Source: Zillow Rent Index

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