Worcester Business Journal

22 2017 Economic Forecast • www.wbjournal.com • Worcester Business Journal R e a l E s t a t e Introducing Central Mass BUSINESS LEADS e-newsletter! A new offering from the Worcester Business Journal - sign up today to receive detailed information on hundreds of companies in the region that have incorporated within the past quarter, in a searchable, easy-to-use format. Each month, these leads will give you the opportunity to reach new and emerging business leaders seeking to establish themselves in the community with new partnerships and contracts. Stay ahead of your competition by reaching new clients! Worcester Business Journal WBJ Business LEADS The first Central Mass Business Leads E-newsletter will be sent out on November 14. Normally $500 annually or $50 for one month's worth of leads, we're offering a FREE TRIAL of this valuable E-newsletter through the end of December. Take advantage of this offer while it lasts and sign up today for this valuable resource! wbjournal.com/leads www.maugel.com 978.456.2800 @maugelarch ago are now hitting $10. Adding to the competition is that the stock of these buildings is limited, said O'Brien, who is the president of Greater Boston Commercial Properties, Inc. There are only a handful of indus- trial parks in the region and many business owners prefer to be within an industrial park rather than in a stand- alone industrial buildings. Much of the stock officially on the books is also antiquated, O'Brien said, meaning that the market is more con- strained than it might otherwise appear when just looking at vacancy rates. "Those mill buildings and multi-sto- ry industrial buildings are completely functionally obsolete," he said of the wood-beam construction used throughout the 20th century often turned into apartments or offices. What was once the standard for warehouse and manufacturing space has changed, with manufacturers want- ing high ceilings to stack products, easy access through multiple loading bays and load-bearing floors that can take the punishment. If you've got the right amenities, then you're in business. If not, people will just move on, said developer and entrepreneur Steven Rothschild. Before he announced he would build the Armory Business Center, a collection of nine units at 1,867 square feet in the South Worcester Industrial Park, he did his homework and came up with a amenity list that included the items above. Size is also a big factor when it comes to the desirability of a building, said O'Brien, with anything under 6,000 square feet going extremely quickly. Rothschild said, in doing his market research, there was a huge demand for these type of buildings that allow busi- nesses like a recent startup to grow into a full-on manufacturing space. "Today, the footprint for many type of manufacturing is much smaller," Rothschild said, explaining many of these productions add something to a product and quickly move them out to the next processing point. "That's a lot of production in a small square footage." It isn't just layout that draws people to the region, but it's the accessibility. WBDC to develop 500K sq. ft. Worcester biomanuacturing facility The Baker Administration has selected the Worcester Business Development Corp. to redevelop 44 acres of land on the former Worcester State Hospital Campus into a biomanufacturing facili- ty that could employ up to 500 people. The proposed 500,000 square feet of biotechnology facility space is expected to attract companies moving from the research sector to commercialization sector of biomanufacturing. At full capacity, the new site will have the potential to create more than 500 jobs. "As the original developer of the bio- tech park, the WBDC has been fortu- nate to have developed strong partner- ships with the state, the city of Worcester, and UMass Medical School throughout the park's development. This next phase is a great opportunity to expand the park to now include bio- manufacturing, a vision that the found- ers of the park had from the begin- ning," Craig Blais, president & CEO of the Worcester Business Development Residential 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 Source: Zillow Rent Index Continued from Page 21 Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito in September announc- es the 500,000-square-foot WBDC biomanu- facturing campus.

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