Issue link: https://nebusinessmedia.uberflip.com/i/799890
wbjournal.com | March 20, 2017 | Worcester Business Journal 11 Notable Mercantile Center tenants W C O U N T R Y C L U B C O U N T R Y C L U B C O U N T R Y C L U B SS STE TE TE LING LING LING NN NATIONAL ATIONAL ATIONAL C O U N T R Y C L U B STE LING NATIONAL • Golf and Pool Memberships • Reciprocal Golf Privileges • Corporate Outings & Meetings • Charity Tournaments and Events • Weddings & Social Events • Holiday Parties 33 Albright Road • Sterling, MA 978.422.0275 • www.sterlingcc.com C O U N T R Y C L U B C O U N T R Y C L U B C O U N T R Y C L U B SS STE TE TE LING LING LING NN NATIONAL ATIONAL ATIONAL C O U N T R Y C L U B STE LING NATIONAL Front Street development is most exciting Developers in Worcester's Downtown and Canal District neighborhoods are set to debut their projects in the next year, ranging from an ice hockey facility to new hotels. When polled online, Central Mass. business leaders said the retail and residential development at 145 Front St. is the one they are looking forward to the most. F L A S H P O L L Which new Worcester development are you most excited about? Mercantile Center. A $36-million renovation adding retail to downtown office tower 25% 145 Front Street. A $42-million retail/ residential development with 370 housing units 37% Worcester Ice Center. An $18-million two- rink hockey facility in the Canal District 28% 10% Downtown hotels. The 168-room AC Hotel by Marriott and the 120-room Homewood Suites by Hilton COMMENTS: "Love them all; picked the housing to have people living downtown and going to the other sites." "With the added hotel rooms, we'll have a better chance at again getting an early round in the NCAA basketball tournament." "Worcester doesn't need more housing or hotels – it needs more jobs and more local industry." • UMass Memorial Health Care • Kelleher & Sadowsky real estate • Nationwide Insurance • Worcester Telegram & Gazette • Mirick O'Connell law firm • Reliant Medical Group • EnerNOC energy solutions • People's United Bank city in just the last two years … You're seeing that 18-hour city come alive." Mercantile future Mercantile Center's street-front spac- es will be among the most visible aspects of the much larger, 636,000-square-foot office-and-retail space renamed Mercantile Center in 2016 as part of the transformation. A renovation of the lobby at 100 Front St. is slated to begin imminently, working on nights and weekends. Down the road, the long-empty Foothills Theater, partially under- ground near the center's parking garage, could be restored as part of the Mercantile Center as performance space with several hundred seats. "I see that falling into place more when everything is more defined," Norton said. Since Norton started developing the property, new tenants to the property include UMass Memorial Health Care with 92,000 square feet. The two-story UMass information- technology office is more than halfway toward what will eventually total 500 workers by this fall. The hospital sys- tem is implement- ing an online patient charting program, and will bring IT workers together that are now spread among several locations. UMass was attracted to the space because the modern layout would better fos- ter collaboration than its current offic- es, said Renee Mikitarian-Bradley, UMass' associate vice president of real estate. UMass wanted to be a part of the remade neighborhood, she said. "We really loved the new owners' vision," she said. "The retail areas, the restaurant areas, all the things you just don't find in traditional Worcester space right now." Renee Mikitarian- Bradley, UMass' associate vice president of real estate