Groundbreaking Developments
As this issue of the Worcester Business Journal hits the street, an official groundbreaking is being held at the long-stalled CitySquare development in downtown Worcester.
We can all now breathe a sigh of relief.
The defunct Worcester Common Outlets mall and about half of its ugly, old parking garage are finally going to be demolished. A new, 214,000-square-foot office building for employee benefits provider Unum Group will be constructed, keeping a major employer in our city from fleeing to the suburbs.
Long Time Coming
After years of hearing that the wrecking ball was coming, it indeed has come. In fact, portions of the garage were being torn down even before the official groundbreaking on Sept. 13.
There’s no doubt that the Hanover Insurance Group of Worcester and its CEO Frederick Eppinger will be hearing a lot of praise. And we’re not going to go against the tide.
The Hanover Insurance Group, which formed CitySquare II Development Co. LLC out of its Opus Investment Management Inc. business to take on the massive mixed-use project, was an unlikely savior for the project.
After the initial developer, Berkeley Investments of Boston failed to get the needed financing to move the project forward, it seemed likely that the slickly produced CitySquare marketing material would become collectors’ items much like the ill-fated “Worcester: The Paris of the Eighties” T-shirts you can buy online.
In fact, when rumors started to swirl that Hanover was going to play the white knight to the delayed project, we at the Worcester Business Journal were among those who doubted such a deal could really come to fruition.
But it is really happening. A local company that neared collapse earlier in the decade has made good thanks in part to Eppinger’s leadership, protecting local jobs, and now giving Worcester’s downtown the best chance at revitalization it’s had in decades. And it’s worth noting that Hanover Insurance would not be interested in investing in CitySquare if it weren’t sure of its potential for a return. As a publicly traded company, Hanover Insurance must think of it’s shareholders. Acting on a whim is not advised when you have Wall Street scrutinizing your strategy.
Community Investment
So what’s there to be learned from the CitySquare process? Perhaps the most important lesson is what a difference having access to capital can have. While a developer like Berkeley had to convince private lenders that a $500 million project in Worcester was a solid bet, deep pocketed Hanover Insurance can invest its own money to get the ball rolling.
More importantly, however, is the lesson Hanover Insurance is teaching all of us about investing in the community.
As goes Worcester so do the businesses in this community. Let’s face it, Worcester has an image problem. It’s hard to attract people to work in the city, especially with competition from a world-class city like Boston.
A rebirth in our city’s downtown is absolutely necessary to ensure the stability of our economy. We can all talk about why this is important. But Hanover Insurance and Eppinger have taken action — not just with CitySquare, but also through their support of the Hanover Theatre, which opened in 2008 and continues to draw fantastic shows to Main Street.
Of course, not all businesses in Worcester have the resources of a Hanover Insurance. But we all have something to contribute, at the very least human capital.
Many businesses in this region have a culture of giving back. And the more that conviction infiltrates the offices of Worcester County, the more our region will prosper. We encourage all CEOs to think seriously about the impact their business has on the community and what part they can play in the overall economic development story. We’re all part of the fabric of this community. Let’s take Hanover’s lead and translate some of the talk into action.
WBJ Web Partners
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments