Hanover Puts CitySquare In Boston Developer's Hands
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Donald Birch, COO of Leggat McCall Properties.
Despite its storied history of delays, false starts and disappointments, to Donald Birch CitySquare is a “great project.”
Birch is COO of Leggat McCall Properties, the Boston-based developer hired by The Hanover Insurance Group to get the downtown Worcester project going.
Leggat, which develops properties from the Boston area down the eastern seaboard to Virginia, has been working with Hanover investment subsidiary Opus Investment Management since before it acquired the property from Berkeley Investments. The firm is now in the process of developing a timeline for the construction of the first pieces of the project, including a building that will house the Worcester operations of insurer Unum Group.
The project’s price tag under Berkeley’s plans was originally estimated at $563 million. Birch said it’s not yet clear how much those plans will change.
“There’s a lot of work going on behind the scenes, as you’d imagine,” he said, adding that more public information will come soon.
Opus closed on the $5 million purchase of the developable parts of CitySquare in mid-June.
Hanover spokesman Michael Buckley said the company chose Leggat to develop the property after considering a number of other developers.
“Really we were impressed with the people and the energy and the creativity and the execution skills that they bring to their work,” Buckley said.
[Click here for a timeline of the CitySquare project]
The project is Leggat’s first in Worcester, but the 45-year-old company has developed a number of properties nearby over the years, largely in MetroWest. Its projects have included The Corporate Center in Framingham, Turnpike Industrial Park in Auburn and Westborough Office Park.
The firm was in the local news most recently for selling the Northborough property leased by Genzyme for $17.5 million, together with co-owner ING Clarion Partners.
Leggat works on projects both as a principal investor and as a developer for hire.
In its capacity as a third-party developer, it handled the renovation of the Boston Children’s Museum, which was completed in 2007, renovated and expanded a candy-making space in Revere for The New England Confectionary Co. (famous for its NECCO wafers) between 2001 and 2003 and is developing a major new in-patient facility scheduled for completion next year at Massachusetts General Hospital.
Public and private leaders in Worcester have applauded Hanover’s takeover of CitySquare as a public-spirited move, but the insurer insists that it’s not giving the project any special status compared to other investments Opus might make.
As Leggat sets out its next steps for CitySquare, Buckley said Opus is staying involved in the discussions, but no more than it would with any other real estate investment.
“As an employer and an involved corporate citizen, we have a special interest in and appreciation for this project,” Buckley said. “Having said that, Opus is a very disciplined investor and we’ll bring the same disciplined management approach to this investment as we do to all others to ensure that our returns meet our expectations and serve the needs of our constituents.”
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