🔒Perfect fit: In its search for a Worcester headquarters, AlphaGraphics found a rare $1.2M industrial building

The owners and employees at AlphaGraphics Worcester and its signage-focused division AG Signs & Graphics are about to undergo a project near and dear to their hearts: putting up signage and graphics at their new Worcester headquarters. Yet finding that $1.2-million headquarters as the companies sought to consolidate their existing locations in Downtown Worcester and Auburn was something of a miracle, as small manufacturers and service firms are creating intense demand for midsize industrial space in the city. “It’s like a unicorn,” said Matt Mantyla, sales principal at AlphaGraphics Worcester. “It's either selling off the books or it doesn't exist, because no one's leaving it. Everyone wants that specific type of size.”

Vacancy rates for industrial properties in Worcester between 9,000 and 20,000 square feet are considerably lower than industrial properties of any size, according to real estate data provider CoStar. Even as the vacancy rate for midsize industrial properties rose above 4% for the first time this decade, availability at such properties remains limited. “Standalone industrial or flex buildings in the 10- to 20,000-square-foot range rarely come on the market,” said Drew Higgins, commercial real estate broker with Worcester firm Kelleher & Sadowsky Associates, who was a listing broker for the AlphaGraphics purchase. The opening of the new headquarters is the latest evolution for a business that began as an office furniture and supply firm. AlphaGraphics Worcester expanded into the signage business from its existing printing company about a decade ago when it launched AG Signs & Graphics. The two firms are technically separate entities but will now share a location, among other resources.

A unicorn location

With the company split between a Downtown Worcester location and an Auburn facility, consolidating in one larger space made sense, said Mantyla. The firms lucked out by finding a location on the edge of Worcester’s Hamilton neighborhood, a roughly 10,000-square-foot industrial space at 19 Wells St. The firm purchased the property for $1.2 million in January. These types of properties in Worcester are hard to come by, Higgins said. Another listing for a similar building in Worcester attracted around 30 inquiries in a short time frame, most of them from owner-occupiers like AG. While demand is high, the ability to create more supply is limited by a relative lack of suitable land in the city, he said.

“It's tough to find land that can kind of suit this type of building, and construction costs are obviously high,” Higgins said. “For an investor to actually build a building like this, they have to put a lot of capital down.” Owners of existing Worcester properties similar to 19 Wells St. may want to test the waters on a sale, if they can figure out another space that would work for them, he said. Even though Worcester’s commercial tax rate is nearly double Auburn’s rate – $29.06 vs. $15.83 per $1,000 of assessed value – moving to this property in Worcester was the right fit, Mantyla said. “From the municipality to the chamber, we’ve only ever got positive feedback, support, and help,” he said.

Evolving with the times

The interior of 19 Wells St. is still under renovation, but when it’s complete, the company will be better positioned to meet the demands of customers, Mantyla said. AG Signs & Graphics traces its roots back to around 2008, when Matt’s father Ray Mantyla pivoted an existing office furniture and supply store in Downtown Worcester into a visual communications company. The company then became a franchise of the AlphaGraphics company, a Colorado-based firm with more than 270 locations across six countries, according to its website. Mantyla and AG General Manager Michael Hannigan have since added AlphaGraphics franchise locations in Providence and Hartford. Around 2015, the Worcester company added sign creation and installation division, said Mantyla. Since then, its clients have included big names in Central Massachusetts: UMass Memorial Health, Saint Vincent Hospital, and College of the Holy Cross. At Holy Cross, the firm helped the athletic department add visuals to the ice hockey facility, as the college looks to grow its presence in the sport. AG helped install a mural spanning the side of the Worcester Public Library and has done projects for the Worcester Regional Transit Authority. In 2023, the firm helped dismantle the Worcester Telegram & Gazette sign on the office tower at 100 Front St., as the newspaper downsized its presence in the building. The company has seen the most growth in the healthcare and education industries, Mantyla said. While requests for printing forms and similar documents have declined in the digital age, the company has focused more on custom wall graphics and helping banks with rebranding. “A lot of our customers have been loyal for 20 years,” he said. “What they've ordered might have changed, but the fact that they want to come to us for whatever they need hasn't.” The two keys to the businesses’ longevity have been the focus on customer satisfaction and a low employee turnover rate, said Hannigan. “I brought a guy with me that started when he was 19, and now he's been with us for 27 years,” he said. “It's a hard business to learn on both the graphic and sign sides, so we can't afford to replace people.” Eric Casey is the managing editor at Worcester Business Journal, who primarily covers the real estate and banking & finance industries.