Robust Rebirth: Devens Proven To Be Economic Dream Come To Life
Photo/Matt Volpini
New England Studios may be just the ticket to add a further economic push to Devens.
Leave it to Devens to become the destination of the much-anticipated film studios that economic development leaders had hoped would come when Massachusetts implemented tax credits designed to lure the film industry.
Developers floated plans for other locations, perhaps most notably a $500-million filming facility proposed for Plymouth, known as Plymouth Rock Studios. Unable to come up with the financial backing to move ahead with construction, that plan failed, while others never got off the ground.
Selectman: Employment At Devens Higher Than Ever
But Devens' New England Studios, a $40- million facility with four sound stages that was six years in the making, found the secret to success. It took a Hollywood insider and a seasoned group of real estate developers — and a little help from MassDevelopment, the quasi-public organization responsible for governing and redeveloping the former Fort Devens Army base, now known simply as “Devens.”
Seventeen years after Fort Devens closed due to military budget cuts, insiders say the 4,400-acre territory that spans parts of Ayer, Harvard and Shirley closely resembles the vision set forth by those towns when MassDevelopment took over in 1996: a mixed-use style hub for economic development in Central Massachusetts.
Take it from Jim Fay, chairman of the Ayer Board of Selectmen and a retired Army officer who was stationed at Fort Devens. He remembers well the sense of doom when the base's closure was announced. The base was like a self-contained city with its own fully functional economy.
“There are now more people working at Devens than there were when (the fort) closed,” Fay said.
Donahue Report: Businesses In Devens Generate $814.7M In Sales
Just how many people work in Devens? And at how many businesses? A recent study by the UMass Donahue Institute that measures the economic impact of Devens provides a snapshot of its economy today. Published in June, the Profile and Economic Contributions report found that of 87 establishments located in Devens, 72 percent, or 63, are private-sector establishments that employ 2,641. The average annual salary earned in Devens is $57,304, and its businesses generate $814.7 million in annual sales, according to the Donahue study.
A closer look at the numbers shows that the manufacturing industry is alive and well in Devens. It's the second-largest sector there, with 14 firms doing business, employing 1,200. Manufacturing is second only to the professional services industry, which has 17 businesses in Devens.
Fay was deputy finance officer at Fort Devens from the late 1980s until the early 1990s. Upon retirement, he bought a home off base in Ayer and become involved in town government. Fay had been a member of the joint board of selectmen covering the three Devens towns. The board was tasked with coming up with redevelopment goals for Devens, and members came up with the reuse plan that MassDevelopment has carried out ever since.
The biggest worry at the time of the base closure, according to Fay, was that Fort Devens would become a ghost town.
“I mean, it was a very thriving community which didn't have to go outside the gate, if (residents) didn't want to,” Fay said. “What do you do with (4,400 acres) of space?”
MassDevelopment has found plenty to do with it, but progress hasn't always followed a straight line. The challenge from the beginning, according to Fay, was community relations. MassDevelopment, which oversees redevelopment and financing of a slew of business projects across Massachusetts, has gone through its share of leadership changes since Fort Devens closed, and Fay said there was often “gnashing of teeth” among officials about how best to implement the Devens reuse plan. Community outreach in the early days was also troubled, Fay said.
But that's changed. Despite resistance among voters in Ayer, Harvard and Shirley to modifying the reuse plan, as MassDevelopment has requested at various times through the years, Fay thinks the organization has done well in fulfilling its redevelopment obligations.
A flurry of activity at Devens over the last two years speaks to the effectiveness with which MassDevelopment is leading economic development, along with the Devens Enterprise Commission, the local authority in charge of permitting, though progress hasn't necessarily been easy to come by.
New Deals Follow Evergreen Closure
The closure of Marlborough-based Evergreen Solar Inc. due to bankruptcy in 2011 was a major loss for Devens. More than 800 people lost jobs at Evergreen's Devens facility, where the company made silicon wafers. But then, in June 2012, French multinational Saint-Gobain announced it would expand at the site. And Clinton-based Nypro, a precision-injection molding manufacturer, announced last month it would fill the rest of the facility to accommodate the long-term contracts of its new parent company — Jabil Circuit — to make medical devices.
Marty Jones, CEO of MassDevelopment, said having two companies come in to fill that void put a positive spin on the loss. But she's particularly excited about a $250-million expansion that pharmaceutical Bristol-Myers Squibb is planning at its biologics manufacturing facility there.
“I think we're very proud of that because it shows a company that's there, and growing there, and really committed to Devens,”Jones said.
Although there's a big push to support manufacturing businesses, which tend to create a large number of jobs, Jones said there are now limits on development possibilities in Devens. Just a few years ago, she said it would have been hard to imagine a film studio there. But Devens offers the land, the infrastructure, and streamlined permitting that allows companies to build within 75 days.
Since Devens was created and adopted expedited permitting, Jones said more towns have jumped on the bandwagon and also offer it now, so it's not as if Devens has an unfair advantage over other communities. Jones also noted that the tax incentive programs MassDevelopment offers at Devens are available across the state.
Yet it's hard to deny the impact a focused reuse plan has on development prospects. Jack Sullivan, the local architect who worked on the New England Studios project, said MassDevelopment's leadership made all the difference in bringing the studio to fruition, after he and Chris Byers, a film industry insider from Hollywood, had searched throughout the Greater Lowell area for years for the proper location before landing at Devens.
“It just didn't really work out (elsewhere) because (other locations) didn't have the infrastructure. One happened to be next to a railroad track, and that doesn't work for sound,” Sullivan said.
The opposite was true at Devens, which had ample room for buffer zones surrounding studio buildings and all the necessary infrastructure to build quickly.
“It's showtime,” Sullivan said.
Plan Changes A Sticking Point
Meanwhile, MassDevelopment officials have their work cut out for them as they look to complete residential housing units according to the reuse plan. MassDevelopment is planning to have 120 new units built to bring the housing stock in Devens to the 282 units allowed by the plan. A developer is now being selected to carry out the work.
Housing has been a sticking point for MassDevelopment and local town governments, as MassDevelopment has attempted to change zoning to allow for housing in areas not allowed by the reuse plan. But those efforts have failed to pass muster when put to a vote in Ayer, Harvard and Shirley. Fay, the Ayer selectman, said residents want to stick to the plan, while Jones said MassDevelopment has considered it advantageous to revise the plans in the interest of development over the years. “I think that's been the most frustrating part to us about Devens, because development is dynamic,” Jones said.
In 2033, the Massachusetts Legislature will approach the Joint Board of Selectmen to discuss how Devens will be governed when MassDevelopment's work is done. Like everything else, that deadline was set by the reuse plan.
But there's still work to do. Fay believes MassDevelopment has done about 85 percent of its job of creating a healthy economy in Devens. And Elaine Gailey, owner of Devens Grill, a restaurant in the downtown area, is looking forward to seeing the rest unfold.
Gailey is planning her own business expansion to accommodate a busier Devens. People from nearby hotels and other businesses keep her full-service restaurant and bar busy all week long; now she's adding 20 seats to the bar area.
It's encouraging, after the recession sent some businesses packing, said Gailey, a Shirley resident. She said what's good for Devens is good for all the neighboring towns, too.
“The future growth for the next two to three years is going to be just phenomenal,” Gailey said. n
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