Photo | Matt Wright
Chip Norton, president of Franklin Realty Advisors, which owns the Mercantile Center
July 15, 2024
State agency signs 10-year lease at Southbridge Innovation Center
Photo | Courtesy of Franklin Realty Advisors
The Southbridge Innovation Center
The Massachusetts Department of Developmental Services, a state agency providing support for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, has signed onto a 10-year lease agreement at the Southbridge Innovation Center.
The state agency is now occupying 8,161 square feet at 14 Mechanic St., a 141,160-square-foot building within the center that contains the Wellsworth Hotel, renamed in January from the Southbridge Hotel and Conference Center following the site’s addition to the National Register of Historic Places.
“We are thrilled to welcome the Department of Developmental Services to the Southbridge Innovation Center,” Chip Norton, founder of Franklin Realty Advisors, owner of the Southbridge Innovation Center, and a member of the 2024 WBJ Power 100, said in a press release from FRA announcing the lease. “The programs and services that DDS provides to the children and adults of Central Massachusetts are critically important, and the Southbridge Innovation Center provides them with the space and location needed to best serve our communities.”
DDS joins Southbridge-headquartered industrial automation firm Element Precision, Worcester-based Seven Hills Foundation, and Missouri-based battery and energy tech firm EaglePicher Technologies as tenants at the Southbridge Innovation Center, according to its website.
The mixed-use development includes 385,000-square of residential space under development and includes space for uses that include research and development, manufacturing, and offices.
FRA manages more than 120,000 square feet of leased space for various government agencies, according to the press release.
Eric Casey is a staff writer at Worcester Business Journal, who primarily covers the manufacturing and real estate industries.
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