Worcester renews ban on NH drywall firm while company remains at work on Franklin Street housing development

Worcester Solicitor Alexandra Kalkounis issued a letter on Tuesday clarifying that a New Hampshire-based construction firm is prohibited from working on projects in Worcester that have received a tax break, less than one month after another city letter told a developer behind the project that the contractor was cleared to work in Worcester. The Tuesday letter from Kalkounis was the latest development in controversy over whether or not Optiline Enterprises is allowed to work on projects in the city under Worcester’s Responsible Development Ordinance.  Passed by the City Council in late 2023, the RDO prohibits contractors or subcontractors from working on any project in the city that has received a tax break if they have been found to be in violation of contracting-related laws in the prior three years.  Optiline has been conducting work on the Benjamin on Franklin, a 364-unit apartment complex currently under construction at 274 Franklin St. The project is being co-developed by New Jersey-based The Michaels Organization and Worcester-based GoVenture Capital Group. Despite a Tuesday letter from the city clarifying that a ban on the company remains in effect, the company continued work on the project as of Wednesday morning, according to its lawyer. Banned, and then unbanned The controversy regarding Optiline’s involvement in the Benjamin on Franklin project dates back to March 2025, when the North Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters Local #336 sent a letter to City Manager Eric Batista.  The letter noted a December 2024 citation against Optiline from the state Attorney General’s Fair Labor Division, stating the firm retaliated against an Optiline worker who filed a lawsuit alleging a lack of overtime pay.  The alleged threatening communications to the worker led to the judge overseeing the lawsuit issuing a protective order prohibiting Optiline’s owners from communicating with the workers involved in the lawsuit, according to court records.  A copy of the AG’s citation obtained by WBJ said the company had taken retaliatory action against an employee for making a complaint, issuing a $15,000 fine, the maximum penalty for this type of citation under state law. In a June 2025 letter obtained by WBJ, Worcester Chief Development Officer Peter Dunn told the carpenter’s union that the AG’s citation led the city to determine any TIF or TIE project would violate the RDO if Optiline was hired to perform work on the project.   Optiline would later come to an agreement with the AG in January. A copy of the agreement obtained by WBJ showed it reduced the fine to $7,500 and included a voluntary $2,500 payment to the worker who alleged Optiline retaliation.  “The Company denies any liability or wrongdoing in this matter, and the parties are resolving this matter in order to avoid the costs, inconveniences, and risks of litigation,” the agreement reads. Another provision stated the agreement settled this particular citation with the AG’s office, but Optiline could still face other lawsuits or government enforcement actions. An August letter from Dunn to GoVenture Capital obtained by WBJ said that the city had received the settlement agreement between Optiline and the AG’s office. Citing that settlement, the letter said the citation was no longer a basis for preventing Optiline from working on TIF or TIE projects. The reversal of the ban on Optiline led to a protest last week outside of Benjamin on Franklin led by the carpenters’ union, as they questioned why the city had reversed course. The union called for the ban to be implemented once again, and for the 15-year, $11.3-million tax break associated with the project to be revoked.  “I am disappointed the city is allowing Optiline back into Worcester,” Frank Gomez, business manager and organizer with the carpenters’ union, said in a statement. “Optiline has a well-documented history of exploiting workers by committing age theft and tax fraud. These are workers we should be standing up to protect. There is no reason Worcester should be allowing [Optiline] back onto projects.” The reversal also led to a request from Councilor-at-Large Gary Rosen at Tuesday’s City Council meeting for Dunn and Batista to explain what had led to the ban being reversed. Optiline banned again In the hours before Tuesday’s City Council meeting, Kalkounis sent another letter to GoVenture Capital about Optiline, saying it had received clarification from the AG’s office on the citation and settlement. “The City of Worcester hereby reaffirms its June 2025 decision and finds the citation issued to Optiline in December 2024 violates the City’s Responsible Development Ordinance, rendering Optiline ineligible to work on tax relief projects in the city,” the letter reads. Speaking at Tuesday’s council meeting, Kalkounis explained what happened. “We received a settlement agreement saying that Optiline has no liability and no wrongdoing whatsoever,” Kalkounis said. “Based off of that, you would think that they were eligible, because that negates all liability and wrongdoing. We [later] talked to the Attorney General's office, and they've clarified that their amended citation and settlement agreement only applies to the civil penalty.” Reached by phone on Wednesday, Optiline co-founder Thomas Bolduc deferred comment to attorney Michael Strauss. Strauss told WBJ that Optiline was shocked by how the city handled the situation and protested the reimplementation of the ban. Strauss said Optiline is continuing conversations with the city, but is also considering legal action. “[Optiline] doesn't want to engage in extensive, wasteful litigation and bog down the city and the courts,” Strauss said. “But it's also a business that's just trying to do its job.” Strauss also took issue with the AG’s original citation. “The attorney general made an allegation, and then my client denied the allegation and appealed the citation,” Strauss said. “It's really important to emphasize that an allegation is not a finding. If that were the case, then our entire [legal] system gets flipped on its head.” Strauss said that, as of Wednesday, Optiline is still conducting work at the site.  Reached by phone on Wednesday, Michaels Organization Regional Vice President Jay Russo said his firm had just received the latest letter from the City and was working to resolve the issue, citing contracts the company has with firms like Optiline.  GoVenture Capital did not respond to requests for comment.  The city did not immediately respond to WBJ questions about whether the August letter clearing Optiline to work in Worcester was a mistake or how it responded to reports that Optiline was still active on the project. Expected to be completed in 2027, Benjamin on Franklin would be the city’s third-largest market-rate apartment complex, according to real estate data firm CoStar, trailing just the 370-unit Aria on the Row complex and the 365-unit complex known as 145 Front at City Square.  Eric Casey is the managing editor at Worcester Business Journal, who primarily covers the real estate and banking & finance industries.