It was Menkiti’s father, Ifeanyl, who first planted a flag for both the family and Bo’s development company in Worcester. The elder Menkiti, a Wellesley College philosophy professor, died in 2019, about two years after buying the Shack’s building at 406 Main St. with plans for a cultural institute.
Bo’s company has only increased its holdings in Worcester since, adding 201 Main St., 536 Main St., and 6 Chatham St. Progress has moved slowly, but work is underway on Chatham Street to create 25 residential units. Bo Menkiti pledged in a talk in Worcester late in 2019 he found something familiar here with the neighborhoods hidden in the shadows of D.C. he has helped improve. “Sometimes it’s the small project that makes no economic sense that unlocks the authenticity and the energy of a neighborhood,” Menkiti said.
