Rothschild seeks small manufacturers for Worcester

Steven Rothschild, CEO of Access Fixtures and developer of the Armory Business Center and Ivy Corset Building

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Steven Rothschild has founded a number of business over his career, starting with Empire Furniture Showrooms and then progressing onto online companies. Today, he runs web firm Applied Interactive and lighting manufacturer Access Fixtures. Lately, he has moved into real estate development, with his Ivy Corset office building in a reclaimed industrial space in Worcester’s Main South neighborhood. Next is the Armory Business Center in the South Worcester Industrial Park, where he wants to build 1,867-square-foot units for manufacturers to lease for $2,000 per month.

Why did you get into real estate?

I was sitting on a beach in St. Martin, and there were five couples and my wife and myself. The guys there said to me, “Steve, what do you do?” I said, “I run Access Fixtures and Applied Interactive and am a professor at Clark University where I teach courses in entrepreneurship.” They looked at me kind of funny and they said, “Why would you want to do that?”

One of them said, “I used to own a business, but I turned it over to the managers. We leased the rest of the space in the building out to other businesses. I haven’t seen it in five years.” He is sitting on a beach for weeks. Another guy said, “I had a major contracting company, and I built myself a couple of medical buildings. Then, I got rid of the contracting business, and I haven’t seen those buildings in years.”

I said, “Alright, I get it.” I realized I had to go with real estate as well. I love the businesses, and I am not going to give that up. Pursuing real estate development has been fun. I have been involved with design most of my life, and I have done a number of residential and commercial projects.

What do you like about these projects?

They are challenging. They are good for the city. They are good for the community. They create jobs. If you do it right, it can have a lasting effect on all the citizens. I like to do projects that have a positive.

For example, the building we are sitting in – the Ivy Corset Building – was rundown and empty. Slowly over time, I invested in it, and using cash flow we continued to invest where we repaired and built out an area at a time. We fixed it. Today, we run 100 percent occupancy in Main South Worcester.

Why focus on manufacturing spaces?

The Ivy Corset Building is really offices, sort of technology professionals and sales professionals. You can’t make manufacturing here. It is not ideal for research and development.

The Armory Business Center came out of the when I was taking calls for renting other commercial spaces that I had. I always get the same questions. Every tenant who is looking for space knows what they need, and they stay on the phone until you say no. The first question is, “Does it have cement floors? Does it have a loading dock? Can I drive in the building? Are there ceilings over 18 feet? Is there heating? Does it have three-phase power? Does it have air conditioning? Can I get 18-wheelers in there? Is it handicap accessible? Does it have bathrooms? Does it have drains in the floor? Can I get a clean room in?” Along the way, with most older commercial buildings, you have to say no.

Now, with the Armory Business Center, we are building a purpose-build building where I can say yes to almost any question they can ask.

Then, I can choose the clients and the tenants, instead of them saying yes to me.

Why are you building smaller units?

There are lots of large facilities out there, but large facilities can’t be adapted like the Armory Business Center will be. You can’t built the dock in. You can’t separate utilities. Consequentially, there are no small venues for businesses to go in. By small venues, I mean companies coming out of an incubator or a garage or doing contract work that still needs make space

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Rothschild Shop Talk