Worcester chamber moving to Cliff Rucker building

Courtesy/Bowditch & Dewey The 311 Main St. building, pictured here, was sold to Worcester Railers Hockey Club owner Cliff Rucker for $2.8 million by law firm and occupant Bowditch & Dewey in 2016.

Photo | Grant Welker Worcester Plaza, which has hosted the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce and is featured in its new logo.

The Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce's new logo, with that of Discover Central Massachusetts, which with the chamber is moving up Main Street.

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The Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce will open in new offices on Monday, as the business advocacy organization is leaving the Worcester Plaza in favor of a building owned by Worcester Railers owner Cliff Rucker farther down Main Street.

The chamber is in the process of moving, automatic reply emails from the regional business advocacy group said Friday.

The tourism bureau Discover Central Massachusetts, which shared offices with the chamber, also is moving to the 311 Main St. building on Friday.

The move gives Rucker a major tenant at his 311 Main St. building, which he purchases for $2.8 million in December 2016 from the law firm Bowditch & Dewey. Bowditch remains a major tenant at the property. Rucker also owns the building next door which houses restaurant deadhorse hill: 285 Main St., which he purchased for $2.7 million in December.

On Friday, the Chamber said its new offices open for business Monday. An open house is planned for Oct. 19.

The move leaves a vacancy in the Worcester Plaza at 446 Main St., the glass skyscraper and one of the two tallest buildings in the city.

In its October Chamber Exchange Newspaper, the chamber said its move comes simultaneously to a rebranding effort that includes a new logo complete with an image of the city’s skyline and an airplane overhead. Perhaps ironically, central in the new logo is Worcester Plaza, the glass tower that the chamber is departing.

Terms of the new lease were not disclosed.

A chamber representative could not immediately be reached Friday.

In the newsletter, Vice President of Marketing Sharyn Williams said the logo reflects the chamber’s growing involvement in the city’s business community.

“We are in the commonwealth of Worcester and people see the chamber as having an intricate part of the movements happening in the city and area,” Williams said.