Worcester revival justifies $42M development loan
Quincy Miller, Massachusetts president of Citizens Bank
Worcester is showing many signs of being in the midst of an economic revival.
With nearly $40 billion in GDP, the city has been recognized by Forbes as one of the country's top metropolitan areas and a great place for business. Over a recent three-year period, the region's manufacturing sector grew 15 percent – and health care remains a key industry in the area, employing more than 128,000 people.
Downtown Worcester is also undergoing a positive shift.
A 12-acre parcel, known as the CitySquare redevelopment project, promises to usher in an even greater era of regional economic development. As one of the largest public-private development projects in the commonwealth, this $565-million project is bringing mixed-use development to a key part of the city. Already the 65,000-square-foot St. Vincent Hospital medical facility has been completed and Unum Insurance's move into a recently finished 214,000-square-foot office tower demonstrates the desire for large companies to set up shop downtown. More projects, like a new 150-room hotel, are under way as well.
At Citizens Bank, our commercial real estate team continues to play an important role as a leader in financing economic development deals in key cities across Massachusetts. And CitySquare is no exception.
Earlier this month, we announced that Citizens would provide a $41.5-million construction loan to MC Roseland, which will fund a crucial element of this mixed-use project: a 237-unit apartment complex. Located on Front Street at the intersection of Foster Street, the first phase of Roseland's project will feature residential apartments with approximately 12,000 square feet of indoor amenity space, and a courtyard featuring a swimming pool, fire pit, BBQ grills and a dog run.
At full build-out, the entire Roseland project is slated to include two four- and five-story residential buildings with a total of 365 units, 402 parking spaces and approximately 11,200 square feet of street-level retail.
Today, the United States is experiencing the highest growth rate of 20- and 30-somethings since the baby boom, resulting in a huge demand for housing, especially in urban cores with greater access to vibrant social and cultural activities. With the Roseland complex now shovel-ready, CitySquare promises to be just that kind of destination for prosperous and well-educated millennials.
But new housing does more than just attract young people to the city; it helps to keep the vibrant core of knowledge workers we already have here. With a medical school that produces Nobel Prize-winning research and attracts some of the sharpest medical minds in the world, UMass is a driving economic force in the region. The area's many higher education institutions help produce a Central Massachusetts life sciences and innovation base that is already formidable and growing stronger every day. The high number of educated workers is helping to revive the manufacturing sector, which now concentrates on advanced manufacturing.
As bankers, we often focus on the numbers, as we should. With the Roseland deal, however, we're helping to support a whole new community and bolster a city and a region in a way that is both rewarding and humbling at the same time.
In the short term, a $41.5 million construction loan helps create jobs and promotes continued economic activity for Worcester and Central Massachusetts. Down the line, this project and everything else going on – including CSX's decision to invest $140 million in a new regional headquarters facility – promises to be a boon for the region.
By supporting CitySquare's downtown apartment complex, we are demonstrating our commitment to the communities where Citizens colleagues live and work. It is a commitment that Citizens makes throughout Massachusetts and our entire 11-state Northeast footprint.
We're happy to play a part in Worcester's exciting future and look forward to the successful completion of CitySquare and the promise that it holds for the city.
Quincy Miller is the Massachusetts president of Citizens Bank.
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