Conference shows off potential in city

Date: 11/3/2010

Nov. 3, 2010

By G. Michael Dobbs

Managing Editor

SPRINGFIELD -- For a third time, city officials hosted a conference to showcase development opportunities in the region.

About 200 people attended the event at the Basketball Hall of Fame that culminated in tours of two of the properties for which the city is actively seeking developers: the former School Department headquarters on State Street and the former Zanetti School on Howard Street.

The developers had a choice of attending workshops on project planning, financial resources on green businesses and the state of transportation infrastructure redevelopment in the region.

John Judge, the city's chief development officer, told Reminder Publications this conference was focused on innovation. The keynote speaker was Stanley Kowalski III, founder of FloDesign Wind Turbine.

Judge said the state is largely comprised of small businesses, from which both job growth and product innovation have historically come. He added an additional challenge is how local businesses and the city can "tap into" the commercial potentials offered by the area's colleges and universities.

Before the event, Russell Denver, president of the Affiliated Chambers of Commerce of Greater Springfield Inc., said this kind of event was important to showcase the incentives for businesses wishing to come or grow in the city, as well as the infrastructure in place to support those businesses.

"It's really important for the city to show its assets to the region and the local community," Denver said.

Mayor Domenic Sarno called Springfield "fertile ground" and added the city is looking for businesses to be "urban pioneers."

Sarno cited the retention of businesses such as Titeflex through tax incentives as one way to help strengthen the local economy.

He told developers that, as far as new housing in the city goes, "market-rate housing is my push, especially in downtown."

Michael Hunter, the undersecretary for business development at the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development, said business success for the region will depend upon "collaboration among key partners."

He asked the business people in attendance to "tell us how we are doing" and warned the economic climate for the next few years might be "tougher," which will require "engagement and candid conversations."

Allan Blair, president and CEO of the Economic Development Council of West Massachusetts, emphasized the collaborative approach by speaking about the Knowledge Corridor and the Hartford-Springfield Partnership.

The Hartford, Conn., and Springfield regional approach presents developers with a market with a workforce of over 900,000 people, the second largest one in New England.

When coupled with the concentration of higher education in the area -- Blair said the region's colleges and universities graduate 15,000 people each year -- the market compares favorably to other better known areas.

After the speakers and the workshops, there were tours of the two former school buildings. Brian Connor, deputy director of economic development for the city, explained both buildings are currently in a request for proposals (RFP) process. City officials will close the RFP for the Zanetti School on Nov. 17 and the one for the former School Department offices on Nov. 30.

Connor said the School Department offices had been originally built in 1905 for Springfield Fire and Marine Insurance Company and has retained many of the original features, such as lavish woodwork and fireplaces in corner offices. He added the building originally had an atrium and said that archival photographs were included in the RFP so developers could see the potential of restoring the building to the way it once was.

He said the city sees potential in both buildings for market rate housing. The School Department building is next to the parking lot for the Springfield Museums, whose management has said it would make spaces available to possible tenants if the building was converted to housing.

The asking price of the School Department building is the assessed value of just over $2 million, but Connors explained respondents are allowed to make counter offers in the RFP, accompanied with an explanation of how the value was determined.

For more information on the RFPs for both buildings, go to www.springfieldcityhall.com/planning.