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Business Parks Remain Active in 2009; Big Plans for 2010 By Jennifer Lade Bulletin Correspondent January 22, 2010 6:16 PM The business community may have breathed a collective sigh of relief at the passing of 2009 but area business parks still saw plenty of activity last year. Whether they were taking steps to improve infrastructure, facilitate future growth or respond to incoming or growing companies, business and industrial parks across Southeastern Massachusetts wrapped up a busy year and are looking ahead to a positive 2010. Here’s a look at some recent activity and future plans. FALL RIVER Development has started at the SouthCoast BioPark, a 300-acre site in the city abutting Route 24, which will accommodate biotech manufacturing, medical device manufacturing, life science and IT industries. "We're really just trying to fill a niche," said Jennifer Menard, the director of the SouthCoast Development Partnership. A major factor in the construction of the park is the Route 24 interchange, which will build a ramp between exits 8 and 9. Although construction on that separate project is not complete, it has progressed enough to allow the BioPark to move forward. As for the park itself, Menard said a road and utilities are currently being installed and developers are in the process of defining individual parcels at the site. In addition, UMass Dartmouth, which has committed to building a biomanufacturing facility at the site, has made significant progress in its planning and design phases, Menard said. The biomanufacturing facility is for industry rather than being a University building, Menard said, though faculty and students will be utilized at the center for teaching and learning purposes. The facility will allow companies to test their pharmaceutical products and survive the "ramp-up" process, when companies perfect their product and increase production from one pill, say, to a million. "We will have the labs and everything they need," Menard said, adding that Fall River is an ideal location because it can accommodate the large amounts of land and water usage life science industries demand. The hope is that life sciences and manufacturing companies attracted to the area because of the BioPark will stay when they realize there is a workforce ready to fill the jobs. Construction will begin on the biomanufacturing facility in the fall. It will be the first facility of its kind in the country to be used by industry rather than for training purposes, Menard said. It could put as many as 8,000 people to work. RAYNHAM The 330-acre Raynham Woods Commerce Center off Route 44 sold its last five lots at the end of last year, said Town Planner Marilyn Whalley. "I don't expect anything to be built on them anytime soon," she said. "I think they were sold more or less as an investment." A $1 million Massachusetts Opportunity Relocation and Expansion (MORE) grant allowed the roads of Raynham Woods to be resurfaced and for a culvert to be replaced, adding to the park's appeal. "It's going to make some of the outlying lots drier," Whalley said. "Those two things should make the park that much better. It looks really wonderful. It's a great looking business park." With Raynham Woods bought up, the town is looking to place new development in the area of Raynham Park on Route 138. A ban on dog racing in the state took effect Jan. 1, and Whalley said she is waiting to see what will happen to the roughly 100 acres of land at Raynham Park. A $12,000 state grant will allow the town to do a market study on that section of Route 138 to see what would be appropriate development for the area, Whalley said. The study will help "land owners in the area to take advantage of the potential for the rail to come through town," she added. MBTA service could run through Raynham if the Stoughton line is extended, though it is only one possibility the state is considering for bringing rail to New Bedford and Fall River. NEW BEDFORD New Bedford Business Park continues to grow and prosper despite a tough economy, according to Thomas G. Davis, executive director of the Greater New Bedford Industrial Foundation, the non-profit organization that oversees the business park. Although 2009 wasn't quite a record year, the business park did well with companies like Reinhart Foodservice, formerly NATCO Corp., expanding during the year and several new land parcels being opened up for development. Morgan Advanced Ceramics also announced its planned expansion in late 2009 after it was selected to receive a $570,000 Life Sciences tax incentive (see story, page one). Last year also brought Konarka Technologies to the region when it moved into the former Polaroid plant, although the company announced its move in late 2008. The year was also building on a great 2008 when companies like Symmetry Medical, the State Lottery, and Veolia Energy moved in and others, including Lighthouse Masonry and Titleist, expanded facilities. The recent growth brought 550 new jobs to the park over the past three years, Davis said, adding he expects another 200 in the near future. Although a few businesses cut back in 2009, none were lost, Davis said. Vectrix, the manufacturer of electric scooters which filed for bankruptcy in 2009, was bought and renamed New Vectrix. It may still remain in the park, according to Davis, who said a decision is expected this month about whether or not the company will maintain its 10-year lease. Not all companies thrived but overall the park did well, Davis said, noting, "Some existing companies lost some jobs but I expect them to come back." Growing industries that Davis is paying special attention to include clean energy, biotech and medical device manufacturers. Clean energy is especially "hot," now, Davis said, noting that there are currently four clean energy companies operating from the business park: Konarka, Maximum, Commonwealth New Bedford Energy and Vectrix. And, there's potential to increase that in 2010, he said. "I hope, by 2010, to have six to seven clean energy companies in the park." But, while many regions are vying for clean energy and biotech business, including New Bedford, Davis said his growth strategy is to diversify. "I go after the high quality companies and don't worry about what industry they're in," he said. TAUNTON The biggest park in the state, the 807-acre Myles Standish Industrial Park just off Route 495, is hovering around a four percent vacancy rate, according to Richard Shafer, executive director of the Taunton Development Corporation. "There's plenty availability," he said of both that site and Liberty and Union Industrial Park at the junction of Routes 24 and 140. The major vacancy in the larger park, at 605 Myles Standish Blvd., is an 80,000-square-foot manufacturing distribution building, Shafer said. There are also smaller spaces available in multi-tenanted buildings, offering 1,000 to 30,000-square-feet. There was also some new construction, Shafer said. "At the end of the year, we had two office lots that were created "» for the front of the park," he said. That includes a 2-acre site on Industrial Park Road for a proposed 30,000-square-foot medical office building. Taunton Development Corporation, the quasi-non-profit that operates the industrial parks, is marketing the 60 available acres at Liberty and Union Industrial Park in lots of 1.5 to 40 acres, Shafer said. The Liberty and Union Business Center, adjacent to the industrial center, is also being marketed with more than 50,000-square-feet available in its industrial building. Managed by Maggiore Companies the Business Center already houses Road to Responsibility and Omni Life Sciences. MIDDLETOWN, R.I. Middletown's largest business park, the 90-acre Aquidneck Corporate Park, has had the most activity of any of the town's business parks, said Middletown planning director Ronald Wolanski. A priority for the park, which fronts Aquidneck Avenue and Valley Road at the southern end of town, is improvements to its infrastructure and appearance. "It's trying to keep the businesses we have there happy "» and of course trying to attract other businesses," Wolanski said. The park will take advantage of local, state and federal funds to fix the roads and drainage system and improve the landscaping and signage. Developers are also exploring the possibility of adding new buildings or completely redeveloping some sites in the park. This would update the buildings, some of which were built in the '70s. "The goal would be to make the park attractive and competitive," Wolanski said. In 2009, one of the park's two entrances got a facelift when the road was repaved, a guardrail was installed and a concrete island was removed. It's a small example of the overall vision for the park, Wolanski said. "It's sort of in line with what we want to complete on a larger scale." Editor Beth Perdue contributed to this report. 227 Union Street, Suite 206, New Bedford, MA 02740-5946 PH 508.979.1504 • FAX 508.979.5680 E-mail: Webmaster@gnbwib.org |