Tewksbury, MA The New England Real Estate Journal (NEREJ) and the Middlesex 3 Coalition held its Middlesex 3 Real Estate 2020 Building for the Future Summit on August 7^th at 400 Innovation Dr.

The event began with breakfast and networking in a raw space in the building.

Peter Gottlieb of Rubinstein Partners, L.P., made welcoming remarks to start the event. He discussed the recently redesigned Center at Innovation Dr. property, which is comprised of four conjoined buildings located at 200, 300, 400 and 500 Innovation Dr. Owned by Rubenstein, the firm recently completed an interior and exterior renovation plan throughout the entire campus, creating a modern workplace for multiple tenants and uses that is unique to the market. Additionally, the Center at Innovation Dr. achieved LEED certification for Building Design and Construction from the U.S. Green Building Council for this major renovation, which highlights its leadership in energy and environmental design.

 

 

Stephanie Cronin, executive director of the Middlesex 3 Coalition also made opening remarks and introduced the first panel. She invited attendees to attend future leadership events and encouraged opening doors to the community.

The first panel focused on “Mixed-use and the Future of Development.” The panelists included: Moderator  Mike Kennealy, MA secretary of Housing and Economic Development; Sal Lupoli of Lupoli Cos.; Jack Conway of Serono Research; Peter Gottlieb of Rubenstein Partners; Paul Cohen, town of Chelmsford; and Eric Greene of Erland Construction. Kennealy and the panelists touched base on the strength of the current economy, the unemployment rate being under 3% and the housing crisis.

“I thought it was a great panel. It was a great mix of developers, companies and municipal officials. It was a great discussion about a number of things for us as a state and as an administration. We need to provide more housing. We’d like to grow our life sciences sector all across the state. We touched on the importance of partnership between city/state and developers and companies – that’s very important. We talked about how to attracted the workforce. It was really great panel,” said Kennealy.

The second panel focused on “Repositioning and Redeveloping to Meet Tomorrow’s Market Demands.” Panelists included: Moderator Eileen Donoghue, city manager of Lowell; Robert Buckley of Riemer & Braunstein; Phil Pennellatore of Schneider Associates; Brent Maugel of Maugel Architects; Rosemary Duffy of Columbia Construction; and John Hession of BSC Group. They discussed how to repurpose/reposition existing properties to meet today’s current needs. They discussed that communication is the key to working successfully with communities. Repositioning takes time to create a place where someone wants to live/work.

 

 

“I thought that this was a wonderful opportunity. We had a terrific panel, deep in experience, talking about the very things that I think communities want to know. How do we grow? Where should we be putting out efforts and resources? I think that there was wonderful advise and experience shared today which is invaluable,” said Donoghue.

The event was sponsored by:

• Platinum sponsor: Rubenstien Partners;

• Gold sponsor: Riemer Braunstein

• Silver sponsor: Enterprise Bank

• Bronze sponsors: Allen & Major Associates, Inc.; and Jeanne D’Arc Credit Union

• Corporate sponsors: BSC Group; Maugel Architects; Erland Construction; and ABM; and

• Vendor sponsors: U.S. Pavement Services, Inc.; and Schneider Associates.