BOND breaks ground on $29 million 35,000 s/f Department of Unemployment Assistance facility

Brockton, MA BOND broke ground on a new facility for the Department of Unemployment Assistance (DUA), which provides temporary income to Mass. workers who are unemployed and looking for a job. BOND will provide pre-construction and construction services for the new 35,000 s/f, three story office building.

“Today is a great day for downtown and a great day for Brockton,” said mayor Moises Rodrigues. “This facility is part of the redevelopment that we’re looking at, the re-birth of downtown.”

The $29 million project will be completed at 226 Main St. , a long-vacant site. BOND will carry out the demolition of the condemned existing three-story building and construction immediately adjacent to two existing buildings and a city park area, adding a layer of complexity to the project.

The new building will include a call center, offices, conference rooms, kitchenettes and storage. In addition to providing a modern facility for a state agency, the building will serve to energize the surrounding area by bringing people and activity to a location with a number of business vacancies.

The new facility will include daylight-adjusting illumination, raised floors to accommodate flexibility in power distribution, and white noise and sound absorbent baffles in the call center. The building, designed by Jones Architecture, will be a Mass. LEED Gold Plus certifiable facility.

“BOND is proud to play a role in the reinvestment of downtown Brockton,” said Frank Hayes, president of BOND’s Building Division. “This state-of-the-art facility in the core of downtown will help bring in new business, increase foot traffic, and raise Brockton’s profile.”

“This is going to be state of the art,” said Robert Sullivan, mayor-elect. “This is going to be beautiful; it’s going to be a pinnacle point in the city.”

“We have put a lot of time into making sure we deliver the very best building for this city,” said Rick Jeffers, director of the Department of Unemployment Assistance. “We feel very confident that the City of Brockton will be very proud of what we have done here.”