Redevelopment Authority learns about progress in Union Station

Oct. 8, 2015 | G. Michael Dobbs
news@thereminder.com

SPRINGFIELD – Members of the Springfield Redevelopment Authority heard about the progress that has been made in attracting tenant business to Union Station project at its Oct. 6 meeting.

Emily Crutcher of Mass. Reality Group, the firm in charge of leasing business at the station, explained that currently it is doing its due diligence on a market study, the operating costs that determine rents and developing a database of potential tenants.

She explained later this month a Request for Proposals (RFP) or retailers will be released. Potential vendors will have until March 2016 to apply. There are 11,000 square feet of vending space.  

The will be a RFP for companies interested in operating the parking garage released in January 2016 and concluding also in march.

The office leasing will be developed last. Crutcher said there is 62,000 square feet of office space in the complex.

She explained to the board members it is essential to show potential retail tenants the number of people who will be going through the station when it opens in January 2017.

Amtrak and the commuter train service between Springfield and New Haven, CT, should draw 429,633 people. The Pioneer Valley Transit Authority will add 3.5 million and intercity bus service will contribute 1.1 million people. The total is just over 5 million people.

“Retailers will absolutely want to understand these numbers,” she said.

There are four basic areas in which retail will be located, Crutcher said. The largest is a 7,000 square foot area in which a full service restaurant could be located.

Other businesses being considered include a drug store, newsstand, coffee shop, a flow shop, fast food restaurants and specialty apparel.

Crutcher believes that offering a period of free rent would be a necessary incentive for retailers to commit to the station. She mentioned that McDonald’s has been in discussions about locating a franchise there.

Board members confirmed the terminal would not be a 24/7 operation. Although security and building management would be a continuous operation, the services to the public would not be.  

The parking area would have a six-story garage with 377 spaces.

Crutcher said the strategy would be to have the retail and parking components ready for the start of service in January 2017, but the office spaces would be “staged out” according to the needs of tenants as they lease them.

She called the office section of the terminal as “really quality space.”

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