"It's a major boon for the project," Deborah Burke, marketing director for Telecom City, tells GlobeSt.com. "It will enlarge and enhance the roads and will give greater access to the site." Burke also notes that the allocation underscores the partnership Telecom City has with the state. The state has committed a total of $50 million to infrastructure improvements for the project as well as $10 million to assist in acquiring property for the City.
According to a memo from the Mystic Valley Development Commission, the agency formed to oversee the project, TeleCom City is in the process of completing the site preparation for the first phase of the project. This phase involves 37 acres here and the memo states that the Commission has acquired "over 26 acres of land."
Four buildings of 110,000-sf each are being built in this phase and construction by the project's master developer, New York-based Preotle Lane and Associates, is expected to begin by the end of the year. But Burke says that that schedule could depend upon the results of an aggressive marketing campaign that is expected to begin shortly. "This is not the greatest market for speculative buildings," she notes. "After the marketing campaign they will start construction but if it's not successful or if they're not comfortable with the amount of tenants they can ask the MVDC for a delay in the construction start." But she adds that Preotle is "very confident that things will pick up."
The telecommunications industry has taken has huge hit in the current recession and many people have questioned the viability of Telecom City in light of the current economic climate. But Burke is insistent that the project is as relevant now as it was a few years ago. "Obviously the industry is not where we'd like it to be," she says. "But the name of this project is almost a misnomer. It's a research and development initiative. It's not just buildings; we have relationships with universities. Telecom can be broadly defined, it's not just a narrow segment of the industry." Burke says that the project is targeting companies in all segments of the industry from those offering telecom solutions to software companies, and smaller companies as well as large ones.
She also emphasizes that this is a long-term project and economic bumps in the road were anticipated. "We never looked at this as a short term project," she says. "Look the developer has a lot of money at stake here. He doesn't want to get out of this."
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