Unum agreement positive step for CitySquare

(NECN: Jennifer Eagan, Worcester, Mass.) – Worcester’s CitySquare project promises to bring an urban village to the city’s downtown — shopping, condos, and office space. But before construction can move forward, the developer, Berkley Investments, needs to secure leases for 135-square feet of space. Worcester City Manager Mike O’Brien said Berkley and Unum — a Worcester disability insurance company — are close to making a deal. Negotiations have gone months past the initial time frame — it’s one more delay in a stalled project. Planning for CitySquare began in 2004. While a few tenants have moved into renovated space, demolition and construction of new buildings has not happened. Unum’s agreement has been touted as the key to moving CitySquare forward. With their lead of 200,000-square feet, developers would pass the required square footage needed to begin demolition of the old Worcester Mall. Roberta Schaefer of the Worcester Research Bureau said they would be an anchor tenant.