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New Anchor Tenant Announced For Tower Square Office Building

WAMC

A national insurance company, owned by investor Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway, is moving its headquarters to downtown Springfield, Massachusetts. 

Wellfleet, an accident and health insurance company that started with five employees in a Springfield suburb 25 years ago, will become the anchor tenant in the Tower Square office building.

Drew DiGiorgio, Wellfleet’s President and CEO, said the move will bring 150 jobs downtown with hopes to double that number in a few years.

"I think downtown is emerging," said DiGiorgio.

Wellfleet will occupy three floors in the 28-story building. The company’s name and logo will be going up on the outside of the high rise.

The name of far more well-known insurance company, MassMutual, came down from the building after the Springfield-based financial services industry giant sold Tower Square last year to a group of investors for $7 million.

Vid Mitta, the managing partner for the group, said since buying the office building they’ve negotiated 10 new tenant leases.

" I would say it is 85 percent-90 percent filled," said Mitta.

One of the new tenants in Tower Square that is scheduled to move in this summer is the YMCA of Greater Springfield.   The organization will move its childcare programs, wellness center, and administrative offices to different areas in Tower Square.

Dexter Johnson, the president of the Springfield Y, said people are excited about moving to downtown Springfield and having new facilities.

" We are in a building that is about 60-years old, so everyone is excited about having new space, especially the health and wellness area that will be a great open floor plan," said Johnson.

Tower Square was once home to a bustling shopping mall, but few retailers remain on the ground floor and mezzanine.

Demetrios Panteleakis of the Macmillan group, the brokers for Tower Square, said retail is no longer a focus.  The goal now is to attract tenants that will provide services, such as food, for the thousands of office workers in and around Tower Square and visitors to downtown.

" The walkability of downtown Springfield has dramatically increased. On a Saturday and Sunday it is a busy place, so we are looking for that streetscape rebirth of the space," explained Panteleakis.

One of the last big retail tenants in Tower Square, CVS, plans to move out when a new standalone store is finished farther down Main Street across from the MGM casino.

The record-setting tenure of Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno. The 2011 tornado and its recovery that remade the largest city in Western Massachusetts. The fallout from the deadly COVID outbreak at the Holyoke Soldiers Home. Those are just a few of the thousands and thousands of stories WAMC’s Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul Tuthill has covered for WAMC in his nearly 17 years with the station.
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