Building Springfield back is ‘collective priority’ for 2023

The Republican’s annual Outlook edition provides me the opportunity to reflect on where Springfield, as a community, has been over the past year and to embrace our collective journey forward.

By C AROLyN ROBBINS Special

to The Republican

B.JOHN DILL, president and chief executive officer of Colebrook Realty Services, knew the office market was springing back to life after the COVID-19 pandemic when he looked out his window at the 12-story TD Bank building at 1441 Main St. and noticed the parking lot was beginning to fill up.

“We are seeing return to the office,” Dill said in an interview, noting that more cars in the building’s adjacent parking lot signaled workers were returning to downtown. “But we’re still not back to pre-COVID levels,” he said. ”The question is what will the market look like when it returns to ‘normal?’”

Evan Plotkin, president and chief executive officer of NAI Plotkin Realty at 1440 Main St., also noticed an uptick in activity at his company’s headquarters on the 14th floor of the 17-story One Financial

As 2022 started, Springfield and its residents and businesses were still healing from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. While the city was recovering, thanks largely to the lifesaving vaccine, the sheer loss that was inflicted on our families, professions and human interactions remained.

A year later COVID and its many variants remain, and, while concerning, we have thankfully learned to proactively adapt. Today, we view the pandemic and its ongoing inconveniences with a healthy sense of control that comes from the availability of vaccines and booster shots and daily life finally seems more normal and cautiously optimistic.

Plaza property.

“Many of our tenants are telling us that half of their employees work in the office and the other half works remotely,” Plotkin said. “There is clearly evidence that the pandemic has changed the traditional workplace, and it remains to be seen whether the impact of the changes will be long-lasting.”

In response to the evolving world of commercial real estate, Dill and Plotkin — each with nearly four decades experience in the field — say they have learned to be more creative as they navigate changes the market.

Besides experience, both of them have strong local ties and are bullish on the future of Springfield.

The work of building the city back from the pandemic economically and physically, with attention to equity and inclusion continues to be our collective priority in 2023. Springfield was provided $123.8 million in federal funding to respond to the impacts of the pandemic. My administration has awarded these funds to address the direct health and economic impacts of the pandemic, as well as to confront the underlying challenges that exacerbated the pandemic’s negative effects on vulnerable individuals, businesses, and neighborhoods.

To date my administration has invested millions of dollars for this purpose, and

Dill began his professional career in Springfield as the Springfield Institution for Savings executive in charge of the bank’s new six-floor 31,857-square-feet project. The building opened in 1982 as SIS’ Center Square. At the time Dill’s firm was spun off from SIS as the building’s leasing agent.

Last year, Dill and a group of local investors bought the building for $5.2 million. TD Bank will retain its regional headquarters and downtown branch — with Colebrook remaining as the building’s leasing agent. The building’s current tenants include the Westmass Area Development Corp. Plotkin, who is the third-generation CEO of the company founded by his grandfather, is also an owner of 300,000-square-foot One Financial Plaza building, which offers sweeping views of downtown Springfield and the Connecticut River.