WORCESTER, Mass. - The building at 1 Mercantile Street has gone through a number of changes in its short time in downtown Worcester.

Insurance company Unum stunned the city in 2020 when they announced they and their 400-plus employees were leaving for good. They were the building’s largest tenant.

What You Need To Know

  • The former Unum building on 1 Mercantile Street in Worcester is now home to numerous tenants following the departure of the insurance company in 2020

  • Chip Norton, managing director of Franklin Realty Advisors LLC, said the building is roughly half full

  • Norton said it took a year to reach this point, and hopes to have the second half filled in a similar time frame

"Obviously a hiccup for downtown commercial and office space," said Chip Norton, managing director of Franklin Realty Advisors LLC.

Fast forward two years, and the property is getting new life.

"As we came out of the pandemic, we've seen the foot traffic pick back up again," Norton said. "We've seen companies kind of revisit Worcester."

Norton said biotechnology companies, consulting firms and engineering businesses make up some of the space now. Describing it as a 'Class-A' property, Norton said it's an attractive option for those looking to avoid more expensive cities like Boston and Providence.

"The permit approval process is much easier than a place like Boston," Norton said. "People have been great to work with."

ComputerVault, a tech company specializing in cyber security for virtual workspace​, moved in from Marlborough earlier this year. They signed an eight year lease and their decision to move to Worcester was based on the 35,000 college students in the area.

"That was really the deciding factor for us," said Marc Zarrella, Vice President, Head of Accounts and Partnerships at ComputerVault. "We needed to be near a workforce that understands technology, understands the way things are done now in the technology industry."

Norton said they've been able to fill about half of the space in the building, leaving roughly 80,000 square feet still available. It took about a year to reach this point and he expects more workers to return to downtown.

"This building probably won't be filled with people at the end of the day," Norton said. "If we can get back to 200, that's probably a reasonable number. That's a big number of employees downtown. It adds to the employment, adds to the bodies downtown for lunch and dinner and after business activities."