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Winn-win for Lowell

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Gilbert Winn, right, managing partner at WinnCompanies, had high praise for Lowell officials including, from left, Mayor Rodney Elliott, state Sen. Eileen Donoghue and state Rep. Thomas Golden. SUN / BOB WHITAKER

Gilbert Winn, right, managing partner at WinnCompanies, had high praise for Lowell officials including, from left, Mayor Rodney Elliott, state Sen. Eileen Donoghue and state Rep. Thomas Golden.
SUN / BOB WHITAKER

WinnCompanies, a Boston-based firm that specializes in redeveloping old mill buildings, has put its people where its mouth has been — in Lowell.
Since 2002, when Winn completed 154 apartments at Boott Mills East, the company has talked a good game about the benefits of Lowell. And to be fair, it has further demonstrated the sincerity of those words by continuing to redevelop old mill buildings in the city, including three other sections of the Boott, as well as the Counting House Lofts and Loft 27 on Jackson Street.
But perhaps the biggest public indication of its appreciation for what the Mill City has to offer was announced Thursday, when Winn confirmed that it had moved about 70 people from its offices in Faneuil Hall and into commercial space it redeveloped at the Boott.
“We did not come to this decision lightly,” Managing Principal Gilbert Winn said during a catered event heralding the announcement. “It’s a reflection of the quality of the city, and the quality of the real estate.”
Winn said the transferred jobs are of the white-collar variety, including accounting and project-management positions. That’s good news to struggling downtown retailers and restaurants.
Larry Curtis, managing principal at WinnDevelopment, the development arm of WinnCompanies, said the company is occupying about 15,000 square feet of the 40,000 square feet at the Boott that it redeveloped. Two other commercial entities are expected to follow.
Winn officials have made clear that working with Lowell officials has broadened their appreciation of the city. When Curtis was interviewed in February, upon completion of the 78 Boott Mills West apartments, he mentioned that he hoped whoever replaced outgoing City Manager Bernie Lynch and outgoing Department of Planning and Development head Adam Baacke was up to the task.
When asked to provide the early returns of working with those replacements, Kevin Murphy and Diane Tradd, respectively, Curtis responded with a smile: “Better than perfect.”
Any discussion about advancing economic development, whether it’s in a suburban office park or in downtown Lowell, begins with jobs. WinnDevelopment has talked a good game about the latter’s potential. It’s good to see that a company based in Boston that has acquired and developed real-estate holdings with a value of more than $2.5 billion is acting on its words.


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