$1M for former T&G building.

• Author: Caywood, Thomas
• Position: Business

Byline: Thomas Caywood

WORCESTER -- The developers of the former Telegram & Gazette building downtown announced Tuesday that furnished office space for startup companies will be added to the project's mix of future uses including college classrooms, a theater and a cafe.

The byzantine $37 million financing deal for the project patched together from a coalition of community banks, quasi-public agencies and a local development group also now includes a $1 million grant from a federal development agency to pay for interior construction of the office space.

Worcester Business Development Corp. President Craig L. Blais described the office space aspect of the mixed-use project as a business incubator where small and startup companies can take root and begin to grow for a year or two before moving on to a permanent location elsewhere in the city.

Ten24 Digital Solutions, a small technology company based in Northboro, will be the incubator's first tenant, Mr. Blais said.

The business incubator, dubbed the Worcester Technology and Idea Development Exchange, will occupy about 11,000 square feet on the redeveloped building's first and fourth floors, he said.

The $1 million federal grant awarded to a subsidiary of the WBDC was announced Tuesday morning by Matt S. Erskine, deputy assistant secretary of the U.S. Economic Development Administration, which has funded similar incubators elsewhere the country.

Mr. Erskine said such projects allow entrepreneurs to focus on innovation and...