Cable TV outlets see city as place to put on a show
First, it was the VideoLink studios on Watertown's Hunt Street, which began beaming talking heads from the Boston area to cable news outlets across the country more than a dozen years ago. Then, last year, New England Sports Network (NESN) ditched its cramped quarters inside Fenway Park for a spacious new facility off Arsenal Street. Now, Boston Catholic Television, a 24-hour network of religious programming, has settled into its new headquarters in Watertown Square.
"All of the sudden, we're in a media metropolis," jokes Sean Ward, a spokesman for the network. After extensive renovations, Boston Catholic TV moved last month from a former
When completed next month, the new $5 million digs will include two studios to produce original programming and a studio chapel where daily Mass will be said before a live audience.
The station employs 18 full-time staff and about five part-timers, said Ward.
Despite some early concerns from abutters about the four large satellite dishes on the roof that are used to beam programs across North America, Ward says the town has rolled out the welcome mat.
"Neighbors, town officials, the public sector: Everyone's been just wonderful to us," said Ward of the reception the network's received since the move was announced last year. "Everyone's got something positive to say. It's a very welcoming community."
Despite the exodus of Videolink, which after 15 years in Watertown relocated its production facility to Newton as of Aug. 1, town officials say they're thrilled with the influx of media firms and believe the arrival of BCTV is yet another sign the local economy is on the upswing and that high-profile businesses see Watertown as a desirable place.
"I think it can only be positive," said Councilor Stephen Corbett, of media companies like BCTV and NESN coming to town. Corbett chairs the council's economic development subcommittee and is a real estate developer. "The biggest thing we have going for us is the geography. You can't beat the location," he said.
Gregory Watson, Watertown's director of community planning and development, said companies are starting to recognize that the town offers the convenience of being close to Boston and Cambridge and access to public transportation, but at slightly lower rents and taxes.
"I'd like to think some of the recent companies who've come here have done it for all of those reasons, not just to save some money on rent," he said.
Watson says the town has sought to assure BCTV, NESN, and other firms thinking of coming here that it will streamline the process of getting permits and other paperwork in place.
Though it's hard to quantify, Watson says the presence of new businesses also helps to create jobs and put money into other local businesses such as restaurants and retailers.
For the first time since Harvard University bought the 29-acre former Arsenal Mall property in 2001, Watson said the campus is now almost completely rented out with a robust mix of offices, retail, and restaurants.
"It's going in exactly the direction it was envisioned and it's another good indication that this is a good place to be," said Watson.
With residential property taxes climbing every year, Watson said the town is working hard to find new ways to manage and attract commercial development to Watertown so the burden doesn't fall solely on homeowners.
This fall, Sasaki Associates, a consultant hired by the town to study future development along the Pleasant Street corridor, will present its findings, said Watson.
Town officials hope to use that information to better market the town to businesses, he said.
