LAWRENCE — As soft music played over the loudspeakers and a slideshow of colorful images of the city were displayed on an enormous screen behind him, Mayor Michael Sullivan undertook the role of salesman to a group of more than 140 developers and real estate professionals last week.
In what was dubbed, simply, Developer Conference, the group had been invited to Sal's Function Hall on Merrimack Street for breakfast, a presentation extolling the virtues of investing in Lawrence, and a bus tour of some of the current and future development sites in the city.
Sullivan highlighted some of the public improvements in the city, including a new high school and stadium, a new water treatment plant, a new skateboard park and a glimmering, well-maintained recreational park system.
He spoke about private investment as well, Sal Lupoli investing millions in his Riverwalk complex, Chet and Gary Sidell creating a thriving business center on Island Street, and Architectural Heritage Foundation creating the city's first high-end apartment complex in one of the old mills on Canal Street.
"Winning is a habit," he said, quoting a sign that sits on his desk.
"Take a look at Lawrence, you'll like what you see," he added, referring to one of the city's marketing slogans.
Bob Culver, executive director of MassDevelopment, the quasi-public agency that has ponied up $25 million to finance 17 private and public projects in the city, said Lawrence was at a tipping point. Now that public dollars have been spent shoring up the city's infrastructure, and some private investment has come in to transform other parts of the city, it's time for new companies and new money to take the city to the next level.
That's where the developers present at the conference came in. And some of them seemed poised to take the plunge.
Joseph Pelich, of Stephen Joseph & Associates of North Andover, attended the conference because he was curious about what other developers were doing, but also because he's about to become a stakeholder in the city. He said his company, which builds CVS stores and laundromats, among other projects, is about to do a large-scale development here, although he wouldn't say what it was or where it was going.
David Hale, an executive with Omni Properties of Concord, stood on the roof deck of the Washington Mills apartment complex in amazement.
"I'm blown away," he said. "I've never gotten off the highway to come to Lawrence. They've spent a lot of time, energy and capital here. They are doing great things."
Would he develop a project here? "Possibly," he said.
Others were equally impressed.
"It's beautiful," said Jason Thomas, the marketing coordinator for the Louis Berger Group, a multi national engineering company with offices in Needham. "Coming up here, I wasn't so sure. I'd only heard about crimes and fires. I come from Burlington, Vt., and it kind of reminds me of that."
