Quincy Mutual Becomes Capital Partner in New Quincy Center

QUINCY -- In a key merger of old and new, one of Quincy’s oldest companies has announced that it will become a capital partner in the city’s newest and largest development project, New Quincy Center.

Quincy Mutual Fire Insurance Company (quincymutual.com), founded in 1851, will become an investor in the $1.4 billion project that will add new retail, commercial and residential space to downtown Quincy and revitalize the center’s business sector.

“This is wonderful news for the project and for the city,” said Mayor Thomas Koch.  “It’s a great stamp of approval from one of the city’s oldest and most respected companies for a project that will add so much to Quincy for generations to come. We are making real, substantial progress, and I am confident that by working together the forward momentum on this historic project will continue.”

Terms of the investment were not disclosed.

Quincy Mutual president and CEO K. Douglas Briggs said the decision to become a capital partner grew out of meetings with the Koch administration and Street-Works Development LLC, the New York-based company leading the New Quincy Center project.

“They came in and explained their vision in great detail, and it became clear to us that this project is the right design at the right time for downtown Quincy,” Briggs said.  “We’re very proud to be able to play a role in a project that will create new jobs and new business opportunities for Quincy and the entire South Shore.”

“This is much more than a financial investment for Quincy Mutual,” Briggs explained.  “Our Directors and management are convinced that the proposed revitalization of Quincy Center will shape and inspire the economic growth and vitality of the City for the next 50 years,” he said.

Quincy Mutual, located at 57 Washington St., offers a full range of insurance products to over 300,000 business and individual policy holders.  With a network of over 400 independent agents, the company has more than $280 million of insurance premiums in force.  Quincy Mutual has enjoyed an A+ (Superior) rating from A.M. Best, the leading insurance rating company, for more than 50 consecutive years.

Ken Narva, founding partner of Street-Works and the management leader of the New Quincy Center team, said Quincy Mutual’s capital participation fits with the historic underpinning of Quincy and the downtown redevelopment plan.

“One of the things that attracted us to Quincy in the first place was its wonderful history, and now we have one of the city’s most revered institutions stepping forward in a project that will link Quincy’s past and future.  That says a great deal about Quincy Mutual, and its confidence in the project and the city,” Narva said.