"Team MAC," from left, Andrew Hankinson (director, operations), Jessica Kausel (business manager), Anthony Simboli (owner), Natalie Pescatore, (accounting manager), and Jim Grady (director of facilities). Their time ends Oct. 1.
The Manchester Athletic Club will continue to operate but under new management starting October 1, according to a joint press release from Simboli Properties, the prior owner of the club, and Cell Signaling Technology, the new owner of the property.
“I’m excited that the club is going to have a new operator,” said Anthony Simboli, owner of Simboli Properties and owner of the MAC since 2015. “It’s staying open. My job now is to facilitate a smooth tradition.”
Simboli said that “the people who show up every day (to the club), they won’t see any difference.”
The press release, made available on Tuesday, says that Cell Signaling is considering several different management groups to take over the MAC.
The announcement of the new operator should come “within a few weeks,” according to Paul Young, who heads the Nouvus Public Affairs company, which is handling the press announcements for Cell Signaling.
When asked if any of the management groups were local to the North Shore, Young said, “It is a confidential process. I can’t say who they are.”
“I’m sad but I have no regrets,” said Simboli about giving up control of the athletic club. “From an overall planning perspective, it was much easier for (Cell Signaling) to conceptualize owning the entire property. If I could have sold them just the land, I would have.”
Simboli, who recently built a house and moved to Manchester, said his main interest was keeping the MAC open.
“For me, a club stays there and is open for the community and stays operating is what is important,” said Simboli. “Who actually operates it (doesn’t matter).”
Simboli said the club was not the most lucrative business he operated but it was one of his favorite companies.
“I very much enjoyed running the club,” said Simboli, “and helping build out some of the youth programs for tennis. It’s probably one of the most enjoyable businesses I have run.”
Prior to moving to Manchester-By-The-Sea, Simboli lived in Winchester, but used to drive his son to the MAC to play tennis. Simboli said he also used to summer nearby at Good Harbor Beach in Gloucester. Over the years, Simboli said he has run restaurants, daycare centers, and other businesses, including developing commercial real estate, which was his primary business before purchasing the MAC.
Building up the tennis academy at the MAC was one of Simboli’s proudest achievements.
“When I first took over the MAC, if you had a tennis player, for them to really succeed, they had to go to Florida or California, not only for the competition but for the weather,” said Simboli. “There was really no East Coast alternative for tennis. My whole focus was to push the program and help it grow.”
Simboli said the academy has 20 to 30 players “that are at extremely high caliber,” including the number one 13-year-old girl in the country. He said a recent graduate of the program is now playing for Harvard. “They get the best of both worlds,” said Simboli, about the students at the tennis academy. “They are around other
kids, they have the guidance of adults, but they can also leave and take their tennis lessons.”
Simboli said the tennis academy will continue under the new management.
Simboli said at its height, the MAC had more than 170 employees, including summer camp counselors. Now there are about 130 employees.
But the COVID pandemic shut down the club for several months, cutting the number of members significantly. Simboli said he spent a lot of money, keeping nearly 130 employees on the job and with health insurance, even though the club was closed.
He installed new locker rooms, redid three swimming pools, added paddle tennis courts and the tennis bubble during the pandemic. After COVID, he said he scheduled a lot of the classes, even though many were not fully attended just to keep his staff employed.
“I like to think that the MAC had one of the best staffs on the North Shore,” said Simboli.
Simboli said he will continue to run the Gloucester and Rowley MACs, although they will be under a new undetermined name. They will continue to run 24/7.
Young said he did not expect Cell Signaling to begin the process of getting its new headquarters approved by Manchester boards and commissions until “sometime in 2023.”
“As you can imagine there are a lot of complexities,” said Young. “One of the things about Cell Signing is they practice what they preach, so they are trying to do everything on a sustainable level. And that sometime takes a lot more time and effort.”
Simboli agreed.
“Whatever (Cell Signaling) builds there, it’s going to be great for the town, a great source of tax revenue,” said Simboli. “Manchester is lucky to have them as a family.”
