James C Dragon

managing partner and owner of Central Plaza Realty and Development Company, a position he has held since 2003. His passion for commercial real estate development focuses mainly on Lowell, the third-largest city in Greater Boston and the fifth-largest in Massachusetts.

One of Dragon's successful projects is the Central Plaza shopping center, which he acquired with his wife in 2000. At the time, the shopping center was almost half vacant and needed repairs and reconstruction. The plaza was a 266,000-square-foot parcel with 94,000 square feet of commercial space. Dragon worked with the City of Lowell to make the capital improvements required to make the Central Plaza an attractive place to do business. With property management support from his son, William, a licensed commercial real estate agent, James, and Effie Dragon eventually developed a plaza that was 100% occupied and maintained its occupancy through the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, this downtown Lowell property was sold for almost $11 million.

In addition to Central Plaza Realty, Dragon was a co-trustee of Athenaeum Realty Trust between the late 1980s and early 1990s. The organization bought a 110,000-square-foot high-rise building in Lowell that was to be renovated to serve as the law school for Emerson College, although Emerson College canceled the project.

Dragon and his wife also owned a minority interest in the New Bedford Bay Sox, a baseball team that played in the New England Collegiate Baseball League. They owned a stake through their Sports Done Right, LLC. Under their leadership, the team won four regular season Division championships. The Dragons served as part-owners of the Bay Sox until the team suspended operations in 2019.