Nearly 700 jobs could be created in Lynn as the result of business expansions at Eastern Bank, West Lynn Creamery and Shore.Net, coupled with a Burlington software company's plan to relocate some operations to the Clock Tower Building.

According to city Development Director Stephen A. Harausz, several pieces of the downtown revitalization and cyber district projects are coming together to form a technology center. "We're really beginning to see some progress," said Harausz, citing several ongoing commercial projects aimed at increasing downtown office space wired for Internet access. "Office space is in demand. The Clock Tower building has been leased and other firms interested in locating here are now looking at the new space renovated by Oasis Development on Munroe Street."

Simple arithmetic offers a glimpse of the city's economic future, he said, referring to numbers in terms of available square footage and new jobs announced by local businesses. "Easter Bank is expanding into the Bell Atlantic building, and with that they will bring another 200 employees into the city from other locations." Harausz said. "Shore.Net, which is now owned by Primus Telecommunications, is moving into the Clock Tower next month and adding about 200 jobs. Lightbridge, a software company in Burlington, is coming here with at least 250 people to run a call center that provides technical assistance and other information to its customers."

Harausz attributed the progress to combination of luck and diligence on the part of city development officials. "We've been very fortunate to have these companies select Lynn, but we've also worked very hard to get some of these projects here. The city is well suited to capitalize on its proximity to Boston and its place as a technology center. We're now seeing the externalities of that effort because with the infrastructure in place, other technology companies and Internet service providers are taking notice," he said.

The infrastructure is basically rehabilitated industrial buildings converted to office space and wired for high-speed data transmission. Perhaps more importantly, a fiber-optic conduit owned by Vancouver-based 360 Networks is installed beneath key downtown streets and linked to the global telecommunication company's Commercial Street switching station, where it feeds into a transatlantic cable.

"Lynn is being looked at as a technology center principally because of 360 Networks and Primus Telecommunications. Those two are the big engines driving this thing," said Harausz, noting that two Internet service companies have approached the city's development office during the past month to inquire about potential office space.

"The fact that 360 Networks chose Lynn as the Landfall for its undersea cable is a direct indicator that we're doing some things right. When they were making the location decision, they were mostly seeking an opportunity to break into the northeast region, but not necessarily in Lynn. They were looking at other cities, too, but Lynn had the topography, the flats at the shore where they could come in easily with the cable."

Harausz said officials at the Department of Community Development, the Lynn Economic Development Industrial Corp. and the mayor's office seized the moment.

"We welcomed 360 Networks with open arms. We asked them straight out, 'What can we do to make this thing work for you?' We helped them find a building. We expedited the permit process so that only three months after making the decision to locate here they had a shovel in the ground," he said.

The development director explained that creative tax packages for the new investors sweetened the deals. "It was critical that we get this kind of infrastructure and then build on it," he said. "Asset Channels (another telecommunications cable company) is still planning to locate in Lynn, which would be the northern point of their coastal cable system. That makes us even more attractive to companies that need bandwith."

Affordability also proved key. Both the Clock Tower building and Oasis Development's Goldblock Project on Munroe Street have been leasing wired office space for about $18 a square foot, significantly lower than Boston were rates are typically $80 to $100.

"We're offering class-A office space with state-of-the-art communications capability at some of the cheapest rates around," Harausz said. "We've also got the training resources that companies will need as they grow."

North Shore Community College along with the Southern Essex Regional Workforce Investment Board can provide training to those seeking technology careers but have no experience.

"The educational component is a key part of this puzzle," Harausz said. "It's all coming together." Downtown development has focused primarily on the cyber district and the Lynnway, but will soon shift toward Central Square. "We want to connect the Central Square area to the heart of the business district, and we'll start doing that by putting in new lighting an bricks, imilar to what you'd see in Boston's Back Bay," he said, adding that a shortage of bricks amid the Greater Boston building boom has delayed the project until spring.