PITTSFIELD — Years of effort and 1,800 cubic yards of crushed concrete have resulted in a plan to transform the city’s most conspicuous vacant lot into actual commercial space — and perhaps create new housing, too.
Mill Town Capital signed a letter of intent Thursday for a mixed-use commercial development of Site 9 in the William Stanley Business Park. The company also plans to build mixed-use residential across Woodlawn Avenue on land that was owned by General Electric Co. until Thursday.
Site 9 of the William Stanley Business Park, looking south from Tyler Street. Mill Town Capital intends to develop commercial and retail space at the site and hopes it will serve as a catalyst for future developments.
Mill Town has already invested significantly in housing along the Tyler Street corridor and is proposing a mixed-use development that includes commercial and retail space on 4.7 acres of Site 9. Located at the corner of Woodlawn Avenue and Tyler Street, the site is the largest undeveloped parcel in the William Stanley Business Park.
Mill Town also intends to explore housing for people of all incomes on the 3.1-acre property at 100 Woodlawn Avenue — currently a parking lot and a building that formerly housed the offices of the Pittsfield Economic Development Authority. The PEDA board voted Thursday morning to transfer that property from GE, along with Mill Town’s letter of intent to purchase two lots totaling 4.7 acres for $200,000.
“This is a unique opportunity to thoughtfully reimagine Pittsfield. By integrating commercial and residential space, we can address housing market challenges, create new jobs and increase the city’s tax revenues” while addressing the needs of the neighborhood, said Tim Burke, Milltown’s CEO and managing partner, at a press conference announcing the development.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to fundamentally reinvent Pittsfield,” said Tim Burke, CEO of Mill Town Capital, at the press conference at the Berkshire Innovation Center on Thursday.
Mayor Peter Marchetti noted that the effort began under former Mayor Linda Tyer and predicted that “Mill Town Capital and PEDA’s sustainable redevelopment approach will transform this abandoned space and create reinvestment opportunities that will benefit future generations.”
Mayor Peter Marchetti said the plan will “transform this abandoned space and create reinvestment opportunities that will benefit future generations.”
The agreement also gives Mill Town the right to purchase additional land within Site 9 for $85,000 per acre, as well as a right of first refusal on the property. Burke said he hopes Mill Town’s initial investment serves as a catalyst for future investment at the site.
The development was announced by Marchetti and PEDA acting CEO Michael Coakley at a press conference at the Berkshire Innovation Center following the PEDA board meeting.
The two sides agreed to a 30-day due diligence period, signing a definitive agreement by October 31, and closing when work on Site 9 is completed, which is expected to be in December.
“I think we are very confident, otherwise we wouldn’t be here now,” Burke said of the likelihood that the deal will move forward as planned.
Michael Coakley, interim executive director of the Pittsfield Economic Development Authority (PEDA), speaks at a press conference announcing Mill Town Capital’s purchase of a portion of Site 9 in the William Stanley Business Park.
Site 9, once the “Teens” complex on General Electric’s Power Transformer campus, has been transformed in recent months in a $9.8 million project undertaken by William J. Keller & Sons of Newburgh, NY, with numerous local subcontractors.
The contractor broke up and crushed the concrete foundations left over from the demolition of the former factory to prepare the site for future use. The work was funded with state, federal and local funds.
Those foundations, which Tyer once compared to “the surface of the moon,” proved to be an obstacle to previous development proposals, including a Walmart Supercenter. Coakley said their removal, as well as Mill Town’s interest in the property, were key factors in reaching the agreement.
This story will be updated.
