Pittsfield's Site 9 Near-Complete, Funding Secured for Sites 7 & 8By Brittany Polito, iBerkshires Staff
06:24PM / Monday, November 18, 2024 | |
 The business park's Site 9 has grown a lot greener over the past year. |
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The William Stanley Business Park is transforming from grey to greener. Site 9 is nearly completed and funds have been secured to ready Sites 7 and 8 for development.
"Sixteen and a half acres of concrete have been cracked and crushed, the demarcation layer was put down, we brought all the fill from Site 7 over to Site 9 and we brought in over 100,000 cubic yards of clean fill and topsoil to put on there," Business Development Manager Michael Coakley told the Pittsfield Economic Development Authority on Thursday.
"Water quality basins have been installed, utility corridors were constructed, the roadways, the curbs, the sidewalks have been constructed, and the grass has now been planted and we're just about there, ready to go. What's left now are the surveys that need to be done."
Members recognized that it was a really exciting year for the organization. Work began on Site 9, the park's largest parcel, early this year, and by August, Mill Town Capital announced its intent to purchase 4.7 acres.
"It's never looked better," said Edward Weagle, principal geologist at Roux Associates.
The investment firm envisions a commercial building upwards of 20,000 square feet in the space. Across the street at 100 Woodlawn Ave., Mill Town intends to build a mixed-use development that includes housing.
Coakley reported that the two entities are working on a purchase and sale agreement. The last action items are surveying for a grant of easement and restriction for environmental conditions (ERE) on the property, and an approval not required (ANR) plan for subdivisions.
During the meeting, it was announced that PEDA received a $500,000 Site Readiness Program grant from MassDevelopment for Site 7 and Site 8. The approximately 3-acre sites are across Woodlawn Avenue from Site 9 and border Kellogg Street.
Site 9 received an $800,000 Site Readiness Grant.
The state monies will cover costs associated with site investigation, characterization, surveying, conceptual planning, pre-permitting, design, estimating, and bid documents.
Coakley said he is taking the same approach with the smaller sites as he did with Site 9, using the readiness grant for preliminary work so that it can be bid-ready. It is estimated to cost between $5 million and $7 million.
Similar to Site 9 before it was overhauled, developers look at Sites 7 and 8 and can't envision the final product.
"This will get us up to the point where we'll know how much it's going to cost to do the work and have bids ready to go, and then we'll have to go for more money," Coakley explained.
"We'll have to go for grants to pay for the construction so this is pretty much the exact same thing we did over at Site 9."
Weagle reported that his firm did ground testing on 100 Woodlawn Ave. where Mill Town is planning a mixed-use building.
The team drilled several borings down about 20 feet and did not encounter groundwater but saw some contamination. This is not seen as a concern and is attributed to the site's long-gone residential construction.
"The material that we identified is very typical of anthropogenic material that is present in urban areas that have been developed for over 100 years. One of the borings had a little bit of lead in it. I think it had about 220 or 230 parts per million. (The Department of Environmental Protection) Reporting Standard is 200 and that's for a residential scenario," he said, explaining that each contaminant qualifies for an exemption and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection does not have to be notified.
"But the developer will need to manage this material appropriately, as is pretty typical with any redevelopment in a previously developed environment."
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