Bank Presidents Joseph Truskowski, left, and Charles O'Brien announced the merging in September and they expect it to be complete in 2012.

MassDevelopment is shuttling a bevy of real estate professionals out to the hinterlands on Tuesday to size up opportunities in Lee, Lenox and Pittsfield.

The Berkshire Economic Development Corp. will host Walter Upton, director of construction at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts; Fred Kramer, president of Boston design firm Add Inc.; Maury Wolfe, a partner in the Boston architectural firm of DiMarinisi and Wolfe; and Eden Milroy, president of development and property management firm Pilot Development, along with some 25 real estate professionals and local officials.

The group will get a bus tour of Lee and Lenox before heading to the William Stanley Business Park in Pittsfield sometime after 11 a.m. Then they'll look at the former KB Toys building on West Street before having lunch at the Colonial Theatre. The whirlwind tour wraps up at 1 when the bus departs back for Boston.

The BEDC is hoping to spark interest in some of the vacant business properties in the area, particularly the stalled Pittsfield business park whose sole tenant at the moment is a field of solar panels.

The good news is that the response for the Berkshire trip was high, we're told. The panel is also expected to offer advice and insight on how best to reuse and market some of the properties.