PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Waterstone fully intends to move forward with a development at the William Stanley Business Park.
The company has spent five years and hundreds of thousands of dollars designing the project, which had been aimed at bringing a Walmart Supercenter to the 16.5-acre site known as the teens.
However, Walmart has since backed out of the project and Waterstone is now proceeding with confidence that another one of its retail clients will become the anchor.
"We are proceeding with the project. We are moving forward as planned without a business agreement with Walmart," said Waterstone Principal Anton Melchionda on Wednesday.
That does not necessarily mean Walmart is out, but it leaves a question of what tenant could be there. Waterstone has worked with hundreds of clients on developments like the Woodlawn Crossing project. Waterstone has a lease and sales agreement on the location and has put some $65,000 as a down payment.
"We have relationships with hundreds of retailers, many of whom have expressed interest in the site," Melchionda said.
Melchionda said Waterstone hasn't had a business agreement with Walmart for at least six months. The company had been waiting for Walmart's approval to move forward with permitting. Eventually, Waterstone opted to continue with the permitting process, with the Walmart plans essentially being a placeholder for whatever retailer it ultimately signs an agreement with to occupy the location.
Melchionda said changes will be made as the process unfolds.
The company submitted plans for the project on Monday. The plans clearly identified and show Walmart as the tenant but shortly after reports appeared in the media about the filing, Walmart released a statement saying it no longer planned to relocate its Pittsfield store.
"Waterstone's decision to proceed with entitlement was their own. We no longer plan to relocate our store in Pittsfield. However, we are committed to continuing our investment and community involvement in Western Massachusetts," reads a statement from Phillip Keene, director of corporate communications for Walmart, released Tuesday evening.
"We operate more than 50 Walmart stores and Sam's Clubs in Massachusetts and we continue to execute our plan to invest across the state this year by remodeling locations, introducing and expanding Online Grocery Pick-Up to new stores in Western Massachusetts, and opening new associate training academies. We remain very grateful for the support and professionalism of Pittsfield's leadership while we worked through the development process and we look forward to continuing to serve our customers at our existing location in the city and online at Walmart.com."
Walmart has scaled back significantly the number of Supercenters it plans to build this year.
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Possible Measles Exposure at Boston, Logan
BOSTON — The Massachusetts Department of Public Health confirmed Wednesday that an out-of-state adult visitor who spent time in Boston and Westborough earlier this month was diagnosed with measles and was present in a number of locations.
This could have resulted in other people being exposed to measles virus.
The visitor arrived at Logan International Airport on American Airlines flight 2384 from Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, on Dec. 11 at 2:39 p.m. They stayed at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Boston-Westborough in Westborough and departed the state on Dec. 12 via Logan at 9:19 p.m. on JetBlue flight 117 to Las Vegas.
DPH is working with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and local partners to identify and notify those who may have been exposed to measles from this individual.
"Measles is a highly contagious, airborne disease, which has increased significantly in the United States because of the unfortunate decrease in vaccination rates. It is also a preventable disease," said Public Health Commissioner Dr. Robbie Goldstein. "This current situation serves as an important reminder of the critical role vaccination plays in protecting our communities. While Massachusetts has not had a measles case this year, 2025 saw the highest number of nationwide cases in more than a decade — nearly 2,000 in 44 jurisdictions, and sadly, three deaths.
"Fifteen years ago, measles had been considered eliminated in the United States, but that tremendous progress is at risk. Vaccines are one of the most important public health interventions ever — they are safe, effective, and lifesaving."
Measles is very contagious. However, the risk to most people in Massachusetts is low because the vaccination rate in the state is high. People who are not immune and visited any of the locations on the following dates and times may be at risk for developing measles.
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