Pittsfield's Former Polish Club Eyed For $20 Million Condo Project

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — With a sizable grant from the state, the former Polish Community Club is eyed for a 40-unit housing development that adds four additional buildings to the property.

On Wednesday, the Affordable Housing Trust heard from developer Robert Shan about the project that could cost as much as $20 million.  Planners are vying for $10 million through the MassHousing CommonWealth Builder Program created to facilitate the construction of single-family homes and condominiums affordable to households with moderate incomes.

"We're looking not just to do a one-off but to have a presence in Pittsfield, a presence in Berkshire County, and look to bring forward attainable and affordable housing to many communities," he said.

"We see this as as as the first step and it's ready to go. We've put a tremendous amount of work into it and we're looking forward to being able to work with you."

While utilizing the former club, the plot at 55 Linden Street would have five buildings of one to three-bedroom condominiums for first-time homebuyers.  The final costs have not yet been determined but it is estimated that a unit for those of the 80 percent area median income will cost between $150,000 and $200,000 and those in between 80 and 100 percent AMI will cost between $190,000 and $250,000.

The proposed condos are single-story units with an entrance from the street with the first-floor units having a private fenced backyard.  The existing building is staged for single-story condos and two-story townhouses.

Planners aim to bring the character of the 1872 structure into the new construction through colors and architectural elements.

"In developing housing for first-time buyers, we wanted a form that all had entries from grade, from outside without common corridors, without elevators to get that feeling of homeownership," Shan explained.

"While we can't afford to build and get these first-time families at the single-family homes, we wanted a hybrid product that really felt and operated like a home where a lot of the units have backyards, is its own community, etc. So in that, we have not maximized the density."

Because the plan does not utilize the density allowance of up to 70 units, there will be enough room for the multi-bedroom units to have two parking spaces, and one-bedroom units to have one space and visitor parking.

"We have provided much more parking than is actually required," he said.

The property would be developed by a condominium association with a monthly fee attached.  Owners would be responsible for their units and all outside matters such as snow plowing, maintenance, and garbage removal would be captured in the fee.

He and partner Jodi Tartell have been involved in numerous housing communities in the U.S. and in Canada, many of them in the affordable market and nonprofit housing.

The CommonWealth Builder program provides $250,000 per unit, Shan reported, and it is capped at $275 million.  There is some urgency to get onboard as soon as possible, as he believes there are around $100 million committed already.

"If we wait too far, there we will be so far behind many applications, the funds will be dried up, and this opportunity to bring forward affordable for-sale housing will disappear."

Using this program, developers cannot tap into other state subsidies and all other support needs to come from local, county, or federal levels.  This is what brought the proprietors to the trust, hoping to work with it and the city to help fill the million-dollar gap in funding for the project.

The planners are working to get final calculations for materials construction and when those are determined, the goal is to have work sessions with the trust and other city panels.

Trustee Kamaar Taliaferro said it is a little difficult to square the sparsely developed plan with the spirit of the Downtown Creative District, which was amended to include the property along with other housing project sites. 

"Hearing you talk a little bit about density and about sort of the private backyards that will be afforded to everybody who are in these units, it's a little difficult for me personally, and this is just my own opinion to square that with what the spirit of the creative overlay district," he said.

"It's like we want to activate these public spaces by having a relationship between buildings and the street."

He pointed to local initiatives such as the Pittsfield Community Design Center and the Bike Facilities Master Plan that aim to connect people with the streets and encourage transportation other than personal vehicles.

"It's within your right to develop in a vernacular you see fit and I think from the elevations you showed us, they look really good," Taliaferro said.

"But it just seems to me that there's this emphasis on parking spaces in particular but also how this development will integrate within the existing neighborhood and integrate with future visions of the neighborhood but you can only do what you can do."

Trustee Michael McCarthy was impressed with the presentation and said that the panel will discuss how they can help.

"This really is an impressive project that I personally am very pleased with," he said.

 

NAMI Raises Sugar With 10th Annual Cupcake Wars

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
06:09PM / Saturday, April 25, 2026

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. To contact the Crisis Text Line, text HELLO to 741741. More information on crisis hotlines in Massachusetts can be found here. 

Whitney's Farm baker Jenn Carchedi holds her awards for People's Choice and Best Tasting.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) of Berkshire County held its 10th annual cupcake wars fundraiser Thursday night at the Country Club of Pittsfield.

The event brought local bakeries and others together to raise money for the organization while enjoying a friendly competition of cupcake tasting.

Local bakeries Odd Bird Farm, Canyon Ranch, Whitney's Farm and Garden, and Monarch butterfly bakery each created a certain flavor of cupcake and presented their goods to the theme of "Backyard Barbecue." When Sweet Confections bakery had to drop out because to health reasons, NAMI introduced a mystery baker which turned out to be Big Y supermarket.

The funds raised Thursday night through auctions of donated items, the cupcakes, raffles, and more will go toward the youth mental health wellness fair, peer and family support groups, and more. 

During the event, the board members mentioned the many ways the funds have been used, stating that they were able to host their first wellness fair that brought in more than 250 people because of the funds raised from last year and plan to again this year on July 11. 

"We're really trying to gear towards the teen community, because there's such a stigma with mental illness, and they sometimes are hesitant to come forward and admit they have a problem, so they try to self medicate and then get themselves into a worse situation," said NAMI President Ruth Healy.

"We're really trying to focus on that group, and that's going to be the focus of our youth mental health wellness fair is more the teen community. So every penny that we raise helps us to do more programming, and the more we can do, the more people recognize that we're there to help and that there is hope."

They mentioned they are now able to host twice monthly peer and family support groups at no cost for individuals and families with local training facilitators. They also are now able to partner with Berkshire Medical Center to perform citizenship monitoring where they have volunteers go to different behavioral mental health units to listen to patients and staff to provide service suggestions to help make the unit more effective. Lastly, they also spoke of how they now have a physical office space, and that they were able to attend the Berkshire Coalition for Suicide Prevention as part of the panel discussion to help offer resources and have also been able to have gift bags for patients at BMC Jones 2 and 3.

Healy said they are also hoping to expand into the schools in the county and bring programming and resources to them.

She said the programs they raise money for are important in reaching someone with mental issues sooner.

"To share the importance of recognizing, maybe an emerging diagnosis of a mental health condition in their family member or themselves, that maybe they could get help before the situation becomes so dire that they're thinking about suicide as a solution, the sooner we can reach somebody, the better the outcome," she said.

The cupcakes were judged by Downtown Pittsfield Inc. Managing Director Rebecca Brien, Pittsfield High culinary teacher Todd Eddy, and Lindsay Cornwell, executive director Second Street Second Chances.

The 100 guests got miniature versions of the cupcakes to decide the Peoples' Choice award.

The winners were:

• Best Tasting: Whitney's Farm (Honey buttermilk cornbread cupcakes)
• Best Presentation: Odd Bird Farm Bakery (Blueberry lemon cupcakes)
• Best Presentation of Theme: Canyon Ranch (Strawberry shortcake)
• People's Choice: Whitney's Farm

Jenn Carchedi has been the baker at Whitney's for six years and this was her third time participating in an event she cares deeply about.

"It meant a lot. Because personally, for me, mental health awareness is really important. I feel like coming together as a community, and Whitney's Farm is more like a community kind of place," she said