Williamstown’s General Cable Mill to house offices, apartments

By Linda CarmanPrint Story | Email Story
A development team with previous substantial projects in Berkshire County has announced plans to renovate the former General Cable Co. mill on Water Street for apartments and offices. The team of Berkshire Housing Development Corp. and Keen Development Corp. of Cambridge yesterday announced plans to renovate the former General Cable Mill in Williamstown into 65 apartments and offices totaling 40,000 square feet. The partnership, known as Cable Mills LLC, is in the final stages of its acquisition of the nine-acre Water Street property from Kentucky-based General Cable Industries. The building’s development is considered crucial for the emerging identity of Water Street as the second, along with Spring Street, of the town’s village business district. Industrial past The familiar site has a long history as an industrial complex. Built in 1873, its facilities manufactured textiles until the 1930s. Over the subsequent six decades, they produced wire and cable. General Cable closed its Williamstown operations in 1996, but continued to maintain the site and leased a small amount of space to a variety of local tenants. The Berkshire/Keen team will restore the main four-story brick mill building, as well as several of the attached one- and two-story outbuildings. Preliminary plans call for the 70,000 square foot main structure to be converted into 65 mixed-income rental apartments, while the outbuildings will become approximately 40,000 square feet of commercial space. In addition to the preservation of these historic buildings, the plans will provide improved public access to the banks of the Green River, which flows directly behind the site. The developers hope the property’s current tenants, which include a locally based venture capital firm and several homegrown technology-based companies, will stay on and eventually occupy the new commercial space. The development team has already begun discussions with the tenants to ensure a smooth transition. The Cable Mills team expects to spend the next several months refining reuse plans and obtaining necessary permits. With financing from MassDevelopment, minor environmental cleanup will commence this fall. Some of the site’s less important outbuildings will also be demolished during this time in order to reveal the original layout of the more significant structures. Full-scale renovations are expected to begin next summer, with completion expected in 2005. Plan met with enthusiasm “We see this as a win-win-win for Williamstown and the region,” said Berkshire Housing President Peter J. Lafayette. “We will be preserving a historic landmark, providing new housing and enhanced commercial space, and opening a new window on a beautiful but underutilized natural resource.” Lafayette noted that Town officials have thus far been very supportive. Peter Fohlin, Williamstown Town Manager, is very pleased with this turn of events. “This is a solid proposal for an important historic site,” Fohlin said. “We did not want to see General Cable fall to the same fate as Photech. This is great for the buildings, great for the neighborhood, and great for the town.” According to Robert Kuehn (pronounced “Keen”), President of Keen Development, the General Cable site is ideal for both housing and commercial uses. “With its close proximity to the center of Williamstown and the lovely backdrop of the river and mountains, you really could not ask for a more attractive site,” Kuehn said. “And the main structure has a configuration that’s ideal for creating apartments - flexible layouts, high ceilings, and big windows.” He added that businesses are often attracted to converted industrial space because it can be easily adapted to suit their diverse space requirements. The nonprofit Berkshire Housing Development Corporation has been active in the development and management of mixed-income housing and commercial space throughout the county for more than 30 years. The organization is known for its innovative developments and its ability to assemble complex financing packages that include both private and public funding. Its properties under management range from elderly, family, and special needs rental housing to condominiums, industrial buildings, and commercial properties. Cambridge-based Keen Development specializes in historic rehabilitation and adaptive reuse, and has a long-standing dedication to the creation of attractive and affordable housing. The company has developed more than 3,000 units of housing over the past 30 years, and many of its developments have been recognized with statewide and national awards. Keen frequently joint ventures with community-based organizations and participates in public-private partnerships. The firm collaborated with Berkshire Housing in the rehabilitation of the Central Annex in Pittsfield and the construction of The Pines, a 41-unit mixed-income condominium complex overlooking Lake Pontoosuc in Pittsfield. BHS oversight The property will be professionally managed immediately and long term by Berkshire Housing Services, Inc. (“BHSI”), a subsidiary of Berkshire Housing Development Corporation. BHSI manages 25 rental, condominium and commercial properties throughout Berkshire County. In North Berkshire County it manages Holy Family Terrace and Proprietors Fields, affordable senior housing complexes, as well as Hemlock Brook Park and Hemlock Brook Estates Condominiums and the Greylock Condominiums. Rounding out the Cable Mills team is the award-winning Boston-based architectural firm Finegold Alexander + Associates. FA+A has long been a recognized pioneer in historic preservation and adaptive reuse and enjoys a national reputation for the restoration of such landmarks as Ellis Island. The firm has worked extensively with Keen in the past. FA+A also designed Proprietors Fields in Williamstown in the late 1970’s. Contacted yesterday, Donald Westall of Alton & Westall real estate brokers, whose offices are on Water Street, said, “Great.” “I think it’s terrific, I really do,” Westall said. “That mill building is so underutilized, and Water Street can benefit from people and traffic. “It’ll beautify the area and produce some tax revenue for the town,” Westall said. “I think it’s a very positive development. The developer has done things very deliberately. I think they’re they’ll be successful. “It’ll be a good job, which is fitting for Williamstown,” he said. “I just think it'll be a real positive energy-producing project for all the merchants, Water Street and Spring Street. It’s great. It’s been a long time coming, but it will be very worthwhile.” Lafayette said the environmental cleanup, which had proved a stumbling block in the past, is now considered “not a major obstacle “We’re getting prices on renovations and figuring out how do you make the project work,” he said. “Over next four or five months we’ll be working with town officials,filtering ideas, deciding what we need to have a viable project.” Berkshire Housing, he said, started working on the building in 1998, in concert with groups exploring the possibility of development. Berkshire Housing and Keen Development have been exploring the project since 2000, he said.
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Lanesborough Fifth-Graders Win Snowplow Name Contest

LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — One of the snowplows for Highway District 1 has a new name: "The Blizzard Boss."
 
The name comes from teacher Gina Wagner's fifth-grade class at Lanesborough Elementary School. 
 
The state Department of Transportation announced the winners of the fourth annual "Name A Snowplow" contest on Monday. 
 
The department received entries from public elementary and middle school classrooms across the commonwealth to name the 12 MassDOT snowplows that will be in service during the 2025/2026 winter season. 
 
The purpose of the contest is to celebrate the snow and ice season and to recognize the hard work and dedication shown by public works employees and contractors during winter operations. 
 
"Thank you to all of the students who participated. Your creativity allows us to highlight to all, the importance of the work performed by our workforce," said  interim MassDOT Secretary Phil Eng.  
 
"Our workforce takes pride as they clear snow and ice, keeping our roads safe during adverse weather events for all that need to travel. ?To our contest winners and participants, know that you have added some fun to the serious take of operating plows. ?I'm proud of the skill and dedication from our crews and thank the public of the shared responsibility to slow down, give plows space and put safety first every time there is a winter weather event."
 
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