Pittsfield Approves Sale of Westside Center to Habitat
 The city turned over the Westside Neighborhood Resource Center to Habitat for Humanity for a dollar. |
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The City Council on Tuesday voted in favor of turning over its Westside Community Resource Center to Central Berkshire Habitat for Humanity.
The nonprofit will take over management of the 314 Columbus Ave. building with an eye to continuing its role as an important resource to the neighborhood.
The house, purchased by the city in 1998, was formerly home to Berkshire Children & Families, Habitat for Humanity, Massachusetts Fair Housing and the West Side Community Resource Center. With the imminent departure of BCF as its largest anchor tenant, however, the Department of Community Development sought a suitable service nonprofit to take over proprietorship of the facility, and Habitat emerged as the sole applicant to the city's request for proposals process.
With the council's authorization, the city will transfer the property to Habitat for a sale price of one dollar, but the deal includes two binding deed restrictions. Firstly, Pittsfield stipulated that the building be utilized as a public facility for at least 10 years, double that suggested by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Secondly, it makes clear that any sale of the building by Habitat not result in a major windfall of profit.
Members of the Westside Neighborhood Initiative, Barbara Bizzi and Linda Kelly, another current tenant of the building, voiced their support of Habitat's proposal to take over the building.
"Habitat for Humanity is a community conscious organization who is a visible entity to the residents of the westside neighborhood," said Bizzi. "I feel the organization will continue to benefit the city and the neighborhood."
Habitat Executive Director Carolyn Valli outlined some changes the organization plans to make the center an additional resource, including availability of meeting rooms and a bank of Internet computers that neighborhood residents can access in helping with job searches and other needs.
"We have a great organization, a great executive director, and a great board," said Ward 6 Councilor John Krol, while expressing hopes that the building will continue to be a community resource in the event of Habitat relocating. "But our job is also to look forward to all those possible hypotheticals, and if it were to be sold to another organization I hope it would have the same type of mission."
Aside from the 10-year deed restriction, the city will have no further say in what future organization may purchase the structure from Habitat, according to Community Development Specialist Robert Cornwell.
Tags: city council, habitat for humanity, nonprofits,
