Developer Carver Buys Pittsfield Clock Tower Building
The original Sheaffer Eaton mill, with the clocktower to the left.
The building houses The Berkshire Eagle and a number of offices. Recently, The Eagle was sold by Media News Group to a team of investors but the building remained in the hands of the parent company Digital First Media. Carver, as part of a new enterprise named Clock Tower Partners LLC, has purchased the 130-year-old complex and has plans for a multi-year renovation.
"These investments will position the property to be a leading location to find cost effective and attractive office space in central Berkshire County. The complex is very large and can accommodate many large and small tenants so it is believed that networking and other synergies will be an added benefit to businesses that locate there," reads a press released issued by Berkshire Bank, who provided the financing.
The renovations are eyed to include energy efficiency, general property improvements and custom build outs for new and existing tenants.
The Clock Tower building went on the market in 2014 with an asking price of $2.5 million but the actual sale price was not disclosed on Thursday. The media company had been separating its real estate holdings from the newspaper operations of papers it owned throughout the country. The building is the former Sheaffer Eaton paper mill complex and was renovated in the early 1990s. It was sold in 1995 to Media News Group. Parts of it date to 1883 when it was constructed for the Terry Clock Co.
Carver already owns the attached Clock Tower Condominiums after purchasing that section in 2007. Through demolition and re-use, that section was transformed into 23 condominiums.
Both the paper and the building were up for sale and, in April, the paper's operations were sold to local owners. The intent had been to sell the structure and the newspaper to continue as its tenant.
"Clock Tower Partners applauds the investment made by the new owners of the Berkshire Eagle and looks forward to the benefits of returning this important institution to local ownership," the press release reads.
The property will be managed by CT Management Group, which is led by Carver and Peter Ticconi, both of Williamstown. The management group is a complement company to Carver's real estate holdings in Scarafoni & Associates.
Berkshire Bank says it "sees both the purchase of the building and the recent purchase of the Berkshire Eagle newspaper by investors with local ties to the Berkshires as an important step toward strengthening the Berkshire County Economy."
Tags: mill reuse, newspaper, Real Estate,
