PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Wayfair has finalized a lease in the Clocktower Building and expects to move in this fall.
Spokeswoman Molly Delaney said on Friday that the lease has been finalized at 75 South Church St. in Building 3. The company will occupy 40,000 square-feet.
The former Sheaffer-Eaton Mill, now known as the Clocktower Building, is owned by CT Management under the holding company Clocktower Partners LLC. The company purchased the building for $1 million in 2016.
Wayfair is planning a service center in the portion of the building which sits between the Clocktower Condos and the main office space area. The expansion into Pittsfield will come with the creation of 300 new jobs to the city, which is considered one of the city's biggest economic development wins in a number of years.
Wayfair's total expansion will be 3,300 after the state approved $31.4 million in tax breaks to the Boston-based retailer. The majority of the jobs will be in the Boston area with 300 coming to Pittsfield. The home-decor company is owned by Niraj Shah, a Pittsfield native, who has reportedly teased the idea that there could be more expansion into the Berkshire in the future.
The e-commerce company is expected to hire 265 customer service representatives and 35 managers at the Pittsfield location. It will be the company's ninth call center.
When the announcement was made in December there was no location identified though it was widely known that the Clocktower building was the leading potential location.
The mill was constructed in 1883 by Eli Terry. A decade later it was sold to Arthur W. Eaton who turned it into the Sheaffer-Eaton mill (after a merger with the Sheaffer pens) and employed a total of 900 people at one point.
In 1987, the mill was sold to Miller family, then owners of The Berkshire Eagle. In the 1990s, the Millers renovated the entire building into offices and moved paper's operation there. Miller sold the building and business to Media News Group, which then sold it to CT Management.
The large complex houses around 40 businesses but was reportedly only about 60 to 75 percent occupied when CT Management purchased it. Delaney said she expects the company to move into the location this fall.
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Berkshire Museum Explores Ancient Egypt With ‘Soulful Creatures’
By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Following its multimillion-dollar renovation, the Berkshire Museum is welcoming an exhibition unlike any it has been able to host before.
Marking the museum's first major exhibition since its renovation, "Soulful Creatures: Animal Mummies in Ancient Egypt," opening Saturday, Oct. 10, thins the veil between the ever-evolving history of Egyptian culture and society and modern day people.
"The most important thing about history is recognizing people from the past as actual people. Ancient Egyptians are no different than us," said William Dore, the museum's chief curator. "They have different cultures and beliefs and different viewpoints, but you can say the same thing about people today."
When audiences experience the exhibit, they will see the humanity in the people of the past, which in turn helps them connect with different views and perspectives around the world today, he said.
Combining archeology with modern scientific imaging, Brooklyn (N.Y.) Museum curators Yekaterina Barbash and Edward Bleiberg designed an exhibit that works to uncover the mysteries behind these objects and the beliefs and rituals that surround them.
"I think something that people kind of misunderstand about history is none of it's ever settled. ... History is a science that is constantly questioned,” Dore said. "It only works if everyone's constantly rethinking things, learning new things ... which is for me super exciting because as much as we know a lot about the ancient Egyptians, there's a lot we don't know.”
The installation features dozens of artifacts on loan from the Brooklyn Museum that explores the practice of animal mummification and the role animals played in ancient Egyptian religion.
In early February, the airport was approached by a prior tenant, Leon Shabott of Hangar4Planes, about the possibility of constructing a hangar at the airport.
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The state Department of Transportation and CSX have reached an agreement for local infrastructure improvements that will be a "major step" to making the Berkshire Flyer a permanent seasonal service.
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