New Orchards Owner Looks to Revive Community Asset
The Orchards has been closed since 2020. Renovations on the 49-room hotel and restaurant began last fall.
"We have a lot invested here," Fahd Zia said recently. "My team and I feel that Berkshire County is the place to be, the place to grow in every respect."
On a recent Wednesday morning, Zia was walking through the empty halls of the hotel that closed in 2020 to talk about his effort to get the 49-bedroom establishment up and running.
Zia is the principal of Garden Properties and Development, which purchased The Orchards in August.
Recently it was reported elsewhere that he planned to have the business operational by June. Zia would not commit to a timeline but said he and his team are working to get open the doors as quickly as possible.
"We're working with the building department and the community development team to get this place up and running," Zia said, referring to two town departments.
"As a real estate developer, my job is to work in the community, and people in the community would really like to have this asset come back. We saw that the community is asking for something to be done with this large property, this beautiful property."
Situated at the junction of Main Street (Route 2) and Adams Road, the one-time four-star hotel with the distinctive gated entry is a prominent feature for people entering the town from the east.
Now, the interior looks abandoned after the business stopped at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and never reopened. Surfaces have collected dust, empty guest rooms still have furniture and bedding and even hotel Bibles, and evidence of renovation work is apparent in common spaces.
"Right now, we're figuring out the guts — the plumbing, the electrical, the sprinkler," Zia said. "It's a massive building.
"We want to use local contractors as much as possible to keep the investment in Berkshire County as much as possible."
Zia, who has operated hotels in the Berkshires and beyond as well as two residential projects in Pittsfield, returns repeatedly to the idea that restoring the Orchards is important not just as a business investment but as a way to build community.
"One of the bigger things is we're local," said Zia, who grew up in Lee. "The previous ownership was not local."
Part of the plan is to revive The Orchards' hotel, which operated as Gala Restaurant and Bar under the former ownership.
When fully operational, the property will support 40 to 60 employees with a mix of part-time, full-time and seasonal jobs, Zia said.
Given the amount of work involved in bringing the property back, Zia said he could see possibly reopening in stages on a timeline to be determined.
He would not say what aesthetic changes might be in store for people who were familiar with the prior iteration of The Orchards.
"We want to open as fast as we possibly can," Zia said. "We're working with key stakeholders to bring it back into operation."
But one thing he was certain of: This hotel will not be flagged by one of the big chains that dominate the industry.
"We plan to keep it independent," Zia said. "The name itself is beautiful, The Orchards, which resonates with the property's history."
Tags: business changes, motels, hotels, renovation,
