PITTSFIELD, Mass.— A $1.37 million grant from the state will enhance Allegrone's renovation of the Wright Building.

 

On Tuesday, the City Council accepted $1,370,000 from the Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities' HousingWorks Infrastructure Program. It will support streetscape infrastructure improvements and the conversion of the rear vehicular alleyway into a pedestrian way behind the building.

 

The city-owned alleyway, currently fenced off and used for building materials, connects the Hotel on North block to the Intermodal Center.

 

"It's going to make it not a vehicular alleyway anymore but a pedestrian way," Director of Community Development Justine Dodds explained. "There is going to be some landscaping, some fencing, and those types of improvements."

 

Ward 5 Councilor Patrick Kavey said that when he was the hotel's operations manager, people complained about how dark that area was. Dodds confirmed that lighting is part of the project.

 

"It's going to make it a real welcoming space," she said, explaining that it will connect spaces in the downtown as well as businesses and new residents in the apartments.

 

Allegrone Construction Co. is undertaking an $18 million overhaul of the historic Wright Building and the Jim's House of Shoes property. The project combines the two buildings into one development, retaining the commercial storefronts on North Street and providing 35 new rental units, 28 market-rate and seven affordable.  

 

The city applied through the Community One Stop for Growth, a single application portal and collaborative review process for community and economic development grant programs. The HousingWorks Infrastructure Program provides funding to municipalities and other public instrumentalities for activities related to infrastructure projects associated with housing development. 

 

This project aims to create a "hospitable, safe, inclusive public way connecting to the transit center with the downtown corridor."

 

The design phase is projected to cost about $56,000 and the construction about $952,000. The rest of the grant is for administration, contingency, and miscellaneous expenses.

 

Last year, the project was awarded more than $4 million through the state's Housing Development Incentive Program. The city also approved a 10-year tax increment financing agreement with the developer with a savings of over $400,000 through that period as a requirement to receive state tax credits through the HDIP.

 

The Tax Increment Exemption (TIE) freezes the current property values and base value, and phases in the increased property taxes that result from the upgrades, beginning at 100 percent forgiveness in the first year and decreasing by 10 percent each subsequent year over the term.  

 

The Wright Building's current assessed value is $497,900, and the former Jim's House of Shoes property is $229,900. The redevelopment of these buildings is projected to increase each property's assessed value to more than $2.5 million and more than $1.9 million, respectively.