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A New Storage Facility is Coming to Pittsfield

The facility is slated to open June 19.

PITTSFIELD, Mass — A new storage unit is opening in Pittsfield later this month.

At 428 Merrill Road, formerly Crane Paper, CubeSmart will offer storage units ranging in sizes from 5 by 5 to 10 by 30 feet.

The facility has 431 units.

Jack Martinson from Peach Tree Holdings, a real estate company that acquires and develops commercial real estate across the country, said there was a need for such such a business in the area.

"We look for self storage properties all over the country, and saw a building and a need in the city. And you know, we did talk to one of the neighbors who was happy to see that the building was being transformed," he said. " And over the past six months we transformed the 60,000 square foot kind of rundown building into a, I'd say, class A self storage facility offering around 45,000 square feet of storage and 431 units, and we're excited to bring a nationally named brand into the city of Pittsfield."

Martinson said his group found Pittsfield and the county through market research and data, noticing that there was a need for storage in the city.

"Specifically looking at what's available in the market, you have, I think, Extra Space Storage Facility, and then a pretty large U haul," he said. "Through the data that was available to us, it looks like those are basically full. And so I think adding another storage facility in the market will help lower prices a little bit for customers, as well as provide a another safe and secure storage building in the city."

He says CubeSmart will provide a safe space for people to put their stuff.

"But 24/7 security operating hours, I think, will be around nine to 6pm, I think. Friendly deals, safe storage, and mainly just a place you can come to trust and put your belongings and valuables, and it's gated, it's fenced. And again, I think the main thing is having a 24/7 security system to keep people confident that their stuff wont be tinkered or stolen is what we're trying to provide here," Martinson said.

The group found the building about a year ago and started working on construction right after buying it in December.

"We initially found this building, I think, in June of 2024 and then, through due diligence and some other hiccups, finally  purchased the building in December of 2024 and then construction started immediately after," Martinson said.

Construction was about $3.65 million. CubeSmart will manage the facility and offer the first month free with an initial 40 percent promotion.

The facility is slated to open June 19 but customers can already start reserving units online.

WWII Veteran Reflects on D-Day at VFW Post Induction

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
12:25PM / Saturday, June 06, 2026

The members in the picture are Bret Miller, Coast Guard, Desert Storm; Hank Morris, Army, Vietnam; Brad Havill, Navy, Global War on Terror; VFW Post 448 Vice Cmdr. Mark Pompi, Army, Global War on Terrorism, Afghanistan; Post Cmdr. Arnold Perras, Korea; Joe Difillipo, Army, Vietnam; Teri Billington, Navy, Desert Storm; and Carmen Ostrander, Air Force, Afghanistan.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Anthony Salatino Jr. says his memory is getting a little foggy about his time in the Army. 

But he remembers how terrible D-Day was, and feeling lucky he wasn't among those in the initial invasion force 82 years ago. 

 

"One of the most horrible things was in Normandy. We went shortly after D-Day. I got lucky, very lucky on D-Day. We went to a staging area the night before … and at the very end, somebody called, I was in headquarters, they called all the headquarters personnel at the center," the 103-year-old said. "We did not go. There's about 30 of us. The rest of the battalion was gone, and the reason for that was because there was another battalion coming from the States, and they had no headquarters. 

 

"We stayed back, but we did go to Normandy shortly after that, and when we went to Normandy, it was all over."

 

Salatino was attending an induction ceremony on Thursday at the Lt. John N. Truden VFW Post 448. Joseph Texidor, who served in the Army for 17 years with tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, was sworn in as the post's newest member. 

 

Salatino served in the Medical Corps and wanted to follow in the footsteps of his father, a World War I veteran wounded at Verdun. Salatino was in the Army for about three years.

 

"The whole memory is what I just told you, very, very alive to me," he said. "That is, I can never forget, never forget that."

 

D-Day on June 6, 1944, was the start of Operation Overlord, and the largest invading force to cross the English Channel since 1066. Their goal: to liberate Europe from Nazi Germany.