Gold Club building sold for $1.3M to school

Date: 9/15/2009

By G. Michael Dobbs

Managing Editor



CHICOPEE -- Mayor Michael Bissonnette and officials of Premiere Education Group (PEG) announced Monday morning the sale of the former Gold Club property on Shawnigan Drive for $1.3 million.

The failed strip club will undergo a $500,000 to $600,000 renovation to become a Branford Hall educational facility that PEG Vice President of Marketing Tony McPeck said would initially hire 15 to 20 employees. When the school, which probably will feature allied health programs, is running at capacity, it should have 50 to 60 employees serving 200 students.

The property is expected to generate $25,000 in tax revenues, Bissonnette estimated in a post on his Facebook account.

McPeck described the invest as "significant."

"We're proud to make this investment in Chicopee," McPeck added.

The company had operated a Branford Hall school on Center Street several years ago. The company operates schools throughout the Northeast in Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Delaware and Pennsylvania. PEG currently serves 10,000 students in its schools.

The renovations are beginning with interior demolitions and PEG Regional Vice President Paul Ferrise said the company anticipates the school opening in the first quarter of next year.

John Williamson of Williamson Properties, the realtor handling the sale, said the original property came with 20 acres of land. For this sale, the building comes with 13 of those acres. The remaining seven acres, zoned for industrial use, are available for sale and development.

McPeck said the educational offerings will match market needs in the area and will require approval from state and federal education officials.

Bissonnette praised Williamson for working with the city seeking a suitable reuse of the building, which has been built in 1963 by Monsanto as its research and development building.

The mayor noted there were several developers who came forth with proposals. Some, such as a dog hotel and spa and a small shopping center, couldn't find adequate financing, Bissonnette said, while a 24-hour truck stop was also rejected as having a potentially negative impact on the area.

Proposals to place machine shop and a hotel at the site never got past initial inquiries, he added.

After years of legal battles with the city and a failure to receive final approval for a liquor license, the Gold Club opened briefly in 2004 before being closed for serving alcohol without a license. The building went on sale in 2006.

Bissonnette said, "This is a great ending to a very controversial land use in the city of Chicopee."