Plans for Uniroyal/Facemate revealed at meeting

Date: 12/21/2010

Dec. 22, 2010

By G. Michael Dobbs

Managing Editor

CHICOPEE -- The new use for the former Uniroyal/Facemate properties will include the city's new senior center as well as housing and some new retail and office space.

The development company prepared two versions of a vision for the area that were presented last week at a public meeting and Geoffrey Morrison-Logan, project manager at Vanasse, Hangin and Brustlin, stressed that market demands and pressures will help shape the ultimate use of the properties and its time table for development.

Mayor Michael Bissonnette predicted this new neighborhood in Chicopee Falls would be 10 to 15 years in the making.

Bissonnette and Morrison-Logan both spoke about the number of improvements to the long abandoned factory complex as a preface to the two proposed plans. Buildings one through six at the Uniroyal site have been demolished, while the Facemate building has undergone a building assessment, an environmental review and a hazardous building materials study.

Lt. Governor Tim Murray has selected the Uniroyal/Facemate site as the only property in Western Massachusetts for inclusion in the Brownfield Support Team Initiative.

Ongoing at the site are theremoval of an underground storage tank at Facemate and a transformer removal on the Uniroyal property.

Bissonnette also recently announced the Iron Horse Preservation Society has contracted with the city to remove the rails and ties from the rail line that has been partially developed by the city as a rail trail. The mayor explained the group recycles the rails and ties and in return leaves a prepared trail base. He added the project's details have been approved by the Attorney General's office and do not fall under state laws on competitive bidding.

Both visions were prepared with the concept of filling in real estate development "holes" the city has as well as anticipating future market demands, Morrison-Logan explained.

In both concepts, the new senior center would be located on the Facemate property near the bend where Main Street becomes West Main Street.

Bissonnette said the city's plan is to go out to bid on the senior center this summer with a groundbreaking scheduled in the fall. He cautioned that there are "several ifs" concerning that timetable, including the clearing of the site and the availability of funding.

The mayor explained the city will apply for a federal loan program to help finance the new senior center. the City Council will need to approve the loan application, which would be an advance on future Community Development Block Grant payments to the city.

The housing noted in both visions would be townhouses, which RKG Associates -- the company hired to assess the uses of the property -- believes there will a demand for in the local housing market.

Both plans also would attempt to re-develop the Uniroyal administration building.

The first plan has 96 units of housing, 19,250 square feet of commercial and retail space, 51,000 square feet of office space, two soccer fields and a baseball diamond.

The second plan has 33,500 square feet of commercial and retail space, 131 units of housing, 131,000 square feet of office space, one soccer field and 34,500 square foot recreation center.

Former Mayor Richard Kos asked how flexible were the two plans and Morrison-Logan said each was designed to revised according to market demands.

Another resident attending the meeting believed there should be more commercial space in order to grow jobs in the city.

Chicopee resident James Rachilla questioned whether or not the additional housing would "saturate" the market. He also wondered how the additional residents would affect the school population and in turn if that would affect taxes.

In response, Bissonnette said there would be no low income housing at the site. Carl Dietz, the city's director of the Office of Community Development, said the report from RKG Associates said there is growth in both the 25-plus year-old and the 55-plus real estate markets, prime audiences for a townhouse development.

The plans will be marketed to the private development community to gauge the interest in the property, Morrison-Logan said.