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Date: 3/15/2023
CHICOPEE — Following an extensive, decade-long clean-up process, redevelopment of the vacant Uniroyal property is gaining traction. Planning Director Lee Pouliot shared that Chicopee is getting ready to submit a request for proposals (RFP) for the Uniroyal property.
“We’re drafting our development proposal RFP to hopefully release soon,” said Pouliot in an interview with Reminder Publishing.
Uniroyal is viewed as a promising pillar for economic development. The RFP is the beginning stage of activating a property that possesses a rich history in Chicopee.
Background
Constructed in the 1870s, the Uniroyal property remained a significant manufacturing space for over a century in Chicopee. The Grove Street location is most synonymous with Uniroyal’s use of the area from 1891 to 1980, with the company utilizing the site to produce bicycle, automobile and truck tires before shuttering operations, according to the city’s website.
The Facemate Corporation acquired the property in 1981, leasing portions of the buildings to various companies for manufacturing, printing, machine shops, office, storage and health care facilities.
Michelin North America Inc. then acquired Uniroyal assets in the 1990s before the city ultimately gained ownership of the property. Michelin has since been a partner of the cleanup as they address “supplemental subsurface investigations” within the property.
Pouliot, who served in the Planning Department throughout the 12-year cleaning process, detailed the extensive effort behind the space’s cleanup. He revealed that a key component in reinventing the location came with the initial construction of a redevelopment vision plan.
“It really set the expectation for what assessment and cleaning needed to be addressed,” said Pouliot.
Uniroyal was included as part of the RiverMills Project vision plan, which also features the RiverMills Center and Brisa Developments creation of a $50 million, multi-use structure at the Baskin Warehouse property.
Known commonly as the former Facemate property of Uniroyal, the Baskin Warehouse redevelopment would involve the construction of housing, a multi-purpose sports complex and a new restaurant on the parcel.
Once the cleaning process is complete, Chicopee Mayor Vieau envisions limitless potential for Uniroyal, citing its proximity to Chicopee Falls and the approximately 12 acres available for different developments.
“There’s a lot of potential [in the Uniroyal site], we want to unleash that potential,” said Vieau in an interview with Reminder Publishing.
The Uniroyal project has accumulated a cost of roughly $50 million to date.
RFP updates
A major step in getting Uniroyal out for RFP is completing the cleanup process. Pouliot said the city has completed its portion of the cleaning the property, while Michelin is still working to address some of the remaining contamination.
“The city has substantially completed all of its cleanup work at the site. We are in communications with the responsible party in the private sector that needs to continue and complete their work to cleanup soil and groundwater contamination,” said Pouliot.
Pouliot is expecting the Uniroyal RFP to take “a longer period of time” as the city wants to seek out a variety of developer responses.
“These submissions tend to be a little more in depth, so there will probably be a three or four month period for developers to put together their proposal,” said Pouliot.
Once the city receives a sufficient number of RFP responses, city leaders will the undergo extensive interviews.
“There will be a lengthy review and interview process, which could be potentially six to nine months depending on the number of submissions we get,” said Pouliot.
Pouliot stressed that the city is performing its due diligence to generate the best possible result for the Uniroyal redevelopment.
“It’s a long process, but it’s a critical, large piece of property, and the city is going to ensure it selects a development proposal that’s most consistent with our vision plan and provides the best return on investment for the work that we have completed over the last 13 years,” said Pouliot.