O'Connell Developers make initial plans for Westinghouse property

Date: 6/7/2011

June 8, 2011

By G. Michael Dobbs

Managing Editor

SPRINGFIELD — The sprawling industrial area on Page Boulevard that was once home to Westinghouse has been purchased by Holyoke-based O'Connell Developers with the plan of demolishing most of the current structures and building new retail and office spaces.

Kathy Brown of the East Springfield Neighborhood Council explained to Reminder Publications the developers have had several initial meetings with residents.

This is not the first time the site has been the subject of a large-scale re-development. Several years ago, developers sought to break ground on a retail area that would have features several "big box" national retailers as well as spaces for smaller businesses. The 2008 downturn in the economy stifled those plans.

Brown said the only building in the complex that would remain in the new development would be the Westinghouse office building that faces Page Boulevard. Brown said developers would undertake "a total rehab" of the structure and she hopes they will retain, for historical purposes, the white marble stone with the Westinghouse logo.

The two radio towers, erected in the 1920s and used for one of the nation's first commercial radio stations, WBZA, will be removed, Brown said. The developers said the towers couldn't be preserved.

Brown said the current plan is less dense with building than the one presented several years ago.

"We're cautiously optimistic [about this development]," she said. She added that residents have been receptive to the proposal.

Francesca Maltese, the development manager for O'Connell Developers, said the company's plans are still in preliminary stages and a more definite use of the property would be firmed up by 2012.