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Date: 12/5/2023
SPRINGFIELD — Representing progress on a site that had been vacant for roughly two decades, government officials gathered with construction and industry representatives to celebrate the groundbreaking of a new cannabis dispensary on Boston Road.
Set to open in the summer of 2024, Embr will operate on the former site of Russell’s Restaurant at 461 Boston Rd., which has been little more than a vacant lot since the restaurant closed in 2005 and the building was demolished in 2014.
Several speakers at the ceremony reminisced about Russell’s as an eatery and gathering place on the busy Springfield thoroughfare and lamented the state of the property.
The Embr facility, they hope, will change that. The $2 million building project, in addition to creating 50 construction jobs and up to 20 permanent jobs, will include a “pocket park” the developers say will enhance green space in the area. The development would be the first cannabis dispensary in the city built from the ground up with new construction.
The dispensary will be the second under the Embr moniker, a brand associated with Phat Panda, a national cannabis retailer with operations in Washington and California in addition to Massachusetts. The other Embr location is in Northampton.
Ward 5 City Councilor Lavar Click-Bruce, who lives in the abutting neighborhood behind the property located at the corner of Boston Road and Fargo Street, said the development of the land was long overdue, calling it an eyesore — a term also used by several others who spoke at the groundbreaking.
“It’s a great project for our community that we can be proud of and it’s going to provide jobs,” he said. “Jobs are important to our community and it’s all going to be local.”
Reinforcing the concept of local employment opportunities, Pat Sweitzer from Sweitzer Construction, the Monson-based contractor on the project, noted her company hires only local firms that hire local workers for its projects. Brian Horrigan of Phat Panda and Embr also emphasized the focus on creating jobs for area residents.
“We want to be a valued member of the community and when we get running we’re going to be hiring and training nothing but locals so that the shoppers can come in and see people they know and trust within their community,” he said.
The site is located near the intersection of Boston Road, Breckwood Boulevard and Bay Street where it abuts a residential neighborhood and is in close proximity to Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Parish and Thomas M. Balliet School on Rosewell Street. When asked by Reminder Publishing why this business was a good fit for the area, Pine Point Community Council Executive Director John Lysak said traffic was a major factor, as was ownership’s willingness to work with the community to address concerns.
“Unlike a lot of other businesses, it’s not heavy traffic … it’s not going to be open all hours like a bar or a Dunkin’ Donuts or a drive-thru where cars are blasting their music … Someone wanted to put a huge apartment complex here and this is such a busy road, so we didn’t want something like that either,” he said. “I think it’s going to be a good fit. They came before us a couple times and they seem like they’re going to be a good partner to the neighborhood. The times they came in front of us, they addressed all the concerns from anybody in the audience and from the committee.”
The Russell family operated Russell’s Restaurant on the site until 2005. In 2008, owner Robert Russell took out a $220,000 mortgage on the property in 2008 as his other business, 60 Minute Photo, fell victim to the digital age, and a proposed sale of the property to the abutting Cumberland Farms, which sought to expand, was blocked by the City Council. Russell filed for bankruptcy in 2011 and People’s United Bank, now part of M&T Bank, repossessed the land in July 2012.
Developer Nick Graham purchased the property from the bank in November 2014 for $100,000 and proposed the development of new two-story townhouse-style apartments. He gained initial approval for a 14-unit development from the Planning Board and the city in hopes of having the units ready for rent in 2015. However, the Springfield Water and Sewer Commission balked at his plans before ultimately approving them in 2016. At one time, he sought to increase to 16 units but was unable to gain support from the Pine Point Community Council or the City Council for the necessary zone change.
After that, the city’s zoning regulations changed, requiring a special permit for the 14-unit development, which was also denied by the City Council after the local council declined to support it.
In the meantime, state Rep. and then-City Councilor Bud Williams and his nephew, then-Ward 5 City Councilor Marcus Williams, hosted a press conference on the site to address illegal dumping, making the lot a public example of the city’s quality of life issues. The Pine Point Community Council also raised concerns about the lack of communication regarding the site’s condition and had a dispute with Graham regarding a large gravel mound that had been left on the property.
Graham ultimately sold the property to Phat Panda in June for $400,000.
Lysak said he is hopeful that the transformation of this parcel will represent the kickstart of the revitalization of the Boston Road/State Street corridor, bookended by the development of Springfield Crossing at the former Eastfield Mall property and the Vibra Hospital site, which was recently acquired by the city with plans for redevelopment.
“It absolutely should be. Even a lot of the buildings on this road are very dated, built in the 1960s, ’70s. There needs to be some updating, some signage, lighting, improvements like that,” he said. “Boston Road, it’s really the heart of Springfield when you really think about it – all the shopping, the cars. There’s so much stuff on Boston Road [and] a very heavy traffic count and I think we need to invest in this part of the city. We’ve put a lot in downtown, the South End, the North End [and] I want to see things done here. And I have a feeling between the mayor, the City Council and the neighborhood council, we can make the investments that will really make a difference in this neighborhood.”
Bud Williams echoed those sentiments, calling the future Embr site “a vital piece of property” and a “connector” between Boston Road and State Street.