Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.
Date: 9/13/2023
SPRINGFIELD — Economic development in downtown Springfield has been on the rise and there are no signs of it slowing, as a national real estate company was selected to redevelop three properties owned by the Springfield Redevelopment Authority.
On Sept. 6, Mayor Domenic Sarno, Chief Development Officer Tim Sheehan and SRA Executive Director Amanda Pham announced the selection of Chicago-based McCaffery Interests Inc. as the preferred developer for the downtown properties.
The properties are located at 113-117 State St., 1139-1155 Main St. and 11-21 Stockbridge St., totaling over 130,000 gross square feet in the downtown area.
Sheehan explained that the properties were acquired by the SRA in 2021 and taken out of foreclosure after a long time of being neglected by the owner who put no reinvestment into those properties and caused a “significant decline” in that end of Main Street.
Sheehan went on to share the process that the city went through, including an “enhanced” request for proposal selection, a video created by Focus Springfield and a national marketing effort.
“We got three national development proposals coming back on these properties,” Sheehan said. “It could not have been done without the investment that preceded it, relative to MGM.”
He continued, “People understood that the synergy of MGM being across the street from these parcels was significant and that there was market value associated with that in a big way.”
On top of the three national companies, two local developers submitted bids. “All of them were great proposals but there [were] some things that stood out for this particular preferred developer.” Sheehan said.
He explained that McCaffery was committed to historic preservation from the outset, which he said is “critically important” for the city because the properties are significant not only to Main Street but the city overall.
The second component was taking the adaptive reuse component in terms of looking at the Class C office space and converting that into market rate housing downtown.
The third component is relative to a term Sheehan said the city has been using which is “curated retail.” While this term is relatively new, he noted that McCaffery completely understood and had experience with it.
“Creating an active and vibrant Main Street is more than just putting a business into a storefront. You have to think about what that business is going to contribute to the overall synergy of the street,” Sheehan said.
He went on to say that there is a process that will play out over the weeks and months ahead. The city and SRA will be working with the developer to come to a land disposition agreement, which will spell out the roles and responsibilities of the parties involved in the development project including the SRA and the city.
McCaffery has completed similar projects in Washington, DC, Denver, Chicago and other cities across the United States.
McCaffery President Edward Woodbury shared that a question they often hear is, “What attracted us to Springfield?” His answer is the investment of MGM and the “billions of dollars put into the facility,” the Basketball Hall of Fame and other aspects.
However, Woodbury said what makes Springfield a good fit is the historic restoration and active reuse and the potential catalytic effect that these properties could have.
McCaffery’s vision and proposal involves adding more than 90 housing units to the city and bringing the street back to life, Woodbury shared.
SRA Chair Armando Feliciano said McCaffery was ultimately selected by the RFP evaluation panel, which consisted of Sheehan, Margaret Boyle from the SRA, South End Citizens Council President Leo Florian, Springfield Deputy Director of Administration and Finance Christopher Fraser and Sarno administration Chief of Staff Thomas Ashe, and was approved by the SRA Commission.
The SRA Commission designating McCaffery as the preferred developer for the Main Street portfolio is a “milestone” in the process of redeveloping these buildings, Feliciano said.
He thanked the work done by the team made up of the city, the SRA and others engaged in this “very, very tedious task.”
Sarno recognized that downtown is a neighborhood. With this investment of mixed-use, and activated storefront areas, he described it as another “huge shot in the arm” for the city of Springfield.
Sarno said his administration will continue to move forward at a positive and aggressive pace for redevelopment in the downtown areas and continued redevelopment in the neighborhood areas.
Sarno thanked Woodbury for McCaffrey’s investment in the city of Springfield.
Woodbury assured that the company wants to carry out the vision of the city and hope to be successful in living up to those expectations, while delivering out the promises made to the SRA and the city.