2 downtown urban renewal projects at different stages of development are part of an overall plan to enhance the Elm Street corridor with additional restaurants, retail space, housing and a long-awaited intermodal center.
WESTFIELD — Two downtown urban renewal projects at different stages of development are part of an overall plan to enhance the Elm Street corridor with additional restaurants, retail space, housing and a long-awaited intermodal transportation center.
Jeff Daley, city advancement officer, said Tuesday the state Department of Housing and Community Development gave a formal stamp of approval last week on the construction of a $10 million downtown parking garage and $6 million, 1,800-square-foot transportation center.
“This allows us to move ahead with the plan and begin putting together properties for demolition,” he said. “We’re in the process of awarding a contract to help us with legal and property acquisition issues.”
The demolition of the Flahive building on Arnold Street, which will require the relocation of five businesses and 19 residents, and the destruction of the former bowling alley on Church Street, in addition to the two other buildings that have already been demolished, will make way for the intermodal center.
So far, Daley added, state funds have financed $250,000 in soil remediation and the removal of petroleum and lead where the two previously demolished buildings on Elm Street once stood.
The overall urban development plan, he said, was approved by both the Planning Board and City Council in May and with the state’s approval can now proceed to the predevelopment and engineering stage.
“The bulk of the project will be done with a state grant for $230,000,” Daley said. “We’ll get as far as we can with that money in the next month or so. My goal is to not have city pay for it, if can pull it off. We’re working with granting authorities and hope to use minimal city money.”
The step after that will be to file the plan with the federal transportation agency and environmental services.
“We’re hoping to get their approval pretty quickly so we can access federal funds,” Daley said.
The $6 million transportation center, he said, which is being paid for by the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission and the state Department of Transportation, could result in 130,000 square feet of commercial and retail space requiring the participation of a private developer.
“This plan now will allow us to put together the parcels of land and clean and ready them for development,” Daley noted.
While the final decisions will ultimately be up to the developer, Daley said that with 30 feet of frontage on Elm Street, he would like to see a restaurant with outdoor seating on the first floor of the building, retail business located on the second and third floors in an open-market style, and possibly upper floors for prime professional office space.
“There are a lot of professionals within city and outside looking for space in the immediate downtown corridor,” he said.
In another proposed Elm Street project, city officials and contractors have completed a riverfront development plan in the area of the Great River Bridges on four acres of land along the south bank of the Westfield River, said Community Development Director Peter J. Miller.
“This is the next generation of potential downtown redevelopment,” Miller said. “We’ve contracted with a consultant for three different schemes for builders or anyone wanting to invest in the project.”
A riverfront project, like the intermodal center one, would include retail and commercial space as well as housing, and while no costs have yet to be attached to the plan, Miller said “it won’t be extravagant” because much of the area is city-owned and most of the utilities are already in place from the bridge construction and reconstruction.
The federal government paid the $20,000 for the consultant’s schematic plan, he added.
That area is important, Miller said, because the riverfront is most visible to motorists and visitors to the city when they cross the bridge.
“We’re hoping to bring some economic vitality to the area,” he added. “Over the years, as we’ve acquired property, that area has become underutilized.”
Also making the riverfront ideal for development, Miller said, is the proximity of the Columbia Greenway bike trail that runs through the area.
“We’re excited to start moving along,” Miller noted. “This is a long-term vision and strategy that was brought out in 2009. It seems to be the logical next step. We envision mixed use – housing, commercial, restaurants – we’re open to possibilities. We don’t want to leave anything off the table.”