City officials, federal partners and community stakeholders celebrate the groundbreaking of the Singing Bridge Residencies project.
Reminder Publishing photo by Tyler Garnet
CHICOPEE — On Oct. 1, city officials, representatives from different federal agencies, architects, redevelopment partners and designers all gathered at the former Facemate property to celebrate the groundbreaking of a new residential complex.
Chicopee broke ground for Singing Bridge Residencies, a fully electric, mixed-income, multi-generational eight-story residential building consisting of 105 units.
The project will also include open spaces and seating areas designed to foster a strong sense of community among residents. Construction is expected to take 18 months.
Mayor John Vieau talked about the fully affordable, multiple income tiers housing units.
“One of the things as mayor, it’s about keeping the city of Chicopee affordable and it’s a really, I’ll say delicate, complicated all of those words that I can think of to do that and it’s a balance and it’s something you want to continue progress, but you also want to make sure people are able to afford to live here,” Vieau said.
The project is part of the redevelopment of Facemate lot No. 1, also known as the Baskin parcel. The project represents the third development phase of the larger RiverMills at Chicopee Falls Vision Plan for redevelopment of the former Facemate and Uniroyal properties.
RiverMills is the largest brownfields redevelopment project to be advanced in Chicopee’s history.
This groundbreaking event has been many years in the making, according to developer Hammad Graham, managing member of Syd Capital Group and other city officials.
In 2010, the city initiated a master vision process that resulted the redevelopment vision for the Uniroyal and Facemate properties.
Planning Department Director Lee Pouliot said the vision plan guided redevelopment, environmental cleanup, priorities and stages of the project.
He also noted there have been three mayoral administration that have kept consistent focus on the work being done on the site since 2010.
“Without any of that early work being accomplished, none of these projects would not be possible,” he stated.
Since 2010, the city has invested over $40 million at RiverMills to complete state-wide assessment and cleanup activities. The city was able to receive significant funding through the U.S. EPA’s Brownfields program and the Massachusetts Brownfields priority fund.
BD Singing Bridge’s redevelopment of Facemate Lot No. 1 completes the redevelopment of the Facemate property. The first parcel redeveloped houses at the RiverMills Senior Center and the second redeveloped parcel created a 98-unit assisted living facility.
The Senior Center opened in 2014 and represented a $9 million public investment. In 2019, the assisted living facility opened and represented a $25 million private investment.
BD Singing Bridge was awarded the Baskin parcel at 75 West Main St. in October 2020, and the Singing Bridge Residences is Phase 1 of a three-phase redevelopment proposal. The project represents nearly a $40 million investment between the residential building and the next two phases.
Phases 2 and 3 are proposed to add a sports complex and brewery/restaurant to the parcel.
In partnership with the city of Chicopee, federal funds for the project came from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Vieau also talked about the vision plan from 2010 finally coming together.
He stated, “Just picture our tallest building, eight stories being built right here and the view of the Chicopee River, the beautiful canal walk as Phase 2 is coming to fruition more and more as you get through all that red tape, where you can actually walk or ride your bike all the way down to City Hall, have lunch at the senior center, have a beer at the brewery, that vision for the RiverMills area is actually coming to fruition and it’s pretty exciting.
Graham concluded, “Come back in 18 months and we will have something else to celebrate.”
