The Springfield City Council approved a special permit for a 111-unit mixed-use project on Main and State streets during its Oct. 20 meeting.
Photo credit: Focus Springfield
SPRINGFIELD — A major mixed-use redevelopment project on Main and State streets will move forward after the Springfield City Council approved a special permit for the project during its recent meeting on Oct. 20.
Spearheaded by Chicago-based developer McCaffrey Interests, the $50 to $60 million project calls for the construction of 111 mostly market rate residential units at the Clocktower building on 113 State St., the Stockbridge Building at 11-21 Stockbridge St. and the Colonial Blocks on 1163-1167 Main St and 1155 Main St.
According to Julian Looney, a principal architect from Washington D.C. representing McCaffrey, the buildings will also be adaptively reused for ground-level retail such as mom-and-pop shops, food and beverage or some other “strong retailers.”
The four buildings are mostly vacant, house commercial space and are currently owned by the Springfield Redevelopment Authority.
According to developers, around 39 units will be in the Clocktower building, and approximately 72 units will function inside the Colonial Block. Meanwhile, the 11-21 Stockbridge St. property will be redeveloped as a new entrance to the residential units and contain a fitness center, a storage area and offices.
“We feel that this could sort of be a catalyst to other sites downtown,” Looney said, when speaking on the project. “We feel that this is going to be a project that will attract the right kind of people to downtown.”
According to the council agenda packet, the residential units will be a mixture of studios, one- and two-bedroom units, and they will be accompanied by other residential amenities, including separate lobbies, garden-level terraces, meeting and business facilities, a club room, exercise facilities and bicycle storage and repairs.
Looney said that developers consider this a tax credit job because the Colonial Block and Clocktower building are historic properties. He added that McCaffrey plans to maintain the historic nature of the two buildings, and by April, the developers hope to have an expanded historic district so that all four buildings are included.
McCaffrey also believes this project is a way to spur economic vitality in the area.
“The entries are going to remain sort of in the historic significance that the two buildings have, both facing State and Main,” said Carol Dooney, the head of construction and development at McCaffrey. “We see Stockbridge as a very great opportunity to create this pedestrian environment on the food and beverage level and retail level to sort of activate Main Street and State [Street] directly across from the casino and give it a really strong sense of pedestrian placemaking.”
Dooney said McCaffrey has been working on this project for the last six months. They spent spring completing exploratory and remedial abatement work on the older buildings while the architect was drawing the design documents.
The developers are now at the construction document phase and expect to have drawings submitted to the City Council for approval by the end of the year. In the meantime, Dooney said they continue to complete small work in remediation and restoration, including the restoration of the historic turret clock on the Masonic Building at 113 State St., which was lit up for the first time in 30 years on Oct. 17.
She shared that construction will begin once the expansion of the historic district is completed.
“We’re thinking spring of next year for a construction date,” Dooney said. “It’ll take us about 13 to 15 months to construct once we start.”
City councilors were on board with the project, as evidenced by the unanimous vote to approve the special permit. Many spent their time asking logistical questions around timeline and the kinds of housing that will be available for residents.
At Large City Councilor Jose Delgado asked how McCaffrey’s redevelopment project coincides with the city’s construction of the South End parking garage on Willow Street, and wondered if McCaffrey will seek future funding from the council for the four buildings.
Springfield Chief Development Officer Tim Sheehan said the parking garage project is separate from the McCaffrey project and is instead an initiative spearheaded by the Springfield Redevelopment Authority and Springfield Parking Authority.
He said the city has identified funding sources for the $24 million garage project, which is currently in the design development phase now and is expected to be open by fall 2027.
McCaffrey’s proposal states that their project requires 120 parking spaces for the proposed residential units. They said that there are currently 46 on-site spaces associated with the four properties.
The Willow Street garage, meanwhile, is expected to have 400 off-street parking spaces.
“The new garage is one piece of the city’s public realm improvement project, which will help compliment the redevelopment of these properties as well as other properties within the Main Street Convention Center District,” McCaffrey states in its proposal.
Ward 8 City Councilor Zaida Govan wondered if the project will contain any affordable housing because there are a lot of young professionals in the city that are seeking an affordable place to stay.
Looney emphasized McCaffrey’s focus on the unit mix embedded in the project, saying that the more compact units will be ideal for the young professional community.
For now, though, the developers could not put specific numbers on the proposed properties because they are still in the early construction document phase.
“The one-bedrooms, the studios, the one-bedroom plus den, those typically come in at a really affordable price range,” Looney said. “And so, we did a market study, and we found that that unit type, which is relatively affordable, is a unit type that we want to see often in this project. So, we do have a great mix of those unit sizes for young professionals.”
A couple councilors, including At Large City Councilor Kateri Walsh, asked how the redevelopment will impact the Community Music School on State Street. Dooney said McCaffrey has already met with the school to work out the logistics, and added that the developers are working on safe pedestrian access to the school when the project is finished.
“I want you to have all the confidence in the world that the Music School to us is as important as the tenants that we’re bringing in,” Dooney said.
The council voted in favor of the special permit 11-0.
