PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Pittsfield Economic Development Authority has extended the timeframe to reach a land lease agreement with Waterstone Realty for the development of a Walmart Supercenter.

 

On Tuesday, PEDA approved the extension to the letter of intent. Executive Director Corydon Thurston said the original 60-day window was "too aggressive" and hopes to have an agreement before the board by the next meeting.

 

"It is a complex document because it involves so many agencies," Thurston said.

 

PEDA granted Waterstone a letter of intent on June 15 giving the company the exclusive rights to negotiate a lease and sales agreement for the parcel on the William Stanley Business Park known as "the teens." Thurston said input has been gathered from various agencies from the state to General Electric to PEDA and Waterstone on the agreement but a final draft hasn't been crafted. The comments are being aggregated now.

 

"They've been making sufficient progress," Thurston said.

 

Waterstone is planning to bring a 190,000 square-foot Walmart Supercenter to the park, a projected estimated by the developers to cost $30 million. The parcel has been cited by PEDA officials as one of the more complicated lots. In July, the organization revisited the "white paper" outlining the details about the parcel.

 

"We did recraft the white paper we did on the teens to consolidate and make it a little bit more useful in terms of public presentation," Thurston said.

 

The development is also eyed to address the intersection at Woodlawn Avenue and Tyler Street, which since the bridge's reopening has seen an increase in traffic. Thurston said the city is currently looking at that intersection while the state is looking at the intersection of East Street and Woodlawn.

 

"The traffic has been tremendous. The city still has some issues with dealing with this new route, i.e. the intersections," Thurston said.

 

Thurston hopes that the new activity with the Woodlawn Avenue bridge reopening will push a redevelopment of the East Street corridor the state is planning along. That project has been in the queue for a number of years.

 

"I think the activity at the park will help move that along," he said.

 

The bridge reopened earlier this year after years of delays and then the reconstruction to allow double-decker trains to pass underneath. The bridge connects the Morningside Neighborhood with East Street. However, it's already been tagged with graffiti and Thurston said he is working with the state to get that paint removed.

 

Other activity eyed to generate even more traffic is the Berkshire Innovation Center. Currently, there is a funding gap keeping that project from going to construction which BIC officials are still looking to close.

 

"In my opinion we absolutely have to start digging," Thurston said.

 

The executive director hopes that now that the state's budget is in place agencies will have a better handle on the funding available and BIC officials can make a pitch for those funds.

 

"I think that will allow the agencies to have a better feel of what their budgets are moving forward," Thurston said.

 

Meanwhile, state Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier said the legislature was able to add language to the economic development bond bill which could bring broadband to the park. Now, it is up to the administration to release the funds. 

 

"We were also able to add in some language that allows for the Berkshire Innovation Center and PEDA to apply for funds for equipment," Farley-Bouvier said.

 

The BIC already has some $1 million worth of equipment which was delivered to Taconic High School. That includes 3D printers and a laser scanner for reverse engineering projects. That can be used by both students at Taconic as well as members of the Berkshire Innovation Center, Thurston said.

 

"Even though we don't have the building yet, we have started some o the programming that was intended for the building," he said.

 

When it comes to the building, Farley-Bouvier urged PEDA and the BIC to phase the project to start construction soon, which she says will make it easier to close the funding gaps because state agencies can see the project instead of "drawings on the wall.

 

"If it means we have to phase this project to get things started as we are closing this funding gap, then that's what we need to do," she said. "Let's get the shovels in the ground. Let's get this thing up and running so we can show the progress."

 

Also for the William Stanley Business Park, Thurston says he is working on what he calls "project 40" that would be a "large manufacturer" coming to the park. He said PEDA has been talking with a prospective company for some time and hopes to have more information in the coming month.

 

"We are working on a number of prospects. There is a still a very large project," Thurston said.

 

PEDA will also be holding a series of open houses for the public and prospective businesses as well as renovating its website — though the newly revamped website has not gone live yet.