Development for final Facemate parcel announced
CHICOPEE – A development company envisions the last remaining parcel of the Facemate property to be the site for a brewery/restaurant, housing with 102 units and a large indoor athletic center.
Mayor John Vieau made the announcement at the site near the RiverMills Senior Center on April 7. He called it a “significant milestone for the city.” The Facemate site has already been developed with the RiverMills Center and an assisted living facility.
Vieau noted the project comes out of an 11-year effort to address the brownfield concerns the area presents. There is an estimated 52 jobs that would be created by the development once completed and the plan represents a $40 million investment, according to the mayor’s office.
City Treasurer Marie Laflamme noted it has been 11 years since the property had been on the tax rolls.
Singing Bridge LLC is the development entity and is a partnership between ADC Communities (ADC), Brisa Development, LLC (Brisa), and Chicopee Sports Center, Inc. (CSC).
Hammad Graham of Brisa Development explained to Reminder Publishing the permitting process will start now and the first projects undertaken will be the brewery/restaurant and the 50,000 square foot sports facility. Graham said the housing units would be aimed at “workforce” housing with rental rates that will be less than market rate.
Director of Planning & Development, Lee M. Pouliot described the Facemate site as an “environmentally complex site.” In an additional written statement he noted, “This project not only creatively reactivates an underutilized historic mill property into a dynamic mixed-use development, it also demonstrates the city’s commitment to prioritizing development proposals that promote elements that residents identified during the development of the RiverMills at Chicopee Falls Vision Plan. The city of Chicopee is grateful for the ongoing partnership between the City of Chicopee and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection and MassDevelopment – agencies that have all played a significant role in preparing this parcel for redevelopment.”
Pouliot explained the Chicopee Canal and RiverWalk will run adjacent to the property. The walking trail is designed to link downtown Chicopee to Chicopee Falls. He added that remediation and demolition work at the former Uniroyal tire factory nearby is continuing and some work there must be completed for the RiverWalk to be built.
The brick building, last used by Baskin’s Inc., was built about 100 years ago, Pouliot said.
Vieau also said, “Generations of Chicopee residents have intimate memories, and connections to the RiverMills sites and we are excited that future generations will again be able to leave their marks on these former industrial properties.”
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