City of Springfield to Acquire Main Street Properties for Economic Redevelopment

SPRINGFIELD — The city of Springfield and the Springfield Redevelopment Authority (SRA) announced they will utilize funding designated for eligibility of economic development from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to acquire properties for redevelopment in alignment with the Main Street and Convention Center Master Plan.

The properties that the city and SRA will purchase are 113-115 State St., 1139-1155 Main St., and 11-21 Stockbridge St. In 2019, all of the properties were put under the control of Freedom Credit Union and participatory lenders. Due to the city’s concerns that potential investors would not invest in or appropriately tenant them, Mayor Domenic Sarno and Chief Development Officer Tim Sheehan reached out to Freedom Credit Union to discuss plans to acquire the properties for redevelopment.

The assessed value for the properties are $1,318,900 for 113-115 State St., $2,105,000 for 1139-1155 Main St., and $303,400 for 11-21 Stockbridge St. The properties were listed for sale for $5 million, and the city and SRA will purchase them for $2,750,000.

“This investment will greatly benefit my administration’s vision of enhancing our downtown district and ensures that that these key properties will not be underutilized or underdeveloped by questionable investors who would have no intentions of properly investing in our city and finding appropriate tenants for this prime real-estate area,” Sarno said.

Sheehan added that the proactive acquisition of these properties has thwarted the adverse impacts of further speculative investment in the real estate surrounding MGM Springfield from occurring, and will ensure that these properties will be reintroduced to the market in a manner consistent with their importance to the economic vitality of the area immediately surrounding the casino, as well as the development objectives of the Main Street and Convention Center Master Plan, as approved by the City Council.”

From May to October 2020, the city conducted extensive due diligence on the buildings and in May 2020 signed a letter of intent to acquire the properties. In June 2020, the SRA approved the purchase and sale agreement, and in July 2020, the agreement was executed. Currently, the city is in a 90-day due-diligence period prior to closing. The SRA will be the owner on record for these properties.