Page 36 - BusinessWest August 19, 2024

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Paramount
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tainment hub. Four presidents are said to have stayed in the Massasoit House Hotel. As for the Paramount, formerly named the Julia Sanderson Theater, it has hosted movies and all kinds of live performances, from music to comedy to theater.
Renovated in 1999 and renamed the Hippodrome, the property was purchased by the New England Farmworkers Council in 2011 with the intention of restoring it to its former glory. As a casino proposal came together involving real estate just north of the Arch, the Hippodrome was viewed as being a poten- tial key component of such plans.
But the casino was ultimately built in the South End, less than a mile down Main Street, and plans to renovate the Paramount/Massasoit property — with a price tag around $40 million — were never realized.
COVID played a factor, but so did the inability to secure the private funding needed to advance the project to the construction phase, said Sheehan, add- ing that the Farmworkers Council, burdened with the various costs associated with the real estate, needed to relieve itself of that burden.
Which brings us to next month’s auction. Both Low and Sheehan said it will be “interesting.” Beyond that, they’re not entirely sure what to expect from whomever prevails in that event.
Show of Interest?
They do know that the new owner, whoever that might be, will face the same challenges that the New England Farmworkers Council had in renovating the theater portion of the property and making it viable
“We just got to the point where we couldn’t find the right buyer. It’s a massive undertaking; most of the interest was in the hotel, with people then saying, ‘now what do we do with the theater?’”
from a business standpoint.
As Sheehan pointed out, there are several other
performance venues in Springfield and elsewhere in the region. Meanwhile, those involved with plans to renovate another historic old movie house — the Vic- tory Theater in Holyoke — are trying to close a fund- ing gap and move forward with 45-year-old efforts to restore that landmark.
That said, he noted that some developers have reached out to him to have discussions about the property and float potential development concepts.
“Hopefully, they’ll show up at the auction and at least gauge a level of interest associated with the properties,” he went on, noting that the decision to take the property to auction has come about rather quickly, so potentially interested parties have not had much time to do their due diligence.
Sheehan said that, if he has a suggestion, or cau- tionary note, for potential developers of the property, it would be to take on this project in stages.
“I think they should work with scalable pieces of the overall development and begin in the easiest spot
that you possibly can,” he said, adding that this spot would likely be the ground-floor retail spaces on the property.
Meanwhile, redevelopment of the Massasoit House Hotel might be the next spot.
“The office component in the former hotel ... that won’t be as difficult an undertaking,” he noted. “The really hard part is the Paramount itself; what are you envisioning for the redevelopment of that space that will actually bring positive economics to the overall equation?”
Both the theater and hotel are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Sheehan noted, adding that the site is significant from both a historic and architectural standpoint, and this needs to factor into happens next, whatever it is.
“Both of those properties have significant histori- cal importance and architectural significance,” he said. “And the city has an interest in making sure that those properties are reactivated and preserved in an appropriate way.”
Low acknowledged the historic nature of the prop- erty and the architectural significance, but wondered out loud if something might have to give from a pres- ervation standpoint if something is to happen at this property.
Meanwhile, his only predictions for the auction, based on the interest shown since Crexi started mar- keting it, are a sale price above (probably well above) $250,000, and “lots of action.”
And maybe, just maybe, from that action, progress will be made in securing a future for this big slice of the city’s past. BW
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