Page 46 - BusinessWest December 26, 2022

Borowski bought the building in 2019 for $275,000, and has accessed $350,000 in Commu- nity Preservation Act (CPA) funds to painstakingly restore — as in brick by brick — the building’s Italianite exterior. Another award of $585,000 tar- geting underutilized properties in the downtown district will finish bringing the building up to code, including restrooms, handicapped access, and more.
“It’s quite a project,” said Peake, who is also a psychology professor at Smith College. “The goal is to take this business and turn it into some kind of resource for the town.”
“It’s quite a project. The goal is to take this business and turn it into some kind of resource for the town.”
Borowski plans to use the first floor of both buildings for restaurants, bars, and music and entertainment space. Among the items he’s secured are a chandelier from the old Union Station in Northampton and all the kitchen
and furniture from the Sierra Grill restaurant in Northampton, which closed a few years ago. He also plans to turn a small roof off the second floor of 81-83 Elm into a courtyard and perhaps café space.
The second floor of 89 Elm will house small businesses and vendors and perhaps co-working
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space, while the third and fourth floors will fea- ture a mix of residential units: two-bedroom, one- bedroom, and studio. Tenants will enjoy touches like the original, restored window trim and the original glass panes, all given a modern insulation seal — just one example of how “we’re trying to take this old building and bring it into this cen- tury,” Peake said.
Borowski wants to rent the residential units for less than a typical rent in the district, as low as $900 a month, compared to a nearby building that was renting for $1,600 recently. The idea is to
Gene Borowski (left) and Phil Peake stand in one of the future living units in the Lambson building.
make the property as attractive as possible to resi- dents, businesses, and hospitality entities alike
as part of a revitalization of that stretch of Elm Street, across from the Olver Transit Pavilion and a plot of land the city plans to turn into an out- door performance space.
“It is the intention of Lambson Square Prop- erties to develop the shell of a building that was formerly the Lambson Furniture building into
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