Page 9 - BusinessWest May 27, 2024

“Ultimately, I think it’s really going to serve the business community well once it’s completed.”
As in many other communities, she noted, a shortage of afford- able housing is certainly impacting seniors and young families. The former want to stay in town but don’t have any place to go except the large homes they no longer want or need, and the latter are finding it increasingly difficult to come to Hadley because there is very little that they can afford.
“If you do any search on housing in Hadley, at any given time, there’s maybe five or six houses, and they’re extremely expensive,” Brennan said. “There are a lot of parents who
have raised their kids here — and those kids can’t afford to
raise their own children here.”
Keegan agreed. “It’s very difficult for people on either
end of the spectrum to buy in,” she said. “If you look right now and see what’s for sale in Hadley, you’ll find houses for $900,000 to $1 million. Young people looking to start a fam- ily are not going to be able to afford that.”
For this, the latest installment of its Community Spotlight series, BusinessWest takes an in-depth look at Hadley, a community known for its asparagus, but also a lively, diverse business community that continues to take advantage of the town’s unique spot on the map.
Location, Location, Location
As she relayed the story of how Curran & Keegan relocated from Northampton to Middle Street in Hadley, in the center of town, in 2021, Keegan explained, rather succinctly and effectively, why this community has become such a popular mailing address for busi- nesses of all kinds.
In short, it’s that oldest and most absolute of commercial real- estate values: location, location, location, in this case between two college towns and two of the most popular destinations in the region — Amherst and Northampton — a spot that has made Had- ley a destination itself.
“We had been renting and were looking for a property to pur- chase,” she explained. “This particular property we’re in had been a residential property, but given its proximity to Route 9, it happened to be zoned commercial. We fell in love with it; it’s a wonderful loca-
tion for our clients on both sides of the river, and also those coming down from Franklin County. We’re in the perfect spot at the cross- roads of Route 47 and Route 9.”
Business owners in virtually every sector can say essentially the same thing, which is why Hadley, and especially that Route 9 cor- ridor, is home to everything from hotels and restaurants to big-box retail stores; from car dealerships to cannabis dispensaries; from
CAROLYN BRENNAN
“If you do any search on housing in Hadley, at any given time, there’s maybe five or six houses, and they’re extremely expensive. There are a lot of parents who have raised their kids here — and those kids can’t afford to
raise their own children here.”
tech companies to the world headquarters for V-One Vodka.
All or most of them are taking full advantage of the 100,000 or
so cars that pass along Route 9 every day, although there are cer- tainly fewer these days as the construction project continues and many bypass the thoroughfare — if they can. And those that are on it are moving more slowly because of that work.
But, by and large, businesses along the road are getting by, said Keegan, adding that project was one of the motivations for creation of the Hadley Business Council, and it has certainly become a prior- ity for the agency, which meets on the last Friday of each month.
The council has helped generate ongoing communication among the business community, the
Massachusetts Department of Transportation, and Baltazar Contractors, the general con-
Hadley >> Continued on page 11
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