Page 8 - BusinessWest September 18, 2023

Ludlow
at a glance
Year Incorporated: 1774 Population: 21,002
Area: 28.2 square miles
County: Hampden
Residential Tax Rate: $19.51 Commercial Tax Rate: $19.51 Median Household Income: $53,244 Median Family Income: $67,797 Type of Government: Town
Council, Representative Town Meeting
Largest Employers: Hampden County Jail and House of Correction; Encompass Rehabilitation Hospital; Massachusetts Air National Guard; Kleeberg Sheet Metal Inc.
*Latest information available
CONSTRUCTION SERVICES
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COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT >>
The Puzzle Pieces Come Together at Ludlow Mills
BY GEORGE O’BRIEN
[email protected]
As he led BusinessWest on a tour of what’s known as the ‘carpentry building’ at the Ludlow Mills complex, A.J. Crane walked up a deteriorated but still solid
set of stairs to the second floor, and then to the row of new windows looking out on the Chicopee River, maybe 150 feet away, the riverwalk in front of it, and a stretch of land before the walk on which a patio could be built.
“Imagine the possibilities,” he said, adding that he certain- ly has, and that’s why he acquired the property from West- mass Area Development Corp., which purchased the mill in 2011, with the intention of renovating it and then leasing it out, perhaps to a restaurateur — the master plan for the mill complex calls for one at this location — although he doesn’t really know what the market will bear at this point.
What Crane, president of Chicopee-based A. Crane Con- struction Co. (and a Westmass board member) does know is that nothing can be built that close to the river today. Well, almost nothing; this property is grandfathered, so it can be developed. And that’s a big reason why he took on this risk
— the property has been vacant for decades and needs a con- siderable amount of work for any reuse — and has invested heavily in its renovation.
But there’s another reason as well.
“I just wanted to be a part of this,” he said, waving his hand in a sweeping motion to encompass the sprawling mill in front of him.
‘This’ is the transformation of the mill complex, once home to a jute-manufacturing facility that employed thou-
sands and played a huge role in the town’s development, into, well, a community within a community, one that is already home to residents and businesses of various kinds, and, per- haps someday, in the former carpentry shop, a restaurant.
This transformation is an ongoing process, one that was projected to take 20 years when Westmass acquired the property 12 years ago, and may take another 20 still, said Jeff Daley, president and CEO of Westmass, noting, as Crane did, that the pieces to the puzzle are coming together.
“I just wanted to be a part of this.”
And as Daley and Jeff LeSiege, vice president of Facilities and Construction at Westmass, conducted a walking tour, they pointed to several of these pieces — from the ongoing renovation of the landmark ‘clocktower building’ (Building 8) into 95 apartments to the construction of two new park- ing lots; from extensive water, sewer, and electrical work to new businesses such as Movement Terrain, which boasts
an obstacle course and an Astroturf arena (more on all this later).
Then there’s the clocktower itself, which is slated for renovation, said Daley, adding that he’s not sure when the last time the clock — which is on the town seal and the mast- head of the local newspaper — worked, but “it’s been a very long time.”
8 SEPTEMBER 18, 2023
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