Page 8 - BusinessWest September 2, 2024

West Springfield
at a glance
Year Incorporated: 1774
Population: 28,835
Area: 17.5 square miles
County: Hampden
Residential Tax Rate: $14.81
Commercial Tax Rate: $29.80
Median Household Income: $40,266
Median Family Income: $50,282
Type of Government: Mayor, City Council
Largest Employers: Eversource Energy, Harris Corp., Home Depot, Interim Health Care, Mercy Home Care
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COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT >>
West Springfield Marks 250 Years, Looks to Future
BY GEORGE O’BRIEN
[email protected]
Tyler Saremi calls it “cross-pollination.”
That’s how he chose to describe how the various businesses, government offices, and cultural institu- tions, especially the Majestic Theater, clustered in the down- town are supporting one another in a way that is bringing new vibrancy to the area and effectively turning back the clock in West Springfield’s central business district.
“It’s nice to see the downtown become a downtown again,” said Saremi, vice president of Saremi LLP, a multi- faceted company that redeveloped the former headquarters for United Bank at 95 Elm St. into Town Commons, a mixed- use facility that includes, on its ground floor, Tandem Bagel and West Side Bar & Grill, two eateries that are drawing more people into the downtown area and effectively extend- ing their stays.
Indeed, more people are now arriving an hour or two before the shows at the Majestic for dinner at some of the eateries in that area, such as the Italian restaurant bNapoli — and, on some nights, especially when there is live enter- tainment at West Side Bar & Grill, sticking around after the shows.
“It’s fantastic cross-pollination in the downtown right now, and it’s beautiful to see; it’s all working,” he said. “You have people coming to West Side Bar & Grill before a show at
the Majestic, and then there are people walking over when we have live music on weekends — they’re walking to their cars from bNapoli, and they’re saying, ‘I saw the music; I just wanted to come in and have a drink.’ Everything is comple-
menting other businesses, and it’s exciting to watch the downtown grow.”
Julie Quink, managing principal with the accounting firm Burkhart Pizzanelli, which has been based in a former ele- mentary school on Park Street for more than 25 years now,
“It’s nice to see the downtown become a downtown again.”
has also noticed more energy — and widespread general improvement — in the community’s downtown.
She referenced everything from new businesses like Tan- dem Bagel and West Side Bar & Grill, as well as comprehen- sive infrastructure improvements to the roads in the down- town and the signature town common as reasons why the downtown is staging what would be considered a comeback.
“There are a lot of new businesses, which is good for everyone,” she said. “And there is more vibrancy in the down- town area.”
Mayor Will Reichelt, now in his ninth year in the cor- ner office, said this
West Springfield
Continued on page 11
8 SEPTEMBER 2, 2024
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