Page 14 - BusinessWest September 5, 2022
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“We’re hiring front-line people — we think we have the donut-making issue squared away — and we’re get- ting ready,” she told BusinessWest. “And we’ll see how this drought effects the season.”
Overall, Ludlow has a large and diverse business community, said Strange, adding that one of the town’s goals is to improve infrastructure and make the Center Street corridor more attractive and even more of an asset.
Which brings him back to that area, technically the community’s downtown, that greets people coming over the bridge from Indian Orchard. The town will apply for a Community
Compact grant to develop a broad economic-development plan that will encompass that area and others in the community.
“There’s some successful businesses in there, but we also have some empty storefronts,” he explained. “Our Memo- rial Park is there, and that’s where we’ll have Celebrate Ludlow. I think there’s
a foundation for something special by way of economic development in that corridor.
“If we can create some kind of plan for that area, that will be helpful,” he went on, “in terms of letting the devel- opment community know that we’re open for business and we’re ready to go
if they want to come to Ludlow and put some shovels in the ground.”
Run of the Mills
There should be some shovels hit- ting the ground soon at at Ludlow Mills, which has certainly been the focal point of development in Ludlow over the past decade. Indeed, contin- ued progress is being made in what will be at least a 20-year effort to put the various spaces — as well as 40 acres of developable green space — to new and productive use.
Running through recent and upcoming developments, Daley started with Building 8, a long-awaited proj-
ect that will bring another residential complex to the site after the highly successful renovation of Building 10 into apartments; there is now a lengthy waiting list for units in that property.
The plan calls for apartments on the upper floors and a mix of retail on the first floor, Daley explained, adding that a coffee shop or sandwich shop would be an ideal use given the growing num- bers of people living and working in the complex or within a few blocks
of it. That growing population could inspire other types of retain as well, he added.
“We can’t overlook the fact that, once those apartments are done, there will be 160 units right in that vicinity, with an average of two people per unit. That’s a captured audience of more than 300 people to support small busi- nesses; there might be a doctor’s office or lawyer’s offices, for example.”
To make the project happen in these times of inflation and soaring construction costs — an overall 28% increase in the projected price tag for this initiative — Westmass needed to get creative and take a “sizable equity investment” in the project, Daley said. He didn’t say how sizeable, but he did note that this step was needed to keep this project on track.
“It made the project go, and we really want to see the project go — for the town of Ludlow, for the mills, and, selfishly, we want to see that first floor activated so we can generate some revenues from retail and commercial businesses,” he explained.
As for Building 11, the next major target for redevelopment, a mix of housing and commercial retail would be ideal, he said, adding there will be options when it comes to what type of housing might be seen.
“There’s certainly a need for inde- pendent living, there’s a need for care living, dementia living, those types of facilities,” he said. “But also for more market-rate housing.”
Overall, the Ludlow Mills property is well-positioned for development, Daley said, adding that everything in its inventory, from commercial and industrial space to raw land, are in demand.
“We have a lot of interest in not only the land, but everything,” he told Busi- nessWest. “There’s not a lot of inventory out there — for commercial properties or green space. Our property is flat and mostly dry, so it becomes pretty attrac- tive for development.”
As Daley said, Ludlow Mills has been a longer and more difficult jour- ney than anyone could have anticipat- ed when the property was acquired in 2011, but an important turning point has been reached, and a new chapter in this story is set to unfold. u
George O’Brien can be reached at [email protected]
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