Toxic asset. Blemish. Decaying retail cavity. Those are among the sobering words South Hadley’s town administrator has used to describe a prominent commercial plaza in town.
The biggest cavity was the space Big Y left behind in February 2013 when it closed its supermarket in the increasingly forlorn Woodlawn Plaza after operating it and another store about a mile apart in town for a decade. The chain held on to its lease for a time after closing, but Big Y’s rent payments couldn’t keep the plaza’s owner, South Hadley Limited Partnership, from going into bankruptcy last November after 20 years.
Last week, new owners emerged with a new vision for the place they’ll call South Hadley Plaza. If their plan holds water, South Hadley will see long-awaited commercial activity in the heart of town.
In interviews with the Gazette, the new owners pledged to invest in improvements, then attract new businesses able to restore the drawing power of the plaza, located at Newton and Lyman streets.
The new owner with the biggest stake, Rocco Falcone, operates one of his 35 Rocky’s Ace Hardware stores on the property. His partners, each with a 30-percent share of the plaza, are well-known local business people — Peter Picknelly, owner of Peter Pan Bus Lines in Springfield and members of the Yee family, who run several restaurants in the area.
The three partners paid a little more than $2.4 million for the property after outlasting other bidders in an online auction. The price is well below the assessed value of $5.8 million, which augurs well for the venture’s financial footing.
The previous owners ran into trouble after losing their anchor tenant. Not surprisingly, the new ones face the same challenge. They told the Gazette they’ve been showing space to people interested in opening a grocery, but if necessary, the former Big Y home could be divided for different uses. Newcomers would join a handful of existing businesses, including three restaurants and a cleaners, along with the hardware store.
Andrew Yee says he is personally motivated to get something happening here again. He says the plaza has been vacant “way too long” and promised to do his part to turn things around: “We are going to make it a vibrant shopping destination again.”
His family was confident enough about that to pay about $720,000 for a 30 percent stake. Given the recent bankruptcy, it is a bold move that shows faith in this town and this address.