HADLEY — A challenging time for filling retail space at the west end of Route 9 is prompting the Pioneer Valley Hotel Group to explore whether a 55-and-over housing project is possible for the Hampton Village Barn Shops site.
Kishore Parmar, vice president of the family-owned and operated hotel management company, told the Planning Board last week that his company is completing preliminary plans for a three-story, 30-unit building that would provide rental homes for people 55 and older at the 41 Russell St. commercial site.
“What’s happening right now is the commercial market’s kind of very difficult to attract tenants,” Parmar said.
Concepts show the building going up in front of the former Hadley Farms Meetinghouse, which Parmar also owns, and replacing a small building where JJ Brothers Taco and Market at 41 Russell St. is located.
Because the site is in a flood plain, Parmar said there is a need for compensatory storage, meaning that new construction would likely mean having to tear down some of the barn shops that originally opened in 1967 to make room for potential floodwaters. “We would probably have to demo a lot of the shop buildings there,” Parmar said.
Much of that space isn’t rentable, Parmar said — a major tenant is leaving, and a second tenant may allow its lease to expire because it wants to buy its own property.
“Even smaller to medium-size businesses are looking to own their property as opposed to lease their property,” Parmar said.
“We’re just having trouble getting people in there,” he added, explaining that brick and mortar businesses appear to be doing better near the shopping malls than at the Coolidge Bridge end of the commercial strip.
The problem for his project proposal is that the town’s bylaws don’t allow a single-standing building with that many units. Hadley has one 55-and-over project, known as the East Street Commons.
Otherwise, the town prohibits any building that contains more than four dwelling units, and no dwelling unit shall contain more than two bedrooms.
“That would not work as currently drafted,” said Planning Board Clerk William Dwyer said.
Parmar said the building would be similar in appearance to the nearby Hampton Inn. Building townhouse-style homes would likely be cost prohibitive, he said.
If 25% of units are restricted as affordable, Parmar could apply for the project to be approved under the state’s Chapter 40B law, which allows developers to avoid complying with all town zoning laws. But planners noted that Valley Community Development was recently rejected by the Zoning Board of Appeals in its request for converting the EconoLodge on Route 9 into affordable apartments.
Parmar said his family is still trying to move forward with an already approved hotel at 237 Russell St., a TownePlace Suites by Marriott that would replace the shuttered Rodeway Inn on that site. That project, he said, has been held up by continuing rising construction costs.
The Hampton Inn Village Shops site could also be used for a second hotel if the 55-and-over project is not possible, but Parmar said he wouldn’t want to saturate the market with hotel rooms too soon.
Parmar said the property would be a good fit for people 55 and over to live, with plenty of land and parking. “The biggest hiccup we’re finding is how many dwellings can be in one structure at a time,” Parmar said.
Planning Board member Michael Sarsynski said a dearth of housing and a premium on land makes the 55-and-over project worth a continued look.
The Hadley Village Barn Shops complex, which has entrances from both Route 9 and Bay Road, was built by Everett McDonald 56 years ago and at one time featured a restaurant, a country store, an ice cream parlor and several gift boutiques.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
