New York firm buys Shire City Herbals’ former warehouse

By tony DoBrowolSki

PITTSFIELD — The cavernous warehouse that housed the former Shire City Herbals, which closed in July 2022, was recently purchased by a business from New York state.

A restaurant equipment business from the Poughkeepsie, N.Y., area purchased the 22,000-square-foot structure at 15 Commercial St. for $625,000 at a foreclosure auction that took place on-site Feb. 1.

Kevin Chen of Wappingers Falls, N.Y., who represented the firm at the auction, said the buyers were interested in both the location of the warehouse and its condition.

“The location’s great,” Chen said. “It’s within proximity to I-90 [the Massachusetts Turnpike]. This was a good opportunity. There aren’t a lot of warehouses available right now and it’s in great condition.”

When asked what his firm intends to do with the building, Chen said: “We don’t know yet.”

Chen did not identify the business he represents, except to say that it buys and sells restaurant equipment, has one partner in the liquor business and another partner who works in Manhattan.

The decision to sell the warehouse also affected two tenants, Berkshire Organics, a food delivery service, and Hosta Hill, which makes fermented vegetable products. Berkshire Organics has closed, while Hosta Hill is moving its operations to another facility in Hudson, N.Y.

The bidding started at $500,000, went down to $450,000, then went as high as $550,000 before the final bid was accepted. The land and the building are assessed at $665,500 by the city of Pittsfield, according to city records. The building was constructed in 1957.

The price also included a 6% buyers premium. Chen wasn’t prepared to bid much higher than he did.

“That was pushing it,” he said, referring to the sale price.

“Our partner pretty much had a number set,” he said. “He said, ‘If we can get it, get it, and if we can’t, we can’t.’”

Under the terms of the sale, the winning bidder was required to put up $35,000 of the total purchase price on the day of sale, provide 10% of that cost within five business days, and close on the property within 20 days.

Shire City Herbals made vinegar-based health tonics and lost a well-publicized federal court case over the exclusive use of the term “fire cider” in 2019. After the business closed, its former beverage production and distribution facility went up for auction when Lee Bank foreclosed on the mortgage.

The real estate wasn’t the only item that was sold at auction that day. A total of 383 lots of equipment that belonged to the former Shire City Herbals — everything from food processing and bottling equipment to air compressors to office furnishings — went on the block after the property was sold.

The equipment auction, which also took place online, attracted buyers from over 30 states, Canada and Mexico, according to auctioneer Paul Scheer of Aaron Posnik Auctioneers of West Springfield.

Shire City, whose owners are from the Berkshires, made their tonics in Greenfield before purchasing the Commercial Street property in 2017. The building, which Shire City purchased for $412,500, was the centerpiece of a $1.4 million expansion project for which the company received both city and state aid.

The company financed the venture with $74,000 in investment tax credits received from MassDevelopment, and a 10-year, $42,788 tax incentive package from the city of Pittsfield.

In December, the state’s Economic Assistance Coordinating Council voted to decertify Shire City’s incentive package for noncompliance based on the recommendation of the Massachusetts Office of Business Development, according to state records.