‘Rurban’ Greenfield sees robust redevelopment

The COVID-19 pandemic changed many things about the city’s economic development plans for the short term, nearly all of 2020 and the first half of 2021, but it did not change the grit, determination and resiliency of its business and government leaders. Throughout those months my administration, working with community and economic development director, MJ Adams, put into place as many business viability and revitalization programs as possible with the help of state and federal money intended to pump life into our economy and sustain our businesses, which were feeling the stresses and challenges amid the shutdowns and lingering uncertainties of the COVID virus and its variants.

During that time, the city also broke ground on a new $20 mil- lion library and solidified a location for its new $21 million fire station. Both buildings are located on Main Street at the east end and west end. Construction continues on both buildings, and the library will open in early summer of this year and the fire station will open in early 2024. These projects are a testament to willingness of Greenfield citizens to fund essential services that serve our city and surrounding communities. We believe that investment sends the right message to developers and businesses interested in locating in Greenfield.

Today, the city remains resilient and focused on setting the stage for continued economic development. It has a robust downtown redevelopment strategy focused on transformational change incorporating available housing, retail, and commercial opportunities. The recent sale of a downtown anchor building, Wilson’s department store, is pivotal in that transformation.

“Wilson’s has long been an anchor in our downtown and its closure a few years ago certainly left us with a gap,” I said at a press conference after the sale in November. “We, in the city, could not let this property remain vacant and sought to work with any party that wanted to go along with our vision for a livable, walkable, downtown, with a more centrally located workforce and income-adjusted housing.”

Working in partnership with the Community Builders, MassDevelopment and the Franklin Community Cooperative (Green Fields Market), the city invested in and facilitated the acquisition of the property to provide 65 new units of workforceand income-adjusted housing, a new expanded location for the grocery market, and eventual additional retail space on Chapman Street.

The Community and Economic Development Department continue to work with downtown property owners where we can in order to promote upper-story redevelopment for housing and offices. An entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well in two co-workspaces on Main Street. The food manufacturing and distribution sectors are fueled by our local farm-to-production pipeline at the Franklin County CDC.

More planned industrial space is on the way! Although developable land at the I-91 Industrial Park is sparse, the city is working on a single, large lot expansion in the park and continues to work with the Greenfield Planning Department to rezone a 40-plus acre section across Route 2A from the I-91 Industrial Park, with easy on-and-off access to Route 2 and I-91 as additional planned industrial space geared to attracting more advanced manufacturers.

Roxann Wedegartner is mayor of Greenfield. To learn more about Greenfield and its economic development initiatives, go online to the municipal website, greenfield-ma.gov.