A Debilitating Delay

Carriage Shops (bottom), Kendrick Place (top) both now owned by Archipelego Investments

This morning's Sunday Republican printed the breakdown for the $4,599,962 sale of the Carriage Shops, 233 North Pleasant Street, in the north end of downtown to Archipelego Investments.  The lions share of it ($2,812,300) went to original developer Jerry Gates, aka Carriage Shops LLC.

Glazed Doughnut Shop former location sold for $468,754

Loose Goose Cafe (rt) sold for $432,667 and Bob Ritchie Legal practice building (left) sold for $525,693

At the November 5 Amherst Town Meeting NIMBYs tried to sabotage the One East Pleasant Street 5 story mixed use development by changing the rules about Inclusionary Zoning via Article 5, which would have required 10% of the 80 or so rental units be set aside as "affordable."

The developers would probably have 1) walked away from the deal and/or 2) filed a lawsuit for an illegal taking.  Interestingly Bob Ritchie, who owned one of the outbuildings (sold for $525,693) told Town Meeting that if the poison pill zoning article passed the Carriage Shops would become a "broken tooth on the face of Amherst's downtown."

Now after Planning Board approval for the project and Town Meeting rejecting the Inclusionary Zoning "citizens petition" article a disgruntled nearby housing competitor filed a lawsuit against the town for allowing the badly needed development.  A sour grapes tactic that will cause another six months of delay.

Carriage Shops parking lot was plowed this morning, but no businesses remain

The Carriage Shops were already looking looking long in the tooth when One East Pleasant Street mega-development first started jumping over regulatory hoops last year.

Another six months of deterioration is an assault on our sensibilities.