• Its location near the Massachusetts-New York border, which offers an attractive location for regional companies.
• Its ideal access to the region’s labor force.
• The significant amount of manufacturing activity that is still part of the region’s economy which is attractive to suppliers and customers of businesses in the industrial equipment, plastics, and printing and publishing industries.
• The former GE property will add to a marketplace where industrial property is nearly entirely built out.
• The active rail line through the former GE proper offers a substantial marketing advantage as there are a limited number of rail-served industrial sites available that have water, sewer, electric and natural gas.
• The active participation of PEDA in permitting site development as well as the potential public and quasi-public financial incentives that PEDA can broker can offer a significant advantage over competing locations.

Berkshire County Attributes

Berkshire County, recognized internationally as a tourist destination and publicized as such, offers its own highly desirable characteristics:

• Natural, scenic beauty and a well-recognized brand worldwide that is attractive to tourists and second-home owners, artisans and entertainment providers. This area provides the environment for growth of a “creative economy.”
• Established business clusters in tourism, which benefits from the region’s natural and cultural environment, paper and plastics, which has high and growing national share.
• An innovative, entrepreneurial and creative culture that attracts highly talented professionals and second homeowners looking for the quality of life and that demonstrates a strong rate of traded cluster establishment formation.
• Broad, high-quality, higher education infrastructure that boasts four institutions – two public and two private – and two times the national share for this cluster.
• A commitment to an expanded Pittsfield Airport runway and related infrastructure to ensure the safety zones needed for installation of a precision approach system.

William Stanley Business Park Attributes

Natural Features

The preservation and enhancement of natural features are a key element to the plans for the William Stanley Business Park. PEDA, as owner of the site will:

• Develop a site plan that, to the extent practicable, avoids construction in the floodplain and thus limits the need for local and/or state permits.
• Plant and maintain a majority of native plantings in the common areas.
• Ensure that at least 25 percent of the land area of the site, exclusive of roads and parking, is maintained in an unbuilt condition, such as lawn and buffer.
• Minimize modification of existing site contours.
• Preserve existing trees, where practical.
• Construct a system of streets that limit runoff when compared to that of similar developments through limits on curbs, drains and storm sewers.

Silver Lake
Silver Lake is valued and recognized as the only natural property in the area, offering aesthetic beauty that is a relief from the urban construction and pavement. In addition, the site is near the Housatonic river that, when cleaned and reclaimed, will represent a beautiful natural waterway with numerous oxbows and waterfowl.

The Master Plan envisions the edges of Silver Lake as suitable for recreational activities, such as jogging, biking and other, similar recreation. It will not be suitable for swimming, although some boating may be permitted.

Water
A potable water system and fire protection system both serve the William Stanley Business Park and are fed by water mains, including a 12-inch main that runs along East Street. There are approximately 20 hydrants throughout the site for fire protection. Existing water supply piping appears adequate to support the redevelopment of the site.

Sanitary Sewer
The site is served by two primary north-south running sanitary sewer mains that eventually running to the Pittsfield Wastewater Treatment Plant near Holmes Rd. The plant’s average daily flow is currently about 12 million gallons a day (MGD), and it has a capacity of 17 MGD

Natural Gas
There are numerous natural gas lines surrounding and bisecting the site. Berkshire Gas owns the mains, which are in good condition and capable of handling any additional loading required by redevelopment of the site. Existing interior lines will most likely be demolished and replaced as part of redevelopment.

Steam Distribution
One key advantage of the site is that it may have access to inexpensive electricity and steam heat.

Until the late 1980s, GE produced its own steam to serve its manufacturing processes. At that time, it entered into an agreement with Pittsfield Generating to purchase steam for its manufacturing process. The piping on the site is extensive and not fully documented. A major pumping station and hub exists at the site of the “30s” complex.

Electrical Distribution
Most of the electrical systems on the site are in good or very good conditions and well maintained, even though some are from the 1940s. There exists adequate power for the proposed redevelopment of the site.

Rail Transportation
The access to rail service on the site is valuable in attracting manufacturing and light industry. CSX lines provide up to seven building sites with rail access, operating two main tracks through the site. The full CSX Right Way has not yet been established, but may extend to the edges of the buildings.

There is potential for various types of rail use by future developers given the existence of several spurs into the site off the main tracks. One limitation is the track condition, which will require work to bring it back up to service. Another is configuration.

Traffic 
The transportation system surrounding the site has been evaluated to include vehicle, transit, pedestrian and bicycle facilities. In addition, the Berkshire Regional Transit Authority provides public transit services within the region. BRTA Routes 1 and 4 provide service along the north side of the site, and Route 14 provides service along the south of the project site. There is adequate system capacity to serve added workforce commuters.

Vehicular access for Zone 1 will primarily be off of Silver Lake Boulevard. Zone 2 will be accessed from Kellogg Street, and some attempts will be made to knit the site back into the neighborhood by extending existing streets into the parcel. Zone 3’s access will be from several points off of Woodlawn Ave., again with the intention of integrating the parcel back into the fabric of the city. There is also access to the site from East Street (MA Rt 9)

The William Stanley Business Park will satisfy automobile needs and promote nonvehicular travel with the construction of sidewalks throughout the park to encourage foot traffic. This pedestrian setting will incorporate trees and outdoor seating to create an aesthetic, safe and comfortable environment. A cohesive, well-designed signage plan will identify streets, buildings, safety standards and directions. 

There will also be a bike lane on Woodlawn Ave.

Parking
The Master Plan designates a series of large, central locations for parking on the site.

Proximity to GE’s PPDC
The William Stanley Business Park is adjacent to GE Plastics’ Polymer Processing Development Center, a world-class facility that today defines and redefines the state-of-the art in plastics conversion technology and polymer processing performance. The 96,000-square-foot center addresses specific application challenges, improving product quality and accelerating speed to market for GE Plastics’ customers worldwide.

The PPDC houses state-of-the art machines, auxiliary equipment and controls representing every discipline of plastics conversion technology. As such the PPDC represents an enormously valuable resource for tenants of the William Stanley Business Park and for plastics products developers and marketers worldwide.

Proposed Design Attributes
One of the best elements of the new site is the design proposed in the Sasaki’s Master Plan, where buildings take on period features and classic facades with abundant windows, good quality landscaping and an inviting site for walkers and bikers.

Key features of the design are:

• Site architecture and design of a quality that distinguishes this site from others in the region or the marketplace.
• A system of footpaths and view creation with focus on Silver Lake
• A landscape quality that is pleasing and invites neighbors to walk through the site.
• Inclusion of a building to house an employee training center and a shared business support system (including reprographics, mail services, etc.)
• A plan that is flexible enough to host manufacturing, research and development, and office space in terms of land use and phasing.

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A comprehensive site plan as well as site specific and/or regional workforce demographic data can be obtained by contacting:
Tom Hickey
Director of PEDA (Pittsfield Economic Development Authority)
81 Kellogg St.
Pittsfield, MA, 01201
413-494-7332
thickey@peda.cc