SRA Court Square Project One Step Away From Becoming a Reality

07/14/2021 - SPRINGFIELD — Expect construction work to begin in the fourth quarter of this year on the long-awaited and much delayed rehab of 31 Elm Street Court Square project in the heart of downtown.

“It’s happening,” said Peter A. Picknelly of developer OPAL, at a press conference on Wednesday. “Two years from now, we will be cutting the ribbon.”

His father, Peter L. Picknelly, had tried to rehab the building with the first of a series of proposals going back more than 30 years.

The news conference hosted outdoors was to name Fontaine Brothers of Springfield as the general contractor for the project. The $50 million project is expected to employ 100 to 120 union construction workers, said Colton Andrews, president of the Pioneer Valley Building Trades Council.

“The next step is to get Fontaine Brothers working,” said Michael O’Brien of WinnDevelopment, OPAL’s partner on the project. “The building is stable. But winter really does a number on the exterior, the freeze-thaw cycle. Time is not our friend.”

The plan is to build 74-unit apartments with, as previously reported 59 market-rate upscale apartments and 15 workforce apartments restricted to tenants earning up to 80% of the area median income, and retail/restaurant space on the first floor.

Picknelly described a ground-level restaurant with room for 200 patrons and a n outside patio. It’s a restaurant project his partner and friend, the late Andy Yee, often discussed when the subject of 31 Elm Street came up.

“We’ll find a way ... read more

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Photographs Inside and Outside of 13-31 Elm St









Page last updated:  Thursday, May 19, 2022 09:48 am