The former Register of Deeds, Family Court and Probate Court building at 33 King St. FILE PHOTO
NORTHAMPTON — After nearly two years of trying to sell the former Hampshire County Registry of Deeds office at 33 King St., the city appears to have finally found a buyer.
On Thursday, Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra announced she had signed a provisional development agreement with a team consisting of The Community Builders Inc. and Valley Community Development (also known as Valley CDC) to develop the property into a commercial and residential space with mixed-income housing. The building that stands on the lot would be torn down and replaced with two five-story buildings, according to the announcement by Sciarra.
“Our city has a long-standing partnership with both organizations, and together they have a proven track record of creating beautiful, energy-efficient housing that serves the needs of our residents,” Sciarra stated in the announcement. “This collaboration will breathe new life into a parcel that has stood vacant for far too long with much-needed housing as well as commercial space, boosting vibrancy downtown.”
The property is a 1.46-acre parcel next to the Calvin Theater and across from Hotel Northampton. The Registry of Deeds, built around 1975, has been vacant since 2019. In 2023, ownership was transferred from the state to the city, which intended to sell the property to interested buyers and subsequently put out a request for proposal, or RFP for bidders.
But the city struggled to find interested parties for the downtown property, with strict zoning and energy requirements and the city’s stated preference for mixed-use housing dulling interest. The city updated its RFP several times, lowering minimum bids and required deposits, before receiving two bids for the project: one from the team of Valley CDC and Community Builders, and the other from the affordable housing developer Pennrose, according to Planning and Sustainability Director Carolyn Misch.
“They had the most advantageous bid,” Misch said of Valley CDC and Community Builders. “Some of it was their price, but their plans were also further along in development.”
According to Misch, Valley CDC-Community Builders bid $920,000 for the property, an amount that is less than half of the original minimum asking price in the city’s first bid.
Under the terms of the provisional development agreement, the city will retain nominal control of the property as part of a due diligence phase, while Valley CDC, of Northampton, and Community Builders, a national developer with an office in Northampton, begin the permitting process for the new buildings.
“We are thrilled to be selected to add critically needed affordable housing in the downtown Northampton core,” said Valley CDC Executive Director Alexis Breiteneicher in a statement regarding the agreement. “Residents will live adjacent to many of the things that make Northampton great in buildings that are energy-efficient, beautiful, and safe.”
Rachana Crowley, regional vice president for real estate development at The Community Builders, also released a statement expresssing excitement about the project.
“Our collaboration with the City of Northampton and Valley Community Development combines national experience with local knowledge to expand housing opportunity for residents and spark new business investments,” Crowley said. “We are thrilled to be selected to add critically needed affordable housing in the downtown Northampton core, helping to make this an even more inclusive and vibrant city.”
Due to the property’s downtown location, the new buyers will not only need approval from the city’s Planning Board but also from the Central Business Architecture Committee. Misch said she expected the permitting approval to occur sometime around the end of the year. Once that happens, the city will begin negotiating to close the deal with the Valley CDC-Community Builders team.
Alexander MacDougall can be reached at [email protected].
