AMHERST — A mixed-use building at 26 Spring St., under construction since 2019 but paused for almost two years during the pandemic, is nearing completion, with the first tenants expected to begin moving in early next month.
The Planning Board voted unanimously on July 12 to give Archipelago Investments LLC permission to have people start arriving at the 58 apartments, even though various paving and landscaping work remains to be done on the site.
“We are looking to move people into the building Aug. 1,” said Archipelago principal Kyle Wilson.
Wilson was able to satisfy several conditions that remain unmet in part by providing a surety that is 150% of the estimated $420,000 remaining in exterior work. That work had been required before a final certificate of occupancy could be issued by Building Commissioner Rob Morra.
In addition, Wilson told the board that all tenants have been provided written information about where they can find places to park their vehicles. The building is rising on a site, across from the Inn on Boltwood, behind the Masonic Lodge and Amherst Police Station on Main Street and adjacent to Grace Episcopal Church, that has no room for parking.
Originally approved by planners in 2018, with conditions amended a year later, the project began in late 2019 and then was shut down in March 2020 due to COVID, resuming in February 2022. The work proceeded through supply chain issues, including with the electrical switch gear that showed up many months late.
Wilson said landscaping will go in as soon as possible, as will the top coat of paving.
He said the finished product is a high quality building on a tight site.
“We are very glad that we’re almost to the end,” Wilson said. “We’re very glad we have tenants who very much appreciate the building and are looking to move in.”
Planning Board member Johanna Neumann said the surety is prudent and the letters about parking are sufficient for Morra to issue a certificate of occupancy.
“I think we should not belabor this too much,” Neumann said.
“We should be sympathetic to the circumstances,” said board member Bruce Coldham, adding that he trusts that Archipelago is rooted in the community.
Archipelago has undertaken several mixed-use projects in downtown, including One East Pleasant, Kendrick Place and Boltwood Place, as well as the Olympia Place project off East Pleasant Street that is reserved for college students.
The street-level space is to be commercial. A whiskey bar to be known as Dagmar will offer cocktails both inside and on a street-facing patio, with food that can be prepared without a kitchen, such as charcuterie boards.
Riding her bicycle by the site every day, Neumann said the complex, called Twenty6 Spring, complements The Inn on Boltwood and offered kudos to contractor Western Builders of Granby.
“It’s really a nice addition to our downtown,” Neumann said.