AMHERST — A prominent developer wants to build a five-story mixed-use building using two parcels on South Pleasant Street next to and behind the former A.J. Hastings site.
Housing would be the primary component in Barry Roberts’ proposal at 45 and 55 South Pleasant, where a 19th-century wooden commercial building that formerly housed red door salon would be removed to make way for the new structure. Plans also call for removal of the rear ell of the former Hastings building, which has been used for storage for more than a century.
Meanwhile, Amherst College intends to lease the Hastings building and open a college retail store.
In an application going to the Historical Commission in advance of its Oct. 12 hearing related to the demolition of the buildings, Roberts writes that his proposal is “to make room for a new five-story structure to provide much needed housing downtown.”
Similar five-story mixed-use buildings have been built throughout downtown over the past decade. Those have included Boltwood Place next to the Boltwood parking garage, Kendrick Place and One East Pleasant at the northern end of downtown, along with the still under construction 11 East Pleasant, and 26 Spring across from the Inn on Boltwood.
Over the past couple of years, Roberts submitted plans to tear down 37 North Pleasant St., a building that dates to at least the 1880s and which houses McMurphy’s Uptown Tavern and Amherst Typewriter & Computer. At the time, Roberts said he was considering a building with apartments on the upper floors and commercial and retail space on the ground level. That project, though, has not yet advanced.
Roberts has constructed a new mixed-use building, One University Drive South, at the corner of Route 9 and University Drive, and apartment buildings and a restaurant along University Drive, and has also undertaken several renovations of downtown properties, including the Amherst Cinema and the The Drake performance venue. Outside Amherst, Roberts has developed East Street Commons in Hadley, a 55-and-over community, and the Center School Condominiums in Hatfield.
The most recent application to the Historical Commission also reveals that the streetfront retail portion of 45 South Pleasant, home to A.J. Hastings from 1937 until it closed in 2022, “would be leased to Amherst College and repurposed as an Amherst College retail store.”
Amherst College spokeswoman Caroline Hanna confirmed this future use.
“We’re very excited to have the opportunity to create an Amherst College store in the same space that operated as such for so many years,” Hanna wrote in an email. “There is much more work to be done, but we will be pleased and honored to join the small businesses that create a vital hub for the town of Amherst.”
The back portion of 45 South Pleasant, built separately from the front street-facing side, can’t be seen from the road. The storefront was originally a grocery store and dry goods business called D.G. Grocers, according to a historical narrative. The building was later known as Kellogg, Edwards and Bigelow, with dentist offices occupying the upstairs of the building.
For 55 South Pleasant, the old red door salon spot, a Craigslist advertisement offers anyone the opportunity to acquire the 28-by-64-foot wooden clapboard building, so long as it is removed. “Either dismantle the building and re-assemble at a new location of your choice, or move the building as is.”
Originally Kendrick’s Meat Market operated from the location, according to a historical narrative. The meat market was on the first floor and tailors occupied the second floor. The downstairs meat market was owned by the Harvey family in the first half of the 20th century, while the Kamins sold paints and real estate on the second floor. In addition, Candida Musante sold fruit and candy in a basement shop located at the site.
