Plans to build dozens of apartments on the grounds of an historic Northampton, Massachusetts, church were unveiled to the public for the first time last month. The proposal off Elm and State streets would see a building up to five-stories high go up along the church dating back to the late 1800’s.
Closed some 15 years ago amid parish consolidations, the former St. Mary of the Assumption Church traded hands earlier in 2024, after the Diocese of Springfield sold the property for just over a million dollars.
The Amherst-based Sunwood Builders acquired 3 Elm Street, including the church from 1881 across from Smith College, its rectory and a strip of land along State Street – a disused parking lot.
It’s along that parking lot that developers hope to build a structure as high as five-stories that could be home to, potentially, a restaurant, a café and as many as 71 market rate rental units.
“The first building has a couple of restaurants, one on a lower level, which is down here, off this terrace…” said Charles Roberts of Kuhn Riddle Architects & Designers, pointing to various renderings of the proposal during a Northampton Historical Commission meeting on Dec. 23, 2024. “Then, there's some townhouse-style units above that building. This is what we're calling the connector piece, or the middle building… it provides one of the entrances to the parking garage on the first level, and then, also, has some studio apartments above and some amenity spaces.”
Roberts, along with Sunwood Builders founder, Shaul Perry, went before commission during a remote session, walking the public through the project’s preliminary planning while seeking a “Certificate of Appropriateness” from the commission for the work.
Renderings for the structure that would line State Street include a 37-space parking garage on the building’s lower level, with four floors of units above it.
The restaurant portion, as well as a “pocket park” and other amenities would be on the somewhat narrow structure’s south side, facing the city’s Main Street intersection.
The building would sit downhill from the church and rectory - the latter of which could eventually be a 17-unit “short-term hotel,” according to Perry.
“… there's a total of 17 units and 71 units - the church itself is undecided at this point, and we're hoping that it's going to be more of a community center where there would be events and so forth in the church, and … we're not looking for any residential in the church at this time,” he said.
Members of the Historical Commission weighed in on the proposal, which also needs to go before the Planning Board for various reviews.
Reactions ranged from positive to inquisitive, as some noted the efforts that went into the design, which appeared to observe various local guidelines and restrictions.
However, following the presentation, some noted a particular angle of the project wasn’t available – how the building would look as a backdrop to the church and rectory itself.
“If you're walking up Elm Street, here on the sidewalk, and you're looking across, what are you going to see? How much of this building are you going to see in the distance, behind the church … and behind the rectory,” asked Northampton Historical Commission Chair Martha Lyon. “How [is] that going to stack up against those historic buildings?”
Other matters highlighted included how close the building would be to State Street, with members bringing up the design’s close proximity to the road and sidewalk – something residents reportedly approached the commission with concerns about.
Trees and window size were also mentioned, but the commission did not appear to reject the initial designs.
Commission member Greg Dibrindisi said he wanted to hear more from the public and that he himself wasn’t sure where he stood on the proposal.
“It looks nothing like the church, it looks nothing like College Hall, it looks nothing like Forbes Library,” Dibrindisi said, listing other notable structures either across the street or nearby the site. “For lack of a better word for everybody here, it just looks like an ugly thing in a wrong place and much too big.”
The commission voted to continue the hearing until Jan. 27 at 5:30 p.m. – allowing for renderings of the angle commission members were seeking and slight alterations.
Perry thanked those involved for their time, while stating the work of balancing passive housing standards, design work and costs is not easy, especially when keeping an eye on keeping potential rent costs reasonable.
Lyon acknowledged the remarks and said the progress made so far is tangible.
“I think I can speak for everyone to say that we are so, so appreciative of the effort that you're putting into this property - it has been derelict for so long, and … I think we sort of lost hope for it, as I've been on the commission a long time - we sort of lost hope for it,” she said. “So, it's so encouraging to see so much thought and energy and resources, frankly, going into this.”
The full site plan, project documents and other items submitted by Sunwood Builders to the city of Northampton can be found here.
