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PITTSFIELD, Mass. – The Pittsfield Economic Development Authority today presented its Master Plan for the 52-acre William Stanley Business Park of the Berkshires, the site of the former General Electric complex.

The plan was finalized after a year of intense research and design by Sasaki Associates in Watertown, Mass., a 50-year-old architectural planning and design firm that specializes in college and university campuses, resorts and leisure development, and a range of commercial, corporate and urban spaces. The master planning project has been led by Willa Kuh, a senior planner with Sasaki, who has expertise in development capacity studies, project permitting, and redevelopment. Kuh is responsible for project management and coordination, land-use planning, environmental consulting and permitting for corporate, institutional and municipal clients of Sasaki.

“The proposed Master Plan has captured the beautiful features of our area and incorporated them into a carefully designed complex that will accommodate a variety of businesses,” says Tom Hickey, director of PEDA. “It takes into account the types of industry and businesses that are most likely to relocate to this area, and provides for them an attractive, campus-like complex in which to work.”

In presenting the Master Plan, Kuh identified the target markets as light manufacturing, rail-dependent companies, and office space and research & development laboratories.

The Park includes complementary site amenities that are attractive to businesses, such as an adult education/job training center and shared support services, including printing, overnight mail delivery, office space and food services for employees on the site.

“Early in the process, we examined the open space features of the site, such as the view of and access to Silver Lake, the view to the west, and the floodplain that exists near Silver Lake,” says Kuh. “Building sites shown in the Master Plan are oriented to take advantage of these natural views.”

Other advantages of the site are its rail access, excellent street access and availability of existing utilities. Throughout the planning process, PEDA and Sasaki strived to preserve the desirable attributes of the site, ensure the quality of design, create desired cohesion of landscape and architectural design, and target a market of users.

“Critical to the design considerations were the key architectural features of the buildings that already exist in downtown Pittsfield,” Kuh says. “Thus building heights in the site can range up to four stories. The buildings are oriented toward the streets and are located close to one another to create a sense of community. Every building is designed to provide adequate daylight to workers, and the historic architectural elements of Pittsfield’s buildings are part of the new construction.”

In devising the site circulation, the planners designed a pedestrian path system that would link every business location to Silver Lake. Landscaping makes use of large, native trees of to enhance the beauty and walking experience of the district’s streets and paths. Lawn and trees along East Street are landscaped to create a distinctive look to the business development district. And zones within the district are distinguished according to the plant species in each zone.

Signs can be tastefully sized and designed to communicate the distinct qualities of the businesses they identify, as Kuh demonstrated by showing examples of signage.

The master planners estimate that the Park will be built out within the next decade, and when fully built, will represent up to 1400 jobs, up to $50 million in construction costs and annual property tax revenue of up to $1.6 million.

The Master Plan also recommends a range of marketing strategies, including: corporate visits; periodical feature articles; conference attendance; state economic development resources; website creation and maintenance; coordination with the brokerage community; and development of printed materials for promoting the site.

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