Stephen Schoenfeld of William Pitt Sotheby’s International Real Estate offers a magnificent retreat in the heart of the Berkshires with pool, tennis court, and pond on 25 beautiful acres.
See how architect Pamela Sandler transformed a lake house on the shores of Lake Onota. A report on real estate sales in the first quarter of 2025. Plus, recent sales and gardening columns and a home-cooking recipe.
Community Development Corporation of South Berkshire executive director Tim Geller said he expects environmental remediation to begin late this month and construction on the apartments to commence in late October.
The Community Development Corporation of South Berkshire can finally proceed with its plan to build an affordable housing complex at 100 Bridge Street after receiving the go-ahead from the selectboard.
Chrystal Mahida and her husband, Vijay, who own several hotels in Berkshire County, did not offer a specific timeline for when construction to convert the school would begin, but she wanted to assure the public that plans are proceeding.
The language that is always being used is that the CDC is ghettoizing our poor, or low- and moderate-income families ... We think that description is absurd, given where the site is ... and the fact that ... 50 percent of the families in Great Barrington qualify for these units."
-- Tim Geller, executive director of the CDC
The funds will provide the final financing for the $17.2 million 100 Bridge Street project that will build 45 new affordable rental units and simultaneously remediate the entire 8-acre site.
"It’s a very tough and competitive situation for Low Income Housing Tax Credit Projects right now — a situation exacerbated by the uncertainty that has been created at the national level."
-- Tim Geller, executive director of the Community Development Corporation of South Berkshire
One of the conditions is that the CDC continues to accept public comments on its plan. And if changes are made as a result of those comments, the CDC will amend its plan.
Ward says he wants to stay alert to potential consequences of future remediation and construction work at 100 Bridge St. in case “disturbances to the site could lead to enhanced pollution” of the Sheffield water supply.
The highly contaminated site, having sat idle and an eyesore in a mostly residential area–and with groundwater contaminated with PCPs right next to the Housatonic River–is wearing patience thin.
The 8-acre parcel on the Housatonic River has sat for more than 20 years, scraggly and undeveloped, and is still loaded with chlorinated organic compounds like dioxins and PCPs. The site’s owner, Community Development Corporation of South Berkshire (CDC), will hold a public information meeting at the Mason Librarytoday (Wednesday, Jan. 4), at 5:30 p.m. to provide current plans for the site and gather public input.
In a letter to Community Development Corporation of South Berkshire, MassDEP wrote that, while the plan to remove all contaminated soil from both the Housatonic riverfront and from the area for an affordable housing development is “protective of human health and the environment,” the relocation of that soil to other parts of the site may be harmful.
Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection spokesperson Catherine Skiba would not comment on whether MassDEP has allowed this sort of partial capping in the past, or for a housing development.
“The idea of bringing this into a residential neighborhood is hard for me to swallow. So many things that have happened...things we bet on and lost.”
--- Great Barrington Selectboard Chair Sean Stanton
In her letter to the editor, Nan Wile writes: “Why not (better) develop infrastructure like high speed Internet that would bring competitive businesses to town?”
If the state Department of Environmental Protection will allow it, Biopath Solutions is ready and willing to return to the Bridge Street site and finish the job.
