Senior housing, bank projects advance in Hadley

HADLEY — An apartment building with 50 units reserved for people 55-and-over and a new bank branch are another step closer to being constructed along the Route 9 corridor.

At a meeting in which the Planning Board also approved signs and a change in use for a new restaurant that will specialize in chicken and a temporary site for the Massage School, members gave support to the site plans for the new senior housing development at the Village Barn Shops and a Bank of America building.

The Pioneer Valley Hotel Group is looking to have the three-story residential building ready for occupancy at 41 Russell St. by late winter 2028.

Shardool Parmar, owner of the company, said construction would begin in mid to late summer or early fall, with a 15- to 18-month build-out.

“We’re probably looking at two years from today that it would be open,” Parmar said.

Parmar said the hope is to have all of the units be two bedrooms. The only question for planners was about affordability, with 15% of the units to be set aside for low- and moderate-income individuals, based on the town bylaw.

The vote on the plans came after addressing final concerns, including from the owners of the Riverbend Animal Hospital building at 43 Russell St.

Chris Chamberland, a principal at Berkshire Design Group, explained that all of the pavement area would have water collected in a catch basin and all of the water from the roof would also go into a drainage system, along with yard runoff. Chamberland said this should improve conditions by getting water out from a drainage ditch between the properties.

He also outlined details about the privacy fence and trees on the property line.

“It looks like you’ve answered all of our concerns, and so I appreciate it, very much,” said Ann McEwen, who with David Thomson owns the veterinary building.

The Planning Board also approved construction of a 4,000-square-foot Bank of America building, with an ATM, that will replace a vacant building at 359 Russell St., near the 110 Grille and in front of the Mountain Farms Mall.

The board gave its approval for a business use in the aquifer, access across other than frontage and a shared access point, with no direct driveway onto Russell Street or South Maple Street.

Meanwhile, at 344 Russell St., as part of the Hadley Corner development, planners gave the OK to Birdcode, a quick-serve restaurant specializing in fried chicken, including sandwiches, nuggets and tenders. It will have about 40 seats and no drive through.

“It fits in nicely with the rest of the tenant mix we have there,” said Hadley Corner LLC President Gene Crowley.

Birdcode will replace GNC, which closed after relocating to the site from Hampshire Mall several years ago, and will be located between Visionworks and Starbucks. It will become one of eight current and future locations, with the other Birdcode restaurants all in Connecticut.

And at Hadley Meadows, 195 Russell St., Suite B, will be the temporary location of the Massage School, following an early January fire that heavily damaged its building at 231 Russell St.

Andrew Nesi, the school’s owner, said classes and the clinic will be at the site for the next two years.

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