The preferred developer, Raipher Pellegrino and Lustra LLC, say construction is slated this summer.
The former Springfield Visitor Center.SPRINGFIELD — Local developer Peter Pappas asked the Springfield Redevelopment Authority on Tuesday to consider disqualifying the current “preferred developer” of the former Visitor Information Center property off Interstate 91, saying the plans for a restaurant bar have idled too long.
Pappas met with the authority board on Monday, and followed up with a letter on Tuesday, criticizing the amount of time it is taking for the favored developer, Lustra LLC, to move forward with the project. Lustra, led by local developer Raipher Pellegrino, was chosen in December by the authority to locate a LUXE Burger Bar at the long-vacant building.
The authority chose Lustra’s plan over a competing restaurant proposal submitted by Pappas.
The visitor center property, located on Hall of Fame Avenue, also known as West Columbus Avenue, has been vacant since the center moved to the nearby Basketball Hall of Fame in 2009.
Some authority members and representatives told Pappas on Monday that they are satisfied with the efforts by Lustra at this time.
Under its proposals, Lustra will pay the authority $450,001 for the property and invest $2.3 million. Pappas and his company Alliance Converting Machinery Inc., offered $223,024 for the property.
Pappas, in the follow-up letter Tuesday, asked the redevelopment authority to disqualify Lustra at its next meeting June 4, unless Lustra finalizes the purchase of the property and demonstrates “irrevocable proof of all financing to redevelop the project,” as proposed.
Pellegrino said Tuesday that financing is in place, and construction is planned this summer. Lustra is “shooting for” a fall opening of the LUXE Burger Bar, which is patterned after a successful Rhode Island restaurant, he said.
“There is no delay,” Pellegrino said. “We have been working cooperatively with the city in a joint enterprise to bring a quality restaurant to the city of Springfield, to restore a building vacant for a number of years.”
Lustra was granted preferred developer status for a 120-day period in December, and was granted a 30-day extension last month. The board can choose to extend or not extend that time period, authority Executive Director Christopher Moskal said.
“Often, extensions are given based on progress,” Moskal said, declining comment on the ongoing discussions with Lustra.
Pappas, who redeveloped the former Basketball Hall of Fame on West Columbus Avenue, a $14 million project that includes the LA Fitness and Mama Iguana’s Restaurant, said he has full financing ready for the visitor center building.
Under the Request for Proposals for the visitor center site, it called for a 60-day preferred developer agreement, while the current timetable is five months and counting, Pappas said.
Authority members said the board has the power to extend or not extend the time period.
Pappas said he would have opened a restaurant by now, bringing tax revenue and jobs to the city.
Authority Chairman Armando Feliciano told Pappas at Monday’s meeting that the board would take his comments under review, but not take any action at this time, as advised by its lawyer, Thomas Moore.
“Everyone on the board is committed to make Springfield a better place to live,” Feliciano said.