The city is seeking proposals for the former Asylum nightclub building on Main Street.
The Stone Wall Tavern on Main and Gridiron streets in Springfield has been sold.
The building at 1600 Main St. in Springfield, the former Asylum Building.
SPRINGFIELD – A development group that already owns many downtown properties, including the Paramount building and The Fort and Student Prince restaurant block, is taking steps to control two additional properties on the Main Street corridor.
Heriberto Flores, president of the New England Farm Workers Council, said Wednesday that his group has a purchase and sale agreement to buy the Stonewall Tavern business at 1716 Main St. and is seeking approval of a liquor license transfer from the License Commission on Thursday night.
Amtrak owns the building at 1716 Main St. The developers are buying only the business and liquor license and will lease the site from Amtrak.
In addition, a development group affiliated with the Farm Workers Council will be submitting a proposal to purchase and redevelop the former Asylum club building at 1592-1600 Main St., owned by the city. The city is accepting proposals submitted by the deadline, Aug. 13.
Both sites targeted are adjacent to properties already owned by the Farm Workers Council, Flores said.
The tavern is adjacent to the Paramount property, which was purchased by the Farm Workers Council in March for about $1.7 million.
The vacant Asylum building is adjacent to The Fort and Student Prince property that was purchased by the Farm Workers Council in October of 2010 for $2 million. Several other properties are also owned by the council in that immediate area.
Heriberto Flores“We have made an investment in the whole corridor,” Flores said. “We want to make sure all those things fit into the perspective. We have to look out for the future, how all of this will play.”
The Farm Workers Council is a private, nonprofit organization that provides social services, job training and other services to low-income people. Flores has stated that economic development efforts are an extension of that mission.
The city purchased and partially demolished the Asylum building. With grant assistance, the city removed asbestos, added a sprinkler system, gutted the interior and created a 20-space parking lot in the rear of the site.
Flores said the group that will file a proposal for the Asylum is still being structured, and details of the redevelopment plans are still being worked on.
The Stonewall Tavern is just a few feet from the Paramount building, separated by Gridiron Street. The bar plans for the site will be discussed with the commission at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall. The proposed new manager is Eduardo Colon, needing commission approval.
According to the application for the liquor license, the new buyers are listed as Corporation at 1716 Inc., with the Farm Workers Council listed as 51 percent owner and local businessman Ronald Krupke listed as 49 percent owner, said Peter L. Sygnator, License Commission chairman. Flores is president of Corporation of 1716 Inc.
The sellers are listed as 1716 Main Street Inc., composed of Brendan Broderick, Timothy J. Lamotte and Gregory P. George, all of Wilbraham, Sygnator said. The purchase price, including the liquor license and furnishings, is listed at $70,000, contingent on approval of the license transfer.
Property in the heart of downtown Springfield
Shapes in PURPLE show pending purchases by the Farm Workers Council.
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View New England Farm Workers' Council: Property in the heart of downtown Springfield in a larger map. Map / research by GREG SAULMON.