ACP consultant Gianni Longo recently outlined the vision for the Gateway Corridor Project that will link UMass and the Amherst downtown.
University of Massachusetts Amherst Chancellor Robert C. Holub, left, then Amherst Town Manager Laurence C. Shaffer, center, and Amherst Redevelopment Authority chairman John W. Coull shake hands after signing the Gateway Redevelopment Project Partnership agreement in September at the 44th annual community breakfast at UMass.AMHERST – The vision for the proposed Gateway project that would link the downtown with the University of Massachusetts includes, as expected, a mix of housing and retail, but the housing would target faculty and retirees not students.
Part of the site of what is now called the Gateway Corridor Project on North Pleasant Street was once home to four fraternities and a sorority, but UMass bought the property and the buildings were razed in 2006.
In September of 2010, UMass and town officials signed a partnership agreement outlining the intention of UMass to convey those 2.1 acres to the town for a joint project that would benefit both. The understanding was that private student housing would be part of a mixed use redevelopment project.
But through sessions with neighbors, the message was clear, according to New York-based ACP consultant Gianni Longo, hired to create the vision for the project. The neighborhood has enough students.
At a recent meeting outlining the vision, he told the crowd of more than 40 that housing should target young couples, UMass faculty and retirees. “There is a preponderance of undergraduate housing, we’re learning how those neighbors are (dealing with that.) We have to respect that and honor that.”
Longo also said one of the key tactical steps is to “finalize the transfer” of the site to the town. Development of that piece is seen as a catalyst for development of the larger project, said Aaron P. Hayden, Amherst Redevelopment Authority member who’s also on the Select Board. But it is unclear if and when that might happen.
Todd A. Diacon, UMass deputy chancellor, in an e-mail wrote, “I think the consultant’s vision, which was shaped by extensive and especially helpful input from neighbors and town residents, will, if implemented, produce the inviting entrance to the university we are seeking. An aesthetically pleasing Gateway with new housing options will help us attract and keep talented faculty, staff and administrators.”
When asked if the university would still transfer the land, he would only say, “I look forward to discussing the project further with all interested parties in the near future.”
UMass Chancellor R. Holub, who signed the memorandum with the town, meanwhile, will be leaving in a year.
Hayden said he thinks UMass will let the authority know sometime in July whether it will transfer the land.
The redevelopment authority, which has been leading the project, decided Thursday that it would take on development of the frat row portion if the university transfers it. He thinks there is value in that for both.
“The value in them giving it us is we can do the work,” he said. The town could do the work at a lower cost not having to adhere to state guidelines, he said.
The transfer “will strengthen the town university relationship in positives ways.” An attractive project could help attract students and faculty. Such development would help the university image. “It’s not good for the university to have the name ‘zoo mass,’” a moniker that had been ascribed to the school more prevalently in the 1970s and 1980s.
Hayden also said that by the authority deciding to take on this project he’s hoping to demonstrate to the university “that we are committed to working with the neighborhood to get the project that benefits everyone (done.)”
ACP was also asked to look into whether the project could be eligible for urban renewal assistance. Consultant Karen M. Cullen said a portion of the project could potentially be eligible but also said she thinks the case for it eligibility “is weak.”