From BusinessWest
By Elizabeth Taras
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
Northampton-based Builders Make a Living on the Cutting Edge
Mark Ledwell, left, and Jonathan Wright. Image care of BusinessWestIt’s called the “home of the future” by its designer, Bruce Coldham of Coldham & Hartman Architests in Amherst, but it’s being lived in today.
This would be the 2,700-square-foot structure in Hadley that was honored by GreenBuilder magazine with one of its ‘Home of the Year’ awards in 2011, the only house in the Northeast to be so recognized. There are many numbers associated with this dwelling — and that prestigious award — but the most significant is 33, or minus 33, to be more precise.
That’s what the house earned for a Home Energy Rating, or HERS, which means that it produced 33% more energy than it consumed for the previous year, said Jonathan Wright, founder and president of Northampton-based Wright Builders, which constructed the home.
“Through an extremely well-designed plan, a very tight building envelope, and PV [photovoltaic] panels, we went way past zero,” said Wright, referring to the term ‘net zero’ — a benchmark used to describe structures that don’t consume more energy than they create — and putting heavy emphasis on the word ‘way.’
The GreenBuilder award judges were suitably impressed, noting that “this home’s building science is well ahead of the curve.”
That term is one increasingly used in association with projects undertaken by Wright, a nearly 40-year-old company that specializes in residential, commercial, and institutional building, and has a hard-earned reputation for being on the cutting edge of new building processes and techniques, especially with regard to energy consumption and conservation.
“Before these certifications were around, we just considered it smart building,” said Mark Ledwell, Wright’s long-time partner and the company’s co-principal, referring to LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) and other building benchmarks used today. “We’ve tried to keep abreast of the materials and new technologies and stay on the cutting edge; we want to make buildings that last.”
This philosophy has guided the company through every project in a broad portfolio that includes everything from a host of buildings at Smith College (one of the firm’s many clients in the education sector) to several components of the multi-faceted initiative taking shape on the grounds of the former Northampton State Hospital.
Domino Cigarettes, listing #15279Someone told me that the planning department was auctioning off articles from the state hospital, and I should check it out. I looked at all the items and it was damned depressing to see how little had been preserved for public resale. Pieces of iron with no particular usage, a group of broken down old seats, urinals, cigarette cartons, etc, etc and etcetera.
My friend and I were talking about the sale the other day and we both had the same reaction. What happened to all the beautiful antiques in the administrative building and the chapel? What happened to the large beautiful stained glass windows in the chapel? The great chandelier in the old admin building? What happened to the baby grand piano on the stage?
“Well” I said to him, “Maybe I could call Massdevelopment and…..”
“And what?” he asked. “In a better world you might get some answers, but…”
“This is not the better world.” I said, finishing his thought for him.
We were both part of a group of people that met in the late eighties to talk about reuse of the Old Main. At that time there were still a few patients living in the Haskell Building and Marjorie Senechal and a bunch of our people got the $10.00 tour of Old Main. We saw a multitude of uses for the buildings. Consolidate local state offices up there. The Center for the Arts made a determined effort to use the chapel, but the powers that be probably figured that if anyone got into one part of the building, they would be agitating to preserve more of it.
“The acoustics in that chapel were something,” said my friend. “I was standing in the back of the balcony and someone snapped their fingers on the stage, and you could hear it perfectly.”
A city tax break for the $13.4 million, 50,000-square-foot Christopher Heights of Northampton Project in the Village Hill neighborhood has been approved by the state.
Developer Grantham Group will save $213,900 in property taxes over 15 years, according to a news release issued this week by the state Office of Housing and Economic Development. Grantham Group, based in Boston, already has four other assisted living centers in Worcester, Webster, Attleboro and Marlborough.
Economic Assistance Coordinating Council approved this and 18 other projects for participation in the Economic Development Incentive Program at meetings last week. The list includes manufacturing projects in Lee, Adams and Pittsfield. In total, the projects are expected to create 2,347 new jobs and retain 3,102 existing jobs, in addition to leveraging nearly $406 million in private investment and supporting construction projects across the commonwealth.
Grantham Group has said there will be 65 construction jobs. Once built, there would be another 40 permanent jobs at the facility. The facility will have will consist of 71 studio apartments and 12 one-bedroom apartments.
Grantham Group managing director Walter Ohanian said Friday that the company is still applying for low-income tax credits. If that application is successful he hopes to start construction in February.
Grantham has planned the project for a 1.3-acre site on the former state hospital grounds it will lease from MassDevelopment for 80 years. Forty-three of the 83 units will be reserved as affordable housing. MassDevelopment owns the former hospital site.
From The Republican
By Fred Contrada
Saturday, June 29, 2013
Sink and Urinal, listing #15293If you’ve ever wanted a urinal or a shower head from the former Northampton State Hospital, now is the time.
These and other mementos from the 19th century complex once called the Northampton Lunatic Hospital are currently up for bid, courtesy of the city’s Historical Commission. Proceeds from the on-line auction will go towards restoring the fountain that once sat in front of Old Main, the administrative building on the 500 acre campus that stood upon Hospital Hill.
Built in the 1850s, Northampton State Hospital housed 2,500 patients, employed 500 workers and operated out of 70 buildings at its height. It included a piggery, a bowling alley and underground tunnels linking the buildings. Former patients are reportedly buried in unmarked graves on the grounds.
The thriving hospital began downsizing in the 1970s as the state deinstitutionalized, placing people with mental health issues in community homes instead. It closed for good in 1993, and the long process of turning the land over to the city began.
MassDevelopment, a quasi-public agency, was chosen to market the land for commercial and residential use. One by one, the buildings were razed. In their place, a range of housing has been built. Defense contractor Kollmorgen, now called L3-KEO, moved its headquarters from King Street onto the former hospital campus and now occupies the lion’s share of the commercial and industrial space.
Even the name of the hill was changed by developers, who thought Village Hill would be more attractive than Hospital Hill. All that remains are the fountain, the reported graves and a bunch of artifacts that MassDevelopment turned over to the city. These include a urinal, an old clock, a cupola, auditorium chairs, window bars, doors and some game tables.
“It’s like they grabbed everything they possibly could,” said Sarah LaValley, a Planning Department staff member who serves as liaison to the Historical Commission. “We ended up with what could be salvaged.”
From The Republican
By Fred Contrada
Monday, November 21, 2011
After a period of stagnation, the ball appears to be rolling for housing development on Village Hill, reviving hopes for a new neighborhood.
Village Hill gathers steam, image by The RepublicanLast week, city and state officials gathered at the former Northampton State Hospital campus for a ceremony marking the completion of 11 energy-efficient Craftsman and Victorian homes, all of which have been sold and are already occupied. The success of that phase has led to an agreement between Wright Builders and MassDevelopment, which owns the property, to build six additional single-family homes in a new section of Village Hill.
As recently as two years ago, the majority of the Craftsman and Victorian homes, which are at the top of the price range on Village Hill, were still awaiting buyers. Jonathan A. Wright, the president of Wright Builders, bought one of the homes himself. Over the past year, however, the homes, which cost as much as $700,000, have been in demand.
Patrick M. Goggins of Goggins Real Estate, the company that is marketing the homes, said the homes went fast once the dam broke on consumer confidence in the project. The relocation of Kollmorgen Electro-Optical to the south part of the property across Route 66 helped spark interest, he said.
From The Republican
By Ellie Cook
Monday, October 4, 2010
Fall’s here, and with winter bearing down, projects race to the finish. If this most beautiful season proves long, work can go on right through November.
Village Hill, where the state hospital used to be (the R44 bus still has a Hospital Hill sign), has undergone a huge transformation in the past few years. At first it seemed that people were wary of buying into the new development, and the economy didn’t help.
But according to city businessman and longtime real estate agent Pat Goggins, the Kollmorgen Electro-Optical Corp. plant going up on the South Campus makes people more confident that the development will take hold. “The community has finally decided that it’s really going to happen up there,” he said last week.
He commented, as many have, on the development’s “walkability,” situated as it is about three-quarters of a mile from town, with its bike and walking paths.
Goggins, who is handling the marketing of new homes in the development, talked about the work along the eastern side of the North Campus on Olander Drive.
In the area called Morningside, four single-family houses have been built there, and all of them are now sold, the latest one early this month. Six more will be finished by early next summer; of those, four are “going into the ground in the next six weeks,” builder Jonathan Wright said last week. All six are under deposit, Goggins said. A total of 11 are planned, according to Wright.
Wright attributed the keener interest in those homes to the builders’ expanding the original two designs to seven, some of them “cottage” and “farmhouse” style – a bit smaller and less expensive. The cost ranges from $479,000 to $589,000.
The three four-condo townhouses, opposite Morningside, are two-thirds built. The first building is already entirely owner-occupied. The second is nearly finished, and two of those four condos are under deposit. Around the corner, the final building is set for a spring finish, with one condo already under deposit. They go for $269,000 to $379,000.
From The Gazette
by Chad Cain
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Off the Beat: Village Hill picks up steam, despite economy
An anemic economy may have slowed momentum at Village Hill Northampton, but efforts to develop the former state hospital grounds into a mix of homes and businesses is picking up steam this summer.
On the north campus, where most of the homes are being constructed, Wright Builders Inc. reports that interest in its high-end subdivision has revved back up this year. The Northampton company is also a year ahead of schedule in its development of a cluster of townhouses.
Meanwhile, the state agency overseeing the sites overall development is in negotiations with a developer for a 26-home bungalow complex north of the community gardens. MassDevelopment is expected to ink a deal with that unnamed developer rather soon, said spokeswoman Kelsey Abbruzzese.
Finally, on the developments south campus, Kollmorgen Electro-Opticals new 140,000-square-foot manufacturing and office facility is expected to be completed in a few months, at which time the company plans to move its 370-plus employee workforce there from its King Street headquarters.
As for the home construction already under way, Jonathan Wright of Wright Builders said that nine of the 11 high-end, single-family lots in its Morningside subdivision are spoken for. Three of those homes are already built and one is under construction. Work on three more is slated for the fall, with two more to begin next spring.
Meanwhile, the 12-unit Eastview townhouse complex is selling fast. The first of three buildings is finished, with the units selling for between $269,000 and $349,000, depending on their location and whether they have two or three bedrooms.
No Environmental Review Required for Revised State Hospital Development Plan
A revised development plan for the grounds of the former Northampton State Hospital will require no environmental impact report, ruled Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Ian Bowles on April 9.
The new plan for the development called Village Hill “reflects current development opportunities and market conditions,” wrote Bowles in his decision.
The original master plan for the mixed-use project, approved in 1999 and revised in 2006, called for 207 housing units; the 2009 revision calls for 327 mixed-income units in a variety of housing types. While the original plan called for 476,000 square feet of commercial development, the new plan scales that back to 361,000.
From The Republican
Saturday, May 17, 2008
By Fred Contrada
The developers of Village Hill harked back to the days of Northampton State Hospital yesterday as they prepared to build a new community on the rubble of the former hospital for the mentally ill.
The groundbreaking paved the way for the construction of 11 single-family homes, 12 townhouse and 40 units of mixed-income housing on what was once called Hospital Hill. The ceremony took place on the site of Old Main, the hospital’s administrative building and architectural centerpiece. Old Main was demolished last year.
Jonathan A. Wright, the chief executive officer of Wright Builders Inc., told a gathering of dignitaries that he hopes the neighborhood of houses he is building will contribute to the site’s rich history.
From The Republican
Sunday, February 10, 2008
By Fred Contrada
After a decade of waiting, Northampton is hoping that 2008 will be the year that a new commercial and industrial complex finally rises from the rubble of Northampton State Hospital.
Ever since the hospital shut down in the early 1990s, the city has looked to the sprawling campus as its greatest opportunity for new business space. The process of turning the land over from the state to the city took years. When that was finally accomplished, there was more waiting for the state and federal help needed to develop the site.
From The Republican
Saturday, January 12, 2008
By Fred Contrada
The first newly built residential units on Hospital Hill could break ground as soon as April 1 after the Planning Board approved the project Thursday night.
Community Builders, which is developing part of the residential component of the Village Hill Northampton project, sought and received permission to build 40 apartment units in six buildings on three parcels. Thirty-two of those units will be affordable to people earning up to 60 percent of the median area income. Twelve of those 32 will be earmarked for clients of the Department of Mental Health.
The entire campus where the commercial-industrial-residential complex is being built was once the site of Northampton State Hospital. The city gained control of the land when the state deinstitutionalized clients in the early 1990s, placing many of them in community settings. The project had been called the Village at Hospital Hill but MassDevelopment, the quasi-public agency overseeing the project, changed the name to Village Hill Northampton because it said some prospective commercial tenants were turned off by the reference to the hospital.
Once upon a time – 1856 to be precise – the great lights of their day built an asylum for the insane atop a hill in Northampton and called it the Northampton Lunatic Hospital.
You wouldn’t have wanted to spend the weekend there, but it was created with the good intention of providing humane treatment for the mentally ill.
In 1903, with the patient population up to 650, the institution changed its name to Northampton State Hospital. By 1952, there were more than 1,000 patients and the place was a village unto itself.
With more than 500 workers, it was the biggest employer in Northampton. Many of them lived on the grounds and went from one building to another through underground tunnels.
The hospital boasted its own farm, piggery, bowling alley and beauty parlor. Legend has it there was also a sort of Potter’s Field where inmates were buried in unmarked graves, the location of which remains unknown to this day.
By the 1990s, the approach to mental health had come full circle and the powers that be declared the mentally ill were better served in the communities from which they came. The hospital gradually shut down, and everyone left. But for all the blood, sweat and tears shed there, the place will forever be known as Hospital Hill.
NORTHAMPTON – The Northampton State Hospital, which once housed thousands of mentally ill patients, has become a temptation for college-age thrill seekers drawn at night to the abandoned rooms and tunnels by MTV and the Internet.
According to the Massachusetts State Police, which is responsible for making arrests on the hospital grounds, 31 people have been arrested there since the beginning of the year and numerous others issued criminal summonses.
People caught wandering through the buildings can be charged with trespassing on state property and breaking and entering. Those arrested often claim they were motivated to see the hospital after hearing on the MTV show “Fear” that it is one of the scariest places in the country, police said.
However, a spokeswoman for MTV said the show has never created such a list or mentioned the Northampton State Hospital on the program.
On the program, a small group of contestants is placed overnight in a scary building and told to accomplish small tasks that require testing their fear of the supernatural. Trespassers at the state hospital have been caught with cameras taking pictures and videotape of themselves walking through the buildings, recreating the show.
A search of the Internet finds three different Web sites with accounts and pictures of people exploring the buildings. At the site www.geocities.com/ironfistorg/NoHo_Index.html, a group calling itself IRONFIST describes in self-congratulatory terms how it sneaked into the buildings to obtain footage of abandoned rooms and broken hospital equipment.
“The forbidding eternal appearance of the Northampton State Hospital is enough to discourage even the most intrepid explorers. But the presence of a highly skilled 24-hour security firm is even more of a reason to give the location a wide berth. IRONFIST saw this presence of security not as a discouragement, but as an invitation to penetrate the building and explore without being known to have been in,” one passage from the Web site reads.
IRONFIST is among a growing number of organizations calling themselves Urban Explorers that break into abandoned buildings, city tunnels or military bases around the country to explore. Accounts of visits to the Northampton State Hospital can also be found at www.darkpassage.com/forays/Northampton.html and www.sinister.com/~ianh/asylum.html.
Intrigue, danger
One reason for the increased interest in the hospital was a project in November when a German artist placed speakers throughout the complex and played J.S. Bach’s “Magnificat,” police said.
“It think it intrigues them. If somebody’s willing to spend $1 million to soothe the ailing souls, it might be haunted,” Massachusetts State Police Trooper Jeremy Cotton said.
While the grounds may be a source of interest to explorers, they are dangerous as well. Broken glass, syringes and asbestos are all over the buildings, Cotton said. “If they do get hurt in there, we’d have a hard time getting them out. With continued access, injuries are only inevitable.”
Trespassers have taken mementoes of their visits, such as old medical files or items from the morgue, one of the more popular destinations, police said.
According to one security guard, a stained glass window that would have required a truck and ladder to remove has been taken.
And there have been reports of stolen building materials.
In June Joshua Charbonneau, 21, 23 Nagler Cross Road, Huntington, and Jordan J. Skipper, 24, of Montgomery, submitted to facts sufficient to warrant a guilty finding in Northampton District Court on charges of trespassing on state or county property, vandalizing a state building and larceny under $250. They were assessed $135 fines and ordered to perform 20 days of community service after they were caught stealing 200 pounds of copper sheets from the grounds. The most common penalty for trespassers in a $50 fine, police said.
‘Tight security’
MassDevelopment is the economic development agency which is a partner with The Community Builders of Springfield in redeveloping the former state hospital property.
MassDevelopment took over management from the state July 1 and has extended the contract with the firm handling security on the grounds, said David Webster, vice president of community planning and development.
“We fully intend to keep tight security out there and if we catch people we intend to prosecute them,” Webster said. “It’s private property. People have no business being there. It’s dangerous.”
Webster said they plan to secure all the doors and windows, but he acknowledged that securing the entire site is a difficult talk because the grounds are so large.
A security guard is on duty 24 hours. However, according to one guard, people can drive on to the grounds with their headlights off or simply walk in and they won’t be noticed.
