SPRINGFIELD — Construction on a 36-apartment building for very low-income and homeless residents is expected to restart next month following a delay due to a dispute with an architectural firm.
Renaissance Development LLC was originally hoping to finish the restoration and rebuilding of the landmark Kavanagh Furniture building at 443 State St. by the end of this year. Now the company hopes to begin construction sometime in November, said Donald Mitchell, company owner.
“We had a dispute with the architect. We are trying to resolve it,” Mitchell said.
Last week, the Springfield firm Jablonski DeVriese Architects Inc. filed a lawsuit in Hampden Superior Court demanding payment of $93,419 for the work it has done to design the project. The complaint asks the court to place a lien on the property if the bill is not paid.
Mitchell said there was a dispute between the two companies that led Renaissance Development LLC to regroup and hire a new architect and engineering firm Engineering & Land Solutions of Ludlow.
“We have a new set of plans. The change gave us a chance to look at the intended floor plan and made some changes,” Mitchell said.
The original plans called for the project to have about 10,000 square feet of retail space, which was reduced to 7,100 square feet. The project still calls for 36 one-bedroom apartments, he said.
The company plans to apply for a new building permit the first or second week of November and is hoping to be able to pour the foundation for the back half of the building as soon as possible so the work can be done before the ground freezes, Mitchell said.
The about $8.5 million project will save the façade of the retail building, that once housed one of the oldest businesses in the city. The back part of the building, which was structurally unstable, is being removed and replaced.
The new building will measure about 57,000 square feet, about one-third larger than the existing store.
The furniture company was founded under another name in 1873 and is believed to have been one of the first businesses in Springfield. It moved to State Street in the 1890s and operated there until 2008. The building has been vacant since.
Mitchell said he hopes the apartments will be ready for tenants by then end of 2025 or in early 2026. He did not name the construction company he plans to hire because they are still finalizing a contract but said it is a local firm owned by a woman.
The apartments are designed for very low-income residents and Mitchell said he is expecting to work with a social service agency which provides services for the chronically homeless which will rent a block of the homes for its clients.
Any remaining apartments and retail space Renaissance Development will rent on its own. The company already has started getting calls from interested tenants and has had to explain it will be at least a year before apartments will be available, he said.
“We need the housing really badly,” said Geraldine McCafferty, director of housing for the city, saying she is relieved the project is moving forward.
The city awarded $2.1 million in federal pandemic relief aid to the project and an additional $730,000 in Department of Housing and Urban Development HOME ARP funds also designed for pandemic rebuilding.
The apartments designed for people who earn 30% or less of the area median income. There is a severe shortage of those apartments, she said.
“These are the people who have had the hardest time responding to increased rents,” she said, adding tenants who cannot afford an increase end up on the streets if they cannot find affordable housing.
