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Dear Elected Officials,

As a supporter of smart growth development, I respectfully urge your support for Waterstone Retail’s Woodlawn Crossing proposal located at the site of the former GE property in the William Stanley Business Park. This proposed redevelopment is a substantial private investment in Pittsfield’s future that will create quality jobs and generate significant revenue for a prosperous Pittsfield for years to come.

One of the greatest challenges Pittsfield faces today is maintaining the City’s competitive economic advantage while businesses and jobs continue to relocate to other areas. However, Woodlawn Crossing represents an opportunity to rebuild the City’s competitive advantage by providing new space for medical office, life sciences, retail, light manufacturing and research and development uses in our community. We cannot afford to turn down opportunities to create new jobs in skilled sectors that residents need today if our goal is to continue attracting residents to keep Pittsfield growing.

Reviving the land on the proposed site is a significant undertaking that Waterstone is willing to take at its own expense. Nearly $12 million of the $30 million project will be devoted to rehabilitating the parcel to a workable condition before any shovels can even be put into the ground for construction. Due to the high cost associated with this process and to the vast oversupply of existing comparable vacant industrial facilities available at a fraction of the cost, it is not economically viable for virtually any other use to develop this parcel. Now is the time to bring this dormant site back to a productive use.

Woodlawn Crossing will bring improvements that will advance the growth of the William Stanley Business Park while allowing substantial savings for the City. I support this proposal as well as the opportunities for economic development that it creates, and I strongly urge your consideration and support to move Woodlawn Crossing forward.

Sincerely,