Greenfield committee backs Hope Street parking lot surplus declaration

The parking lot at 53 Hope St. in Greenfield.

The parking lot at 53 Hope St. in Greenfield. STAFF PHOTO/ERIN-LEIGH HOFFMAN

By ANTHONY CAMMALLERI

Staff Writer

Published: 07-09-2025 5:32 PM

GREENFIELD — After sitting vacant for more than a year, the roughly 1-acre parking lot at 53 Hope St. is one step closer to potentially becoming a housing complex.

The Economic Development Committee voted 3-0 on Tuesday to declare the vacant lot as surplus property and to authorize Mayor Ginny Desorgher to sell it.

According to Community and Economic Development Director Amy Cahillane, the city will — contingent on City Council’s approval of the surplus declaration — publish a request for proposals (RFP) seeking developers to convert the land into a residential or mixed-use property. She hopes to see a development plan that accounts for the area’s parking needs and also complements surrounding buildings, such as the Franklin County Justice Center.

“I sent to City Council the bullet points pulled from our draft RFP, and I think we tried to take into account both our internal recognition that this Hope Street lot is a really special, excellent downtown lot, and we want to maximize the use of it for the best of our community, and also the comments that our department heard from community meetings,” Cahillane said. “We tried to create an RFP that was relatively open … because I can see a number of things that work well. We left the use for housing, or proposals that might have commercial on the first floor.”

When Precinct 2 City Councilor Rachel Gordon asked if Cahillane thought the project would attract developers, she responded that she has already been contacted by two companies expressing interest in the lot. She noted that although the RFP will be open to all kinds of housing, she expects to see bidders pitch affordable housing plans since it’s currently more “financially viable.”

The Hope Street parking lot previously housed a temporary fire station while the Fire Department’s new 41 Main St. building was being constructed.

During the public comment session Tuesday evening, resident Susan Worgaftik, who serves as coordinator for Housing Greenfield, expressed enthusiasm about the lot’s future and added that she hopes to see a mix of market-rate and affordable housing options. Resident Judy Draper said she hopes to see some outdoor playground space for local children be incorporated into the plans.

“Hopefully there would be some children in some of that housing, and it would be really nice to have a park — not a big playground, like Hillside or something, but just some open green space — that would be available to not just the people who live in the housing that’s made there, but for the whole community,” Draper said. “That would help bring people who will live in the housing together with people around the neighborhood.”

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Precinct 9 City Councilor Derek Helie, who chairs the Economic Development Committee, also expressed support, explaining that ideally, the community could weigh in on the process while the RFP is being drafted. Cahillane responded that she could hold community meetings during that time and a representative from the community could potentially work with the city to draft the RFP.

Precinct 5 Councilor Marianne Bullock, who lives on Hope Street, said she is happy to see the plan moving closer to fruition.

“When I first ran, this was just an idea that my predecessor pinned for me, that that lot would become housing. So it’s really, really refreshing when these things come all the way through, and I’m a Hope Street resident, so I’m very excited for this project,” Bullock said. “When I bought my house on Hope Street, one of the reasons was so that my kids could walk to the library and to downtown. This is just a great idea for increasing housing and making it really exciting and attractive housing for Greenfield.”

Anthony Cammalleri can be reached at acammalleri@recorder.com or 413-930-4429.