SHELBURNE FALLS — The man who wants to turn the unused Mole Hollow Candle building into a vibrant local marketplace gave the Selectboard a presentation and asked for a letter of support to help in leveraging grants and loans for the project.
Sean P. Neill of Charlemont says it will cost about $1.5 million to both purchase the building and to redevelop it. He said the Miehel family would like to sell the building, that they like the project and “want to see it go forward.” Owning the building, he said, would enable him to secure state and federal grants.
“We need $400,000 (in grants) to make this go,” said Neill, a partner in City Farm NY, which operates three restaurants/performance venues in Brooklyn, N.Y.
Neill said the empty building is a “missed opportunity” for the town, given its iconic location, near the Glacial Potholes, “great foot-traffic” and great interior. Neill said he already has farmers and craftspeople interested in having booths there.
He said the building is “too big for a single tenant,” but an open market space shared by several vendors would “capitalize on the space.” Neill would like to see farm fare, produce, meat from locally raised livestock, fresh fish, local cheeses and locally made foods sold on the main floor. The lower level, where the actual candle-making took place, would be developed as a performance center and restaurant with cider-tasting.
Neill said a set designer from “The Judge” — the movie filmed in Shelburne Falls in 2013 — is interested in helping design the building’s layout. In “The Judge,” the empty showroom was converted into a diner, with a waterfall prominent in the windows.
Neill would like to convert an attic area above part of the main floor, so that it could be rented out, to serve as artists’ lofts or studios.
Re-used as a public market with a restaurant, performance space and artists’ workspaces, the Mole Hollow building would “capture the market of people that come here for the Bridge of Flowers,” he said. “It re-uses a neglected site.”
Neill told selectmen he will seek a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) plan that would give him a tax break on his investment in improving the building and raising its tax valuation.
Selectboard Chairman Joseph Judd told him the board has put a temporary moratorium on any new TIF proposals, while they develop a TIF policy for the town. Judd said the moratorium will end in July. Because the TIF requests must also go before town meeting voters, Judd said the earliest Neill could get a TIF agreement would be at the 2018 annual town meeting next spring.
Neill said he is looking for interested farmers, food producers, and crafts people. Those interested can reach him by email at: shelburnemarket@gmail.com