GREENFIELD — With more than $1 million in investments from member-owners, the Franklin Community Co-op continues to move forward with plans to move Green Fields Market from its current 144 Main St. home to the first floor of the former Wilson’s Department Store.
“It’s a great indicator of our co-op member-owner support for the project, both in the overall amount and the number of people, members, who invested,” said Peter Garbus, capital campaign team leader and a member of the co-op’s board of directors. “It’s a really important sign to other potential funders that the community supports the project.”
The capital campaign for the Wilson’s redevelopment project kicked off in late April with a goal of reaching $1 million by the end of June and a final goal of $1.5 million in member loans by Oct. 1, 2023.
Wilson’s Department Store, which was one of the last independent, family-owned department stores in the country, closed in January 2020. This was shortly after Kevin O’Neil, former president of the 137-year-old retail store, announced his retirement.
Mark Abramson, a real estate agent with Coldwell Banker Commercial Upton-Massamont Realtors, previously said the property — which includes the parking lot behind the building and two lots on Chapman Street — was priced at $3.95 million when it officially went on the market.
Mayor Roxann Wedegartner announced in November 2022 that the city worked in partnership with The Community Builders, MassDevelopment and the Franklin Community Co-op on the property’s acquisition. The redevelopment plan for the former Wilson’s building involves relocating and expanding Green Fields Market — which is operated by the Franklin Community Co-op — into the building’s first floor and turning the upper floors into mixed-income rental apartments.
To date, planners have received approval from the Planning Board and a special permit from the Zoning Board of Appeals.
The move from its current home on Main Street to the former Wilson’s building will allow Green Fields Market to more than double its sales floor. Garbus said there has been “a lot of enthusiasm” expressed by member-owners who have invested.
“The kind of support that member-owners talk about when making their loans is excitement for the co-op itself,” he said, “but also for the role that an expanded store can play in downtown Greenfield.”
According to Garbus, there are just over 150 member-owner investors, who have raised around $1,175,000.
Garbus said the team is thankful to the member-owners who have invested “in the future of our co-op and downtown Greenfield.”
“The renovation of Wilson’s and expansion of Green Fields Market will help to transform the downtown and provide a full-service grocery store on Main Street,” he said. “We couldn’t have done this without the help of our deeply committed capital campaign team, our staff and our members.”
The minimum loan amount is $2,000 with potential loan interest rates as high as 4%. For more information about the campaign or Franklin Community Co-op, contact Garbus at capitalcampaigninfo@franklincommunity.coop.
Reporter Mary Byrne can be reached at mbyrne@recorder.com or 413-930-4429. Twitter: @MaryEByrne.