Former Greenfield Center School sees new life as apartments

GREENFIELD — Four years after brothers David and Mark Zaccheo bought the former Greenfield Center School campus for roughly $265,000, the two have nearly completed their conversion of the campus’ main building into 11 market-rate apartments.

The brothers, operating as 71 MCR LLC, completed the first phase in the spring of 2024, when they completed renovations to the 59 Montague City Road building, formerly called the Marion Bliss Finer Building, that was ultimately leased to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for use as office space.

The 10,000-square-foot building next to the office space at 71 Montague City Road, David Zaccheo explained, will include a mix of smaller one-bedroom units and more spacious two-bedroom apartments. He explained that the site’s proximity to Temple Woods nature trails as well as the city’s downtown corridor gives it a balance of privacy and community.

“The initial impression of the site was a little bit of a sense of a community. We like the idea of mixing commercial and residential. I think they could work really well together — it’s the idea of bringing a little bit more life to the neighborhood,” David Zaccheo said. “The neighborhood has the advantage of being both quiet and tucked away, and being really close to downtown. You can pop over the bridge to Turners [Falls], or go south and you’re in Deerfield. … It’s really well-located.”

Touring the building, which is expected to launch on the rental market in February, David Zaccheo pointed out remnants of the Center School’s former occupancy, which ended in 2021 after the school moved to its new 30-acre campus at 739 Bernardston Road.

While many of the apartments’ kitchen islands were built using the school’s doors, the brothers explained that the lobby will house a display of student-crafted tiles on the wall.

“Another little fragment from the original school building were these five-panel doors that didn’t meet contemporary code. We couldn’t really use them as entry doors, but rather than scrap them, we thought it was this would be a great front piece for the kitchen island. There are five or six of these islands. It just gives a little personality and character,” David Zaccheo said. “There were some maps that were found in the attic. We’ll reframe those old geography maps and hang them. There’s also an old bell that we’re going to try to restore and display.”

Another tie to the past can be seen in least one of the one-bedroom apartments, where exposed brick displaying the former Abercrombie School’s sign remains. The Center School, which educates students in preschool through eighth grade and had originally opened in 1981 near Foster’s Supermarket, had renovated what was the former Abercrombie School back in 1988 and 1989 before moving its campus to Montague City Road.

Apartments will range in rental prices from $1,350 per month to $2,100 per month. Those interested in scheduling an apartment tour are encouraged to email 71montaguecityrentals@gmail.com. Mark Zaccheo also noted that he hopes to host an open house for prospective tenants by the end of February.

Though the brothers plan to take a short break from rehabilitating properties in the near future, Mark Zaccheo noted he would be interested in the city’s former Green River School on Meridian Street, should it go up on sale. City Council had voted in December to declare the school as surplus property, with a request for proposals for the sale of the property expected to be issued in the late spring or early summer. However, due to funding the city had received from the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) for repairs, the city has grappled with a lack of clarity as to which kinds of organizations can set up shop there.