GREENFIELD — As the city moves forward with its plans to sell the 53 Hope St. parking lot to a developer, Community and Economic Development Director Amy Cahillane will host community input sessions in the coming months, allowing residents to share their thoughts on what they would like to see at the vacant lot.
The city plans to publish its request for proposals (RFP) in the spring. Those who wish to voice their opinions on the future development are encouraged to attend a Precinct 5 Hope Street neighborhood meeting in the Community Room at Franklin County’s YMCA on Tuesday, March 3, at 6 p.m. Alternatively, residents can meet Cahillane for office hours at Starbucks between 10 a.m. and noon on Thursday, March 12, or from 5 to 7 p.m. at Four Phantoms Brewing Co. on Thursday, March 19.
“Development of the Hope Street parcel can grow our tax base, increase foot traffic and activity downtown, and create much-needed housing and new retail space,” Mayor Ginny
Desorgher said in a statement. “I hope the community engages in this process to help shape the request for proposals. Whether you supported or opposed this project in November’s election, we want to hear from you.”
Additional meetings will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. on Thursday, April 2, at the John Zon Community Center and, for Precinct 5 residents, at the same time on Wednesday, April 8, at the YMCA’s Community Room. On Mondays in March, there will be tabling events on the proposed development at the Greenfield Public Library from 4 to 6 p.m., and on Tuesdays in March, Zoom office hours are available from 1 to 2 p.m. Those who are interested should email hopestreet@greenfield-ma.gov to receive a Zoom link.
Residents can also share their views on the project by responding to a community survey at bit.ly/hopestsurvey, which asks about the types of housing and commercial uses that are most desirable at 53 Hope St., as well as priorities for the design of the site, preferred transportation features and other development factors.
“So, hopefully, there’s channels in there that will accommodate both schedules and preferred methods of communication, so you should be able to always find me or members of my staff in my office or on Zoom, or whatever your preferred channel of hunting me down might be,” Cahillane told City Council last week. “The [public] engagement is highly concentrated in March and early April. After that, we’re going to take a pause to pull together all the input that we have received and actually write the RFP. I am hoping to get the RFP issued in the spring, ideally the month of April.”
On July 16, 2025, City Council voted 10-1 to declare the Hope Street parking lot as surplus and draft a request for proposals seeking a developer for the roughly 1-acre lot. The council’s decision sparked pushback from some residents who believed the area was not a good fit for housing.
Franklin County Register of Probate John Merrigan challenged the council vote in August, when he petitioned to place a question to reverse the decision on the ballot; however, the measure was defeated 2,254 to 1,711 in the biennial election last November.
In last year’s public discussions on the Hope Street lot, Cahillane and other city officials assured the public that residents would be given ample opportunity to provide input during the RFP creation process — a promise that Precinct 5 City Councilor Marianne Bullock commended Cahillane for honoring.
“If I’m counting correctly, there are 14 times between March 2 and April 8 that you’re making yourself available to the community. That’s a lot,” Bullock said. “Thank you for that.”
At-Large City Councilor Wahab Minhas expressed a similar appreciation for the public involvement in the drafting of an RFP, adding that he believes community engagement might soften the blow for residents who are disappointed by the results of the November election.
“As someone who, in the last election’s shenanigans, might have disagreed with many of the councilors here, I would just like to say to people who are like-minded, like me, who are critical of perhaps what they thought of as the lack of transparency, it would appeal to them that this is a open invitation from not only the city, but from every organization and person who’s been supporting development here, to come and hear your voice,” Minhas said. “You might feel discouraged based on the outcome of the last election, but please do come and show up, rather than just being reactive to every single issue and feeling like you’re being pushed out. … The city is doing a good thing here by involving the public, by hearing everyone from across the aisle, from every precinct.”