From The Daily Hampshire Gazette
by Chad Cain
Friday, May 23, 2008
It looks like Kollmorgen Electro-Optical is here to stay.
In a unanimous vote Thursday night, the expansive committee in charge of overseeing the redevelopment of the former state hospital grounds approved a significant change to the Village Hill Northampton master plan. The move paves the way for the city’s largest manufacturer and its largest for-profit employer to move into a new manufacturing and office facility on the development’s south campus - thus keeping Kollmorgen in the city.
Development of the south campus was always a question we had,’ said committee member Joe Blumenthal. ‘The community is being presented with an opportunity here that we should take advantage of.’
Kollmorgen, which employs 330 people at its Northampton plant, would be the lone anchor tenant in the revamped south campus, where most of the commercial building is slated. In approving a MassDevelopment request to change the master plan, the Northampton State Hospital Citizens Advisory Committee for Village Hill agreed to significantly reduce both the number of buildings and the amount of square footage slated for the south campus.
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From The Republican
by Fred Contrada
Thursday May 22, 2008
Amid reservations about the loss of office and retail space, the Citizens Advisory Committee for the Village Hill Northampton project voted unanimously today to amend the master plan, clearing the way for Kollmorgen Corp. to become the main commercial tenant.
Under a plan presented to the committee, Kollmorgen would occupy the lion’s share of the former Northampton State Hospital campus to the south of Route 66.
The site had been envisioned as a mix of commercial and industrial space that would complement the residential portion of the village on the north campus.
Kollmorgen, the city’s largest private employer, makes optical equipment, some of which is used by the military.
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From The Daily Hampshire Gazette
By Chad Cain
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Kollmorgen Electro-Optical, one of the city’s largest manufacturing plants with about 250 employees at its King Street headquarters, is taking another look at Village Hill Northampton and could become its second commercial tenant.
The company and the city are once again discussing a deal that would enable the maker of optical and imaging systems to become an anchor tenant at Village Hill Northampton. Kollmorgen and Village Hill development officials will meet with a key city committee Thursday.
The move to a new manufacturing facility, if approved, would come more than three years after the city initially tried to lure the company to the $28 million, mixed-used redevelopment on the 126-acre site that once housed Northampton State Hospital.
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From The Republican
Saturday, May 17, 2008
By Fred Contrada
The developers of Village Hill harked back to the days of Northampton State Hospital yesterday as they prepared to build a new community on the rubble of the former hospital for the mentally ill.
The groundbreaking paved the way for the construction of 11 single-family homes, 12 townhouse and 40 units of mixed-income housing on what was once called Hospital Hill. The ceremony took place on the site of Old Main, the hospital’s administrative building and architectural centerpiece. Old Main was demolished last year.
Jonathan A. Wright, the chief executive officer of Wright Builders Inc., told a gathering of dignitaries that he hopes the neighborhood of houses he is building will contribute to the site’s rich history.
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