Retirement home company acquires former St. Teresa’s Church property in Pittsfield

Monday June 3, 2013

PITTSFIELD -- Berkshire Retirement Inc. of Pittsfield has completed the acquisition of the former St. Teresa’s Parish at 190 South St. where it plans to construct a $10 million, 54-bed retirement home.

The nonprofit purchased the property from the Diocese of Springfield for $550,000 and also acquired an adjacent lot on the corner of South and George streets that housed a medical building for $400,000, according to Executive Director Edward Forfa.

Berkshire Retirement plans to use the new facility to replace Berkshire Place at 89 South St., a 44-bed facility built in 1888, originally used as a women’s only retirement home.

Berkshire Retirement expressed interest in the project in 2012, but Forfa said the company had to satisfy certain conditions with the city of Pittsfield before it could officially close on the property.

The conditions included a special permit and variance from the Zoning Board of Appeals, and permission from the Historical Commission to demolish the three buildings on church property. The commission was involved because the plan included tearing down an historical building.

Since it is a state-licensed retirement home, the state Department of Public Health also needs to approve the plan.

"The application has been submitted," Forfa said. "But it takes time to go through the review process."

Berkshire Retirement had originally hoped to begin construction by late this spring and have the facility completed by the summer of 2014.

"I’m hopeful that we can still be in that time frame," Forfa said. "We’re still optimistic that it will conclude by 2014."

Overseen by a board of directors, Berkshire Place provides around-the-clock nursing care for both long- and short-term residents.

Built in 1954, St. Teresa’s was one of six Pittsfield churches that the Diocese of Springfield closed in 2008. It’s also the second church property to have been sold since then.

The diocese had been offering the St. Teresa’s property for $1.25 million, but it went on the market before the recession drove property values down.

"It’s very hard to get actual value for these buildings," Diocese spokesman Mark Dupont said. "That was a building that had a wide variety of interest, and when this offer came forward given the market we thought that this was the best price.

"It also serves a community purpose," Dupont said.

The diocese also has sold two South County properties, one of them a former rectory, to private interests.

In Great Barrington, the diocese sold the rectory of the former All Saints Parish at 218 Highland St. for $139,000 to Oliver Caldwell, according to documents on file at the Southern Berkshire Registry of Deeds.

The diocese also sold a private residence at 7 Sergeant St. in Stockbridge that was associated with St. Mary’s Parish in Lee for $240,000 to Anne Auberjonois and Sebastian Bonnier of New York City, according to documents filed at the Middle Berkshire Registry.

None of the buyers could be reached for comment.

The rectory in Great Barrington became expendable when the diocese consolidated All Saints and Corpus Christi parishes into a single entity, St. Teresa of Calcutta, in 2009, Dupont said.

http://www.berkshireeagle.com/news/c...t-teresa-rsquo

holy sell!!
demi dollar pecahan 3 sen, ini sungguh terlalu