Letter: Archipelago Developments Undermine Downtown Community, Commerce

Editor’s note: the following letter was sent to the Amherst Town Council on March 17

I am writing to voice my dismay at the vision that town council is supporting for the Kendrick Park section of downtown. I have numerous concerns about the recently built and planned mixed use buildings, some of which I have outlined below.

1) The new “development” is unappealing. It has no set backs, simply a sidewalk and then a road, 5 stories of brick and glass. These features are not at all in keeping with the rest of downtown and do not promote a sense of community.

2) These new buildings sit on land that previously held numerous shops that made our small town a destination for its residents and those in nearby towns (The Mercantile, the music and yarn stores, the Loose Goose, the tailor, the wine store) and replaces it with what effectively are student dormitories for wealthy students (the websites for both of the current apartment buildings are clearly marketing to students and the cost far exceeds that of typical rentals in town). While the first floors of these buildings have the potential to house businesses that could be destinations for visitors, they do not. Instead downtown has only a single new restaurant and an office space. The commercial portions of the buildings do not promote travel to our downtown in any way. Instead I would suggest that both the number of visitors to our downtown businesses and the appeal of our downtown have been diminished by both of these developments.

3) Lack of parking. Frankly it is ridiculous that both developments were allowed to be built with a minimal number of parking spaces. While I too promote the idea that the future is carless, it is very clear that most residents of those developments use their cars.  The parking lot in front of the now defunct Cousin’s Market is full nightly and you should also have access to the increases in on-street parking permits for that part of town. While visiting Cousin’s Market the summer before Kendrick Place opened, I heard an apartment manager tell a potential resident and his parents that the lack of parking places was not a problem because they could get on-street parking permits that allowed them to park in nearby neighborhoods. The developers know that parking is a need of their residents. Now downtown has to cope with loss of businesses and extra cars vying for the available parking spots. 

4) Archipelago (the developer) is using our town. They are not at all interested in making our town better, they are not interested in increasing the appeal of downtown, they are not interested in attracting people or businesses to our downtown. They are interested in maximizing profits. They are building structures that maximize leasable square feet and are marketing it to wealthy students. As a town we should be promoting growth that will enhance the appeal, livability and stability of our precious downtown. We do need affordable housing for all of our town’s residents, but I would suggest that the increase in student housing in the center of town (and perhaps a handful of affordable housing rentals) does very little toward achieving this goal. The housing provided by the new and proposed Archipelago properties are not designed or marketed to house families — they are designed and marketed to students.

5) I cannot believe that you are considering more development like the new projects being discussed at the site of Cousins Market and potentially expanding such development by changing the zoning. Unlike the beautiful new playground under construction across the street, which has great potential to bring people into downtown from the surroundings, such projects do not promote the vision of a lively village center. These dormitories are making the edge of town into an vacuous unappealing cavern that appears set to expand even further.

Kimberly D Tremblay 

Kimberly D Tremblay is a resident of Amherst