Leverett, Amherst Neighbors Oppose Massive Development

This column appeared previously in the Amherst Current on January 16, 2025 and is reposted here with permission of the author.  It may not be reproduced elsewhere without the author’s permission.

Could there be a development at the enormous Kittredge estate that would address the region’s housing shortage, be acceptable to Amherst and Leverett residents, and still be financially feasible?

That’s the question that Jacob Park of the new Amherst-Leverett Alliance is pondering. He’d like to consider alternatives to the current proposal for an over-55 development with 400 units, spanning the two towns.

“Given that Leverett only has 738 households, a 400-unit development on a property that sits mostly within Leverett is radically out of scale for the surrounding community.”Park says.

Michael Kittredge started the Yankee Candle Company in South Deerfield in the early 1980s. As it became a roaring success, he bought up more than 60 acres for his personal residence, mostly in the southern part of Leverett.  Kittredge sold most of the company in 1998 for a reported $500 million.

By the time he died in 2019, the Kittredge estate in Leverett included a 25,000-square-foot mansion, 55,000-square-foot spa and fitness center, indoor tennis court, 9-hole golf course, car barns with space for 60 vehicles, video game arcade, water park and 3-lane bowling alley, among other luxuries. His son and heir, “Mick” Kittredge, put the estate, now called Pioneer Pointe at Juggler Meadow, on the market in 2023 for $23 million but it attracted no buyers. It is still available for sale for $14.9 million,

Here’s a link to a website describing the Kittredge estate in detail. “This extraordinary, newly-listed compound is truly a one-of-a-kind offering,” it says. “Juggler Meadow represents a rare opportunity for the individual buyer seeking a remarkable legacy property or the corporate entity looking for a premier retreat or upscale function space.”

At the same time, Kittredge has worked with development manager Joshua Wallack, who initially proposed up to 700 units of housing, mostly in Leverett, maintaining access to all the amenities of the property. In response to objections from residents, he pivoted to a 55+ development. One plan would have 48 units in Leverett and 352 in Amherst, and another would have 150 units in Leverett and 250 in Amherst, as shown on the accompanying maps.

Under state law, he could override local zoning with a “comprehensive permit” by making a percentage of the units “affordable,” but with a cap of 48 units in Leverett. Wallack proposes to make 25 percent of the units “affordable.”

“I am committed to ensuring that any development at this site not only serves its residents but also preserves yet strengthens the social fabric of the region,” Wallack wrote in a column in the Amherst Bulletin. He cited the “significant tax revenue” that the development would generate and the “economic and social vibrancy” it would bring.

Park isn’t buying it. He questions the scale of the project, Wallack’s development history, and the high cost of maintaining the extravagant amenities at the estate, estimated at $1.5 million a year. Here’s a link to the website of the Amherst-Leverett Alliance, which details problems the Alliance sees with the Wallack proposal.

“My main objection is the fundamental contradiction between a luxury estate and affordable housing,” Park says. “He utterly lacks the experience and track record to build affordable housing in this area. I’m more interested in a credible alternative from a credible developer of affordable housing.”

Park lives on Juggler Meadow Road, near the Kittredge estate. So you might think he would favor seeing nothing happen there, or having some billionaire or corporation buy the property and leave it as it is. But he is not a typical obstructionist NIMBY.

He recognizes that there’s a housing shortage in the area, and accepts that some development is likely to happen at the Kittredge estate. For example, he would be comfortable with a cohousing development similar to Cherry Hill Cohousing off Pulpit Hill Road in North Amherst, he says.

Ideally, this kind of development would be intergenerational, have an affordable component, and set aside conservation land for hiking trails, Park says.

It isn’t clear that a group planning cohousing would have enough money, say $10 million, to make Kittredge abandon his plans to sell it for $14.9 million or to build a larger development there.

And it isn’t clear what would happen to the 25,000-square-foot mansion. Park thinks it is unsuitable for reuse and might have to be razed.

Many Leverett residents would support an affordable housing development at the Kittredge estate, Park says. But with skyrocketing construction costs over the past five years, financing of affordable housing is difficult to achieve without governmental subsidies and grants

The Wallack proposal has attracted more attention in Leverett than in Amherst. But last Friday, opponents came to the Cushman Cafe to talk with Town Manager Paul Bockelman and Assistant Town Manager David Ziomek.

There are many issues for Amherst to consider: the impact on roads and traffic, emergency access, and potential development near water and sewer lines that would have to be extended into Leverett. It is unclear how much more volume the wastewater treatment plant can handle.

There are also questions about whether the proposed development is consistent with Amherst’s master plan, which calls for new housing to be near the center of town or village centers, with easy access to jobs, shopping and public transit.

And, as with most housing proposals, the prospect of college students living there could become an issue.

As this drama plays out, it will be interesting to see if something can be worked out that would provide more housing, minimally disrupt the rural nature of the surrounding area, and be attractive to a developer.