Former Harry's Supermarket Under Construction for Restaurant
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Construction is underway to transform the former Harry's Supermarket into a restaurant.
Late last month, the Conservation Commission greenlit some tree pruning on the property. New windows and a new door can be seen in the front of the building.
"It's a substantial renovation that's currently underway here," Brent White of White Engineering said, speaking on behalf of the applicant and owner, Huajie Zhu.
A fire gutted the longtime Wahconah Street supermarket in 2023, and the following year, Zhu purchased the property for $460,000 two years ago to build a restaurant with hibachi in the existing footprint of the more than 100-year-old building.
White explained that the project has been ongoing for over a year, and the Community Development Board granted the property a waiver to reduce the minimum required number of parking spaces so that additional spaces aren't needed.
He noted that, looking at the site plan, there is very little room to do so. A mirror will be installed near the sharp turn on Bel Air Avenue to alleviate traffic concerns.
Pruning will be done on trees in the southeast corner of the existing paved parking lot, as a number of branches are hanging over. The new owners also intend to patch, sealcoat, and re-stripe the parking lot.
A fire tore through the building less than an hour after the supermarket closed for the day three years ago. An automatic sprinkler system is required for the new use.
"The improvement is going to be the fact that we're taking a broken-down, crumbling parking lot and actually having a nice seal coat," White said to the ConCom, noting that it will reduce debris going into the river.
The application was approved with special conditions that a forebay, or catch basin, be created onsite, and that pipe modifications be installed for oil/water separations.
The commission also heard a plan to turn a shuttered motel on Pittsfield/Lenox Road into a convenience store and gas station. The item was continued to June 11 because it doesn't have a file number yet.
The applicant, 525 Pittsfield Lenox LLC, plans to fully demolish the former motel and construct a gas station and convenience store with a coffee shop drive-through.
Formerly the Lenox Inn, the property sits between Jiffy Lube and North's Services. It is not the former Wagon Wheel Motel that burned down last year, which is across the street.
There will be all new connections and stormwater drainage.
The tricky part, the project engineer said, is that the property is partially in Pittsfield and partially in Lenox. It was advised that each community handle its own portion of the property and project proposal.
There is no work within the wetlands on Pittsfield’s side, and stormwater discharges to Lenox.
Tags: Asian cuisine, conservation commission, restaurants, supermarket,
