One East Pleasant / Byron Wells
Amherst, MA – Cutler Associates is well into construction on a third multi-family housing project with developer Archipelago Investments LLC, in Amherst. Having completed mixed-use residential complexes Kendrick Place in 2015, and Olympia Place in 2016, the team has moved on to another project in the center of downtown Amherst.
The 83,000sf project is scheduled to be completed and occupied by the fall of this year — at which time, through an agreement between the town and developers, Cambridge artist David Fichter will recreate the Amherst History Mural that adorned the original building, thereby preserving a treasured piece of town history.
Construction began at One East Pleasant in the spring of 2017. The mixed-use residential development’s upper four floors contain 135 apartments with studio, one-, and two-bedroom floor plans. The first floor offers 7,500sf of retail, commercial, and amenity space. There will also be covered parking for tenants. Cutler worked with Boston architectural firm DiMella Shaffer on all three Archipelago projects.
As the project got underway, a group of UMass Amherst students in the university’s Building and Construction Technology program approached Cutler, inquiring about the possibility of using it for their required final case-study. The team of students met on site with Cutler’s project manager Mark Condon and superintendent Rob St. Onge over the course of the semester, observing the evolution of the building’s structural and mechanical systems and schedule adherence. Their final report earned them an overall grade of 98 for the class – and in the process, the Cutler project team was able to demonstrate one of the firm’s core values: Serve the Community.
