New Owner Eyes Bakery for Empty Downtown Building

The Hamilton man who bought a building on a portion of the former Hansbury property says he is hoping to get a bakery to locate on the first floor of the building.

The new owner of a commercial building in downtown Hamilton says he is doing all he can to get a bakery to move into the building. This week Michael Pallazola of Hamilton unveiled plans to spruce up the building at 227 Willow St., which is the southern part of the former Hansbury property. The building will not be expanded upward or outward but instead given a new look on the outside. “We’re just trying to dress it up,” said Ray Guertin, an architect from Ipswich who is working on the project. New windows will be installed on the first floor and six new lightposts will be installed in the parking lot. The lightposts will be 14 foot tall "antique-style" lamps that will be "dark sky compliant." The plans show a wrap-around roof overhang …

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Key Downtown Hamilton Parcel Has New Owner

A portion of the former Hansbury property has sold to a Hamilton residents, who is working on plans.

A downtown parcel - one of several eyed for redevelopment when new zoning was put in place two years ago – has changed hands. Hamilton resident Michael Pallazola, who owns High-Tech Electric in Essex, bought the southern portion of the Hansbury property at 227 Willow St. on May 22 for $580,000. The front of the property has a home that sits near the street and there is an office building at the rear with a parking lot. Pallazola said last week that he is “in the beginning stages of a plan that will beautify the property while keeping in mind what is best for our community.” He didn’t say whether the overlay zoning district, approved at Fall Town Meeting in 2010, factored in to the purchase or whether any of his plans would include any of …

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Week in Review

Last Week's Top Five Stories: Chelgren a Finalist, Two Sports Champions

The past week in news in Hamilton and Wenham included an announcement that the Wenham town administrator is a finalist for a similar position in Nahant, two big votes at Wenham Town Meeting and two high school champions crowned on Saturday.

Here’s a look at the top five stories in Hamilton and Wenham last week, Nov. 7-13. 1. Wenham Town Administrator is Finalist in Nahant The search committee that is looking for a new town administrator for Nahant announced this week that Jeff Chelgren, Wenham’s town administrator, is one of the three finalists for the position. Chelgren, along with the other two finalists - Lancaster Town Administrator Orlando Pacheco and Saugus Town Manager Andrew Bisignani – will be interviewed by the Nahant Board of Selectmen on Thursday night. 2. Generals Football and Girls’ Cross Country Are Champions Saturday was a day of champions for the Hamilton-Wenham Regional High School Generals, as the football team captured the Northeastern Conference/Cape Ann …

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Former Hansbury Property is New Home for Dodge Tree

The former Hansbury lumberyard property in downtown Hamilton, which had been the focus on a rezoning proposal at last year's Fall Town Meeting, is now home to Dodge Tree Co.

The former Hansbury lumberyard property on Willow Street in downtown Hamilton is the new home to Dodge Tree Service. The 67-year old company will use the .9-acre property to store its eight trucks, according to Kandis Cloutman, who owns Dodge Tree Service with her husband Chris. The property, at 281 Willow St., had been at the center of a rezoning measure approved at Town Meeting last fall that created an overlay-zoning district to allow mixed uses on the property and several adjacent lots. Town officials had hoped the move would spur redevelopment of the property, which had sat vacant for several years. The new zoning overlay district allows for things such as a mix of residential and commercial uses, retail space or restaurants or multi-…

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Elaine Appel

8:33 am on Thursday, November 10, 2011

I am disappointed to hear that the company plans to compete directly with the HW Ed Fund Christmas tree lot a few hundred feet away from this property. I would hope that Dodge can find an alternate way to support the good work of the JDRF.   more ›

VIDEO: Former Hansbury Building is Torn Down

The former retail store at Hansbury Lumberyard that sat along Willow Street in Hamilton was torn down on Thursday.

The main building at the former Hansbury lumberyard was torn down on Thursday by the property’s new owner, who says he’s still undecided about the future of the site. The building at 281 Willow St. was on the ground by 2 p.m. as a backhoe from Bennett Contracting of Georgetown worked to move the debris from the lot. Bunky’s Realty of Danvers bought the-.91-acre lot in April for $700,000. Since buying it, Bunky’s President Jeff Bunk said he has cleaned up the property, removing debris and trimmed brush. After the purchase, he said he had no immediate redevelopment plans. Hamilton Planning Coordinator Marcie Ricker said Thursday that no plans for the property have been submitted to town officials. Bunk said on Thursday – while standing …

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