Greetings!
Moving Green Fields Market into the former Wilson’s Building is an exciting proposition, one that we are working hard to achieve. The Board of Directors and FCC staff have formed a joint working group for the express purpose of communicating regularly with member-owners and with the broader community regarding FCC’s planned expansion of Green Fields Market. We’re eager to share with you some of the progress made so far.
Going forward, we anticipate sending updates every two months on this significant project.
Progress Toward Expansion: An Update
Here are some of the accomplishments in recent months:
- We have negotiated a division of space with The Community Builders, the developer creating mixed-income housing on the upper levels of the building, allowing us to have all of our sales space on the first floor and to locate our offices in a portion of the second floor.
- The engineering, equipment, and architectural drawings for our new store are 90% complete, a significant undertaking given the complexities of construction within this facility. We have passed the zoning requirements and obtained necessary approvals for the Chapman Street modifications for delivery and truck access.
- We completed the purchase of a liquor license and are excited to begin offering a limited selection of product in our current Green Fields Market location this November, with plans for a much wider selection to be offered in our new location.
- Our business plan is complete, and working with grocery experts from National Cooperative Grocers (NCG) we have developed a detailed financial proforma, a 10-year financial projection, which was recently approved by the Board.
- We are moving forward with our work to obtain the necessary funding. Your support through the Capital Campaign was a critical first step — thank you! We are now developing relationships with other potential funders and with politicians whose support will be helpful in obtaining the money required. Many local, state, and federal representatives and other officials have participated in tours of the building and expressed their excitement for the project. We have hired a professional to work with the team on developing necessary contacts, as well as a financial consultant.
- We are in communication with a non-profit food pantry about acquiring our current store property.
While many dimensions of the project are taking shape, the timing with which we can move forward remains unknown. The building is currently owned by The Massachusetts Development Finance Agency (MassDevelopment), an agency created to stimulate economic development in the Commonwealth by serving as a lender and developer. Our agreement with MassDevelopment calls for them to deliver our portion of the building unencumbered by tenants, which they are not yet able to do.
MassDevelopment is engaged in ongoing negotiations with the current tenant, with the goal of finding the best solution for all parties. We have extensively evaluated options for beginning construction in a portion of our space as negotiations continue, but none are technically or economically feasible.
Because the timing is uncertain, we are not yet in the position to make a formal go/no-go decision. Meanwhile, the timeline for the member loans remains as originally expressed; the first interest payments were made on October 1.
We remain excited about the benefits this expansion can have for member-owners and for the local community broadly and look forward to discussing additional ideas for strengthening our impact over the months ahead.
The Expansion Communication Working Group is preparing a list of FAQ with more detailed information, which will be available there soon. In addition, General Manager John Williams’ expansion updates for the monthly board meeting are also posted there and available to all members.
To ask questions or suggest topics for future communications, please send an email to ECWG@franklincommunity.coop.
Working Group members are Margaret Cooley (board president), Jeanne Douillard (member-owner), Tammy Erickson (board member), Judith Roberts (communication consultant to FCC), Caitlin von Schmidt (FCC Outreach and Communications Manager), and John Williams (General Manager).