HADLEY — Two buildings located on Route 9 since the 1970s are being demolished this week to make way for a new development that will include an L.L. Bean store, a Five Guys restaurant and a Sports Clips franchise.
The Burger King restaurant and the former Florence Savings Bank, which began life as a Bonanza restaurant and later served as home to Wildwater Outfitters, are coming down to make way for new buildings that will total 25,000 square feet. Both structures are located near the entrance to Mountain Farms Mall.
Dan Hester, development manager for mall owner W.S. Development of Chetsnut Hill, said the 15,000-square-foot building will have L.L. Bean, while the smaller 10,000-square-foot building will have multiple tenants.
“LL Bean will be taking one building in its entirety, and we have signed leases in the second building with Five Guys and Sport Clips,” Hester said.
The new buildings, which can break ground once the site is cleared, are expected to be ready for occupancy sometime in 2019.
Hester said additional announcements about future tenants will be made in the near future. The demolition of the two buildings continues a redevelopment trend on Route 9 this year that has also included the removal of the former Stan’s Drive-In, which dated to the 1940s, and the clearing of the former Kicza Lumber site, a business that opened at that location in the 1970s.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.