The Vantage (formerly The Sophia)

Prospect Street & Ferris Place

The proposed 60-unit, 4-story building with ground floor retail to be built on less than 1 acre, on the corner of Prospect Street & Ferris Place (this project has an excessive density of 60 units/acre)

In 2025, James Ward sold his property and transferred the RDA to Vango Development.

In May 2025, the Town Council approved the transfer by resolution. Unfortunately, there was no will by the town to re-open discussions with the new developer about the size and scale of the proposed development as there had been Site Plan Approval previously granted.

Sometime by the end of 2025, the developer demolished one of the houses on the property and removed a number of trees adjacent to the single family home on Prospect St.

In January 2026, the developer purchased the adjacent property, 118 Ferris Place, to use as a construction staging area during construction., as well as the temporary location for the Historic House. This action as well as the transfer with new contract dates required an amendment to the Redevelopment Agreement (RDA). But also, the construction schedule, Exhibit B, also needs to be adjusted and should have been included in the amended plan, but to date, the public has not seen any updated Exhibit B that would reflect the contractor’s timetable.

There are a number of stipulations included in the RDA that should be monitored by the town for compliance. At the 3/10/26 Town Council Conference Session, Westfield Advocates asked about several stipulations and were told that the items were being monitored. We OPRA’d the items and learned that the town has none of the items in their possession.

Here are the Contract stipulations:

1. Section 4.19: PRIOR to Submitting application for Building Permit, developer must execute a 10-year lease agreement with a local non-profit for cultural/educational use of the Historic building.

2. Section 4.12: PRIOR to Applying for a building permit developer must provide LEED certification approved by the Town Engineer and Town Planner (developer not required to obtain LEED from USGBC)

3. Section 4.18: PRIOR to Issuance of Building Permit , Final Historic Protection Plan to be submitted and approved and must follow the Historic Preservation Ordinance

4. Section 4.4c: PRIOR to construction start - approval of safety plans/specifications for pedestrian safety

5. Section 4.4d: Town is to provide off-street parking as needed by contractor

6. Section 4.43: 7 days PRIOR to construction start, Pre-construction meeting with the Town

7. Section 4.6b: PRIOR to construction star, Performance Bond required

8. Section 4.6i: Surety Bond - maintenance guarantee required at Final Certificate of Occupancy

9. Section 4.15: Developer to achieve 20% MWSBE and also hire residents and to submit quarterly reports