‘A merger of equals’ Parent company of Berkshire Bank joins forces with Brookline Bancorp to form Beacon Bank. PAGE 3
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Berkshire Business Journal FEBRUARY 2026 I VOL. 5, NO. 2
Developing solutions
GILLIAN JONES-HECK
Developer David Moresi is shown in 2023 on the first floor of The Residences at Amity Square, the former Johnson School in North Adams. He purchased that building from the city for $225,000 in 2020 and invested about $2.5 million in renovation and conversion.
Builder sees many paths to navigate housing crisis By John Bissell Editor’s note: John Bissell, president of Greylock Federal Credit Union, interviewed David Moresi of Moresi & Associates about the developer’s strategy and perspective on solving the housing shortage. NORTH ADAMS — David Moresi believes that pragmatic entrepreneurial strategies and innovative approaches are keys to addressing the housing crisis. In addition to making regulations more responsive to economic necessities, he said, property owners and investors
need to be realistic about their goals and expectations. That applies both to rental and owner-occupied housing. “If you’re a developer, you have to pony up the money and recognize that your investments are a long-term proposition,” Moresi said. “You can make money, but it takes time to achieve gains. In the meantime you have to be able to keep up with ongoing costs like the mortgage and taxes.” Moresi is applying that philosophy to an initiative that is adding 40 units to the supply of market-rate rental housing in North Adams in three locations.
Moresi’s firm started the project in 2020. Its specific objective has been to increase the stock of rental housing in North Adams within a general price range of about $1,650 to $2,200 per month, including heat. “We saw an opportunity because there’s an overwhelming need and demand for quality market-rate rental units in North Adams,” he explained. “As an entrepreneur, I go on the premise that if you build it, they will come,” Moresi is the founder and principal of Moresi & Associates, a multifaceted commercial and residential real estate
development, construction and property-management firm which was established in 2000. Based in North Adams, Moresi & Associates currently has a core staff of 50 and develops its own projects as well as providing contracting services for a variety of clients in Western Massachusetts, Southern Vermont and Eastern New York. Moresi & Associates’ most high-profile project has been the redevelopment and conversion of the former Norad Mill on Route 2 into a mixed-use commercial center, which the company privately financed and developed.
HISTORIC CONVERSIONS Moresi described the firm’s current housing initiative as a three-phase plan. “It includes the redevelopment and conversion of three historic properties,” he said. “Two of these have been completed and are occupied. The third project is scheduled to be finished in summer 2026.” The completed projects include the former factory and headquarters of the Wall-Streeter Shoe Co. at 26 Union St. into a mix of offices and 10 residential rental units. That project opened MORESI, Page 2