New Housing Secretary Tours Wright Block Residences
July 1, 2026
PITTSFIELD — Starting at the former St. Joseph High School and ending at the Wright Building, Juana Matias, the state housing secretary, got to see the bones of one burgeoning housing project in Pittsfield and the final product of another.
"We love coming to the ground and seeing how people are leveraging public taxpayer dollars to help address the issue of our time, which is housing production," said Matias, who started her role in March. "Today is a day to just highlight great work."
On Monday, Matias toured housing projects in various stages of completion in Pittsfield alongside city officials and housing advocates. The Wright Building, at 255 North St., has all apartments leased and street-facing commercial spaces coming soon. Plans for the former high school, at 22 Maplewood Ave., are just beginning, with initial site-work projected to start soon.
The shell of the vacant high school — with paint peeling and ceiling tiles missing — stood in stark contrast to Allegrone Cos.' renovation of the Wright Building, which Matias visited next.
The Wright Block Residences already has all 35 apartments leased, said Lou Allegrone, president of the Berkshire developer. There are 21 two-bedroom and 14 one-bedroom apartments, with one of each being reserved for affordable housing. The market-rate rents are $1,800 to $1,900 for a one-bedroom unit and $2,000 to $2,400 for the two-bedroom units, Allegrone said. The one- and two-bedroom affordable units rent for $1,400 and $1,600, respectively.
The Wright Block Redevelopment received $4.5 million in Housing Development Incentive Program grants, which are for housing projects in Gateway Cities, Allegrone said. These units continue to show Pittsfield's commitment to building new housing, including helping Berkshire County make the third-most progress toward its state housing goal, according to new data released by the administration.
That data will help improve responses to the housing crisis, Matias said. And the state will "highlight communities that are doing well, like here, who are punching above their weight."