On October 1, Lee voters approved all four articles at the Special Town Meeting. None of them dealt with 88 West Park Street, the former Price Chopper building and parking lot that the town has been trying to buy for most of 2026. In late August, town officials thought they had agreed on a price of $2,316,000 for the 1.75-acre site. A month later the purchase wasn't on the warrant. Select Board Chair Bob Jones said the two sides "just have not been able to come to terms."
The town wants the asphalt. Every plan Lee has described for the site starts with tearing down the store, which has sat empty since it closed in July 2017. The deal stalled over which parking rows belong to whom.
The building is the part everyone plans to remove
Price Chopper's parent, The Golub Corporation, closed the Lee store on July 29, 2017. The company said the 17,000-square-foot building was too small to convert to its Market 32 format, and it pointed to the store's financial results, location, size, and ability to compete. The most common wish for the site is another grocery store, and that option is effectively gone. The purchase agreement on file at the Middle Berkshire Registry of Deeds bars leasing the space to any business that sells "food products for off-premises consumption." Town Administrator Christopher Brittain told The Berkshire Eagle in April that a grocer was unlikely even without that clause, because the town had contacted several grocery chains and none was interested.
Lee still has a full-size supermarket. Big Y runs a store at 10 Pleasant Street. The West Park Street site has gone through other ideas over the years. In 2018, Benchmark Development floated a "village market" with apartments on the site, and the project was never built. In December 2025, Mohamed Zabian proposed a private 42-unit apartment project.
The town's idea is simpler. In June, Brittain described three uses: municipal parking, a road from West Park Street through to Consolati Way, and more green space. Finance Committee discussion added a reason for the road. It would give emergency responders a direct route to the new Lee Public Safety Complex, now under construction, without using Route 20 and Main Street.
Six prices for one lot
Each number in this deal has had a turn as the headline. Here they are together:
| Figure | What it represents | When |
|---|---|---|
| $750,000 | Town assessment: $280,500 for the land, $469,500 for the building | As reported Sept. 2026 |
| $1,350,000 | What M. Zabian Five Corporation paid Golub for the site | February 2026 |
| $1,900,000 | The town's offer, which was declined | April 2026 |
| $2,316,000 | The price negotiated with the town | August 2026 |
| $2,500,000 | The stabilization fund transfer considered for the warrant, including a $300,000 demolition bid | September 2026 |
| $3,000,000 | The seller's asking price | Before the town's deal |
Zabian bought the property in February after a long legal fight with Golub. According to The Berkshire Edge, the gap between that $1.35 million purchase and the $2,316,000 price reflects about $600,000 in legal fees he paid to acquire it, plus the cost of demolishing a building that is now in disrepair.
The two sides read that gap differently. Finance Committee Chair Sue Kelley said she thought the town was overpaying and that the seller's attorney fees, although verified, "are irrelevant to a buyer in the investor realm." Committee member Abigail Noble said the town had room to negotiate because it would be handling the demolition itself.
The dispute over the first row of spaces
The price wasn't what stopped the deal. The revised documents kept the $2,316,000 figure.
The disagreement involves the parking area between Zabian's Fine Jewelry and the Morgan House Inn & Restaurant. In the town's draft, the first row of that lot was reserved for customers of Zabian's businesses, including the 15 tenants in his building. The town would have access to the remaining rows, and Zabian would keep an easement over the whole parking area. The contract his attorneys sent back described the shared space by length and width instead of by individual parking spaces.
At the September 1 meeting, the Select Board voted unanimously to table the agreement and send it to town counsel. Members said the written terms differed materially from what had been negotiated. Zabian said his changes only added detail.
Parking explains why the town is still at the table. Main Street parking is limited, and in June the Select Board approved an agreement letting the town use the lot for events such as Founders Weekend until the property is sold or either party gives notice. This year's Founders Weekend ran September 18 through 20 and filled Main Street and Town Park with the Taste of Lee, a beer garden, fireworks, and a parade. Finance Committee member Pat Carlino raised the risk that matters most to supporters. If Zabian sold to someone else, such as a car dealership, the lot could stop being available to the public. Town Planner Brooke Healy said many uses are allowed in the downtown district.
Even the town's $1.9 million offer in April included the right for Zabian's to use those parking spaces. The Eagle reported that those spaces had been at the center of the lawsuit that preceded the February sale. The deal has been about parking from the beginning.
Where the $2.5 million would come from
The Finance Committee voted 5 to 1 on September 9 against recommending the $2.5 million transfer from the general stabilization fund. Carlino cast the only yes vote.
Treasurer Jennifer Gagnon explained the trade-off. The transfer would drop the fund below the $25 million it is required to hold. The town uses that fund to pay interest on the bond for the Public Safety Complex, so the purchase would cut into that year's interest payment. Gagnon said the town could move free cash back into the fund the next year to cover the shortfall without raising the tax rate.
Noble put the committee's position this way: "I think the project could be great, but I don't think this is a fiscally responsible decision." A negative recommendation doesn't kill an article. It would still go to Town Meeting, with a note that the Finance Committee did not approve it.
A youth program is also watching the outcome
The Lee Youth Association, which runs the Busy Bee Learning Center preschool along with sports and after-school programs, needs a new home before its current lease ends in 2028. Board President Ali Zabian confirmed the nonprofit is considering leasing the former Price Chopper building from the town if the town buys it. He also said the site is one of "one or two other locations" under review. Ali Zabian is Mohamed Zabian's brother and owns Zabian's Clothing for Men on Main Street. He has abstained from every meeting about 88 West Park Street.
The group's earlier plan was to build on surplus school land at 170 Greylock Street. The association was the only bidder when the town sought proposals in December 2024, and it secured a 99-year lease at Town Meeting the following March. Ali Zabian said the plan became too expensive. Construction was estimated at $6 million to $10 million, and bringing utilities to the site would cost another $1 million to $1.5 million before building could start. The association expects to start fundraising soon, with a goal of at least $5 million. A building that every town plan would tear down could turn out to be what a nonprofit needs. That possibility would change the math for the $300,000 demolition bid.
How the deal reached February
- April 7: The Select Board discloses its $1.9 million offer, made pending an appraisal and a town vote. Zabian's declines.
- August 31: Officials confirm a proposed $2,316,000 agreement, subject to Town Meeting approval.
- September 1: The Select Board tables the agreement over the revised parking terms.
- September 9: The Finance Committee votes 5 to 1 against recommending the $2.5 million transfer.
- September 15: The Select Board approves the October 1 warrant without the property.
- October 1: Voters pass four unrelated articles.
Voters haven't rejected the purchase, because it has never come before them. Jones said another Special Town Meeting is planned for February, when the property may come up again. A Town of Lee document lists that meeting tentatively for February 25, 2027. Under the June agreement, the town can keep using the lot for events until the property is sold or either side gives notice.
Whatever happens at 88 West Park Street will affect parking, traffic, and use of the lot across downtown Lee. If you own property on or near Main Street and want help thinking through how the outcome could affect it, Diane Thorson follows these Lee town meetings closely and is happy to talk it over. Schedule a consultation.
