NORTH ADAMS, Mass. -- A Fairfield, Conn., developer plans to build a 160,000-square-foot Wal-Mart Supercenter at the old city gravel pit on Curran Highway (Route 8), at an estimated cost of $15 million to $20 million.

Ceruzzi Properties of Fairfield, one of the largest developersof malls and retail stores in the country, filed plans late Friday afternoon at City Hall for the former Dellaghelfa properties and abutting gravel pit.

The project, which will include a grocery store, outdoor garden center, "tire and lube center," pharmacy and more, was advertised by the city in a legal notice Monday and will be reviewed by the Planning Board beginning on Dec. 14.

"This is a huge project," Mayor John Barrett III said Tuesday."I was hoping a Lowe’s would come in first, but the developer believes this is the way to go, and maybe we’ll get a Lowe’s down the line. If we do, it will be a destination retail center."

The supercenter, to be located directly across from H. Greenberg & Son, on the west side of Curran Highway, would replace the existing 97,000-square-foot Wal-Mart that is further north on Route 8. Plans for that property are uncertain, but another potential retail store could move in once the old store moves out, according to plans filed by Ceruzzi under the name of BVS 5401 Investors LLC.

A traffic study filed with the plans uses the premise that not only would there be a new retail store at the old Wal-Mart but also a

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155,000-square-foot home-improvement center at the former North Adams Plaza, where a Lowe’s has been in the works for the past two years. The plaza, which is in the process of being demolished, is just south of the supercenter site.

More development possible

Jonathan "Jay" Sabin of Paresi & Sabin, the lawyer representing Ceruzzi, said he could not speak for Wal-Mart Stores Inc., or give a timeline for construction or completion of the supercenter. However, he said, "It is the developer’s hope that a successful completion of this project will act as a catalyst toward additional development in that part of town. We’re hoping to create some critical mass."

Whether that additional development would be the planned Lowe’s or another big-box retailer, Sabin couldn’t say. Barrett said he believes the only major impact of the supercenter on existing North Berkshire businesses would be on supermarkets.

"I don’t really have a hang-up with Wal-Mart," he said. "There’s just not that many small businesses here for them to destroy. They have contributed greatly to the community and been a great corporate citizen. Certainly, they could hurt the grocery stores, but maybe the positive impact will be that it drives prices down and makes them more competitive."

Wal-Mart officials did not return telephone calls by press time. According to the corporation’s Web site, Massachusetts now has seven Wal-Mart Supercenters and 39 regular "discount" stores like the one on Curran Highway. Nationwide, the company employs an average of 350 employees, known as "associates" at each supercenter, compared to an average of 225 associates each at its discount stores. A 198,000-square-foot store that recently opened in Ellsworth, Maine, employs 400, according to the Bangor Daily News.

The average wage paid associates in Massachusetts is $12.66 per hour, according to the Web site.

According to the city assessor’s office, Wal-Mart already is by far the biggest taxpayer in the city. The existing store and its 11.5-acre site is assessed at $5,145,700, while an abutting 12.77-acre site (mostly wetlands) owned by the corporation is assessed at $255,000. The store also is assessed as having $5,480,000 in personal property (inventory, furniture and fixtures).

Altogether, Wal-Mart paid the city $294,107 in taxes in fiscal 2009. Ceruzzi has invested $5.375 million in property acquisition alone for its two Curran Highway projects (supercenter and proposed Lowe’s). It paid $2.5 million for the 14.3-acre plaza in 2004, bought the 8.2-acre gravel bank from the city for $700,000 in November 2007 and paid $2.1 million to members of the Dellaghelfa family this year for the 50 acres abutting the gravel pit. The properties are connected via Old State Road.

The traffic study estimates the supercenter would generate an additional 6,364 new traffic trips daily on weekdays along Curran Highway -- 3,182 coming and 3,182 going, and 7,886 new trips on a typical Saturday.

"Traffic (is) not projected to have a significant impact on area traffic operations," the report states. Helping to ease the traffic flow will be the removal of the "jug-handle" at the intersection of Hodges Cross Road and Route 8 -- where the main supercenter entrance will be -- and installation of a new four-way signal system there, with left-turn lanes on each side of Curran Highway. Access and egress will also be provided via a driveway where South State Street is now -- with no signal. No delivery trucks will be allowed on that driveway.

Roadwayimprovements, including a new traffic signal, sidewalks, a pedestrian walkway and a bus bay, are also planned at the Curran Highway intersection of the former North Adams Plaza and the road to Hardman Industrial Park.