Her Portfolio Was Real Estate - Now It's Insurance
Here is an artlcle from The Berkshire Eagle - By Lisa La Plante, Special to the Eagle, published Feb 1, 2008.
The article references Beth Pearson, who is now President of Pearson Wallace Insurance. The article highlights Beth’s commitment to Pittsfield as well as her enormous contributions to the growth of the community:
PITTSFIELD Beth Pearson is changing the face of Pittsfield, one building at a time.
A small-town girl, she traveled the world as a GE career woman before settling here and buying her first Pittsfield property a little more than four years ago .
"I wanted to expand my investment portfolio," she said, explaining that she was looking beyond GE, so she could retire one day and spend more time with her children.
Maplewood Condominiums
That first apartment house purchase has grown to ownership of eight buildings, including the upscale Maplewood condominiums downtown.
MAPLEWOOD AVE CONDOS IN PITTSFIELD MA
New Amsterdam Apartments
As a leading real estate developer in Pittsfield, Beth's company Pearson Properties owns and manages the $10 million New Amsterdam Apartments project, which features 43 affordable housing units located in a European-style village setting. This successful development was approved for acceptance in a state program known as Chapter 40R that encourages municipalities to amend existing zoning in downtown or urban neighborhoods to allow "by right," or without a special permit, a mix of residential and commercial uses at different densities.
Wood Brothers Building & 105 Bradford Street
Pearson Properties actually developed 67 affordable housing units in total. The remaining 24 apartments were completed as part of the rehabilitation of the Boston-style apartments at 105 Bradford Street, and the Wood Bros. building at 429 North Street.
About Beth
A native of Rensselaerville, N.Y., in southern Albany County, she attended Doane Stuart preparatory school in Albany, then earned a degree in international studies from the College of St. Rose, also in that city.
At 24, she went to work for GE in the company's sales development program. She worked for GE Silicones in Waterford, N.Y., for a time, before moving to Seattle to become a field-marketing manager for nine states —from Alaska to Montana .
In 1996, Pearson was asked to take over as marketing manager for building and construction at GE Plastics in Pittsfield. By that time, the mother of two children, she began to think it was time to settle down.
Pearson bought her investment property on Bradford Street in 2003 She said she just saw the "For Sale" sign on the 12-unit apartment building which, to her, looked like a Boston brownstone.
She comes from a family of contractors and entrepreneurs and thought she could learn about development as a means of investment.
The project quickly took on a life of its own as Pearson discovered she had a passion for development. It was a way to combine her creative energies and the business and management experience sof nearly two decades with GE.
She bought several lots along Bradford Street, approaching property owners when their lots were not even for sale, and created a three-year plan.
Her vision, which she calls the New Amsterdam project, involves developing 43 new apartments in five new Dutch-style buildings at the corner of Bradford and Cen-ter streets. Construction is expected to begin in late spring or early summer.
Targeting young professionals
The $10 million project targets working families and young professionals in need of quality and affordable housing, she said. The one- and two-bedroom apartments are expected to rent for $600 to $800 per month to people earning $35,000 to $48,000 a year.
In the first phase, 12 units, will be built on a vacant lot. When they are complete, the tenants still living in the other buildings will be relocated to the new units and the other six buildings will be razed and replaced with new construction. Pearson said she recently qualified for federal and state housing funds to help finance the project.
She has also been hired by Peter Culpo and Dan Pulver to redevelop five buildings at 553 North St. for 53 living units and other uses. The dilapidated Madison and White Terrace apartments will be restored to their early 1900's appearance, she said.
The plan was to be carried out over several years, but a recent fire at 8 White Terrace, which displaced 10 residents, may accelerate the process
Although Pearson initially plan-ned to maintain her career with GE, she left her position in 2005 to take on her role as developer full-time.
She credits her training with GE for her success in property development.
"We've been really successful, even in a challenging market," Pearson said of the housing slump that has hit most of the country. Part of the reason, she said, is that the downturn has not affected the need for rental housing, which most of her development projects are.
Effect on the neighborhood
The Maplewood condominiums, which are for sale, are at 75 percent capacity, with just four units unoccupied. Pearson said that she expects two of those homes to be under contract within a few weeks.
"When I bought my first building, I wasn't thinking about the impact on the city, but rather the impact on that neighborhood," Pearson said. "It became very apparent that people wanted the neighborhood upgraded and stabilized. It's actually still surprising the impact that can be made."
Yvonne Pearson, director of Downtown, Inc. and no relation to Beth Pearson, said: "I couldn't be more pleased. When a developer like Beth comes into town and buys buildings and redevelops them, it eases my burden. When Beth buys a building, I know it's going to be something wonderful when she ís done with it. She has really become a force to be reckoned with."
Yvonne Pearson, who works directly with merchants on North Street, said that there has been more foot traffic downtown for the last two years and while she cannot link that directly to the Maplewood Project completed nearly two years ago, the housing development is helping the city to move in the right direction.
"Residency is the bread and butter of downtown. People are walking to get coffee and buy shoes," she said.
Deanna Ruffer, the citys' director of Community Development, called Pearson "one of the pioneers of downtown.
"She identifies the community needs and goes forward and puts together projects that meet those needs in a high quality manner," Ruffer said. "She does her homework and stays in there when the going gets rough."
"She always approaches projects in a professional manner and yet brings her heart and soul to it as well.
And Beth Pearson is not done yet — far from it.
"The overall goal is to continue to provide both commercial and residential development ... to encourage people to live and work here," Pearson said.
"Pittsfield is going through a rebirth. It is a wonderful opportunity. I feel very fortunate to be a part of it."
Back then and now, Beth Pearson leads the charge to make Pittsfield, Massachusetts the best city it can possibly be.