  Clouds more massive than about $10^5$ M$_\odot$ are potential sites of
massive cluster formation. Studying the properties of such clouds in the early
stages of their evolution offers an opportunity to test various cluster
formation processes. We make use of CO, Herschel, and UKIDSS observations to
study one such cloud, G148.24+00.41. Our results show the cloud to be of high
mass ($\sim$ $1.1\times10^5$ M$_\odot$), low dust temperature ($\sim$ 14.5 K),
nearly circular (projected radius $\sim$ 26 pc), and gravitationally bound with
a dense gas fraction of $\sim 18$% and a density profile with a power-law index
of $\sim -1.5$. Comparing its properties with those of nearby molecular clouds,
we find that G148.24+00.41 is comparable to the Orion-A molecular cloud in
terms of mass, size, and dense gas fraction. From our analyses, we find that
the central area of the cloud is actively forming protostars and is moderately
fractal with a Q-value of $\sim$ 0.66. We also find evidence of global
mass-segregation in the cloud, with a degree of mass-segregation
($\Lambda_{MSR}) \approx3.2$. We discuss these results along with the structure
and compactness of the cloud, the spatial and temporal distribution of embedded
stellar population, and their correlation with the cold dust distribution, in
the context of high-mass cluster formation. Comparing our results with models
of star cluster formation, we conclude that the cloud has the potential to form
a cluster in the mass range $\sim$ 2000--3000 M$_\odot$ through dynamical
hierarchical collapse and assembly of both gas and stars.
