Yarn mill to get new life as housing

FITCHBURG --- At mill revitalization groundbreakings, it's common to be struck by how enormous these places are and to imagine what they were like when they were filled with workers during the New England's textile heyday.

Gov. Charlie Baker is no exception. At the recent groundbreaking for Fitchburg Yarn Lofts, Baker remarked on the size of the building, asked lots of questions about its past and future, and lingered in front of the newly installed windows, marveling at their size and the ease at which they opened. Later, during formal remarks, he admitted that he would love to have windows that size in his house.

Baker was on hand at the Nov. 5 groundbreaking to annouce that his administration would be supporting the city's revitalization efforts with an additional $3 million grant from its MassWorks program to improve infrastructure in the area, with a special focus on streets around the mill.

The MassWorks funds will complement $24.2 million in private and public investments that are supporting the City of Fitchburg and WinnDevelopment's efforts to transform the 190,000 square foot Fitchburg Yarn Mill building along the Nashua River into 57 market-rate and 39 affordable apartments, 29 at or below 60 percent of area median income and 10 at or below 30 percent AMI.

Fitchburg Yarn Lofts is being financed primarily with federal and state housing and historic tax credits. Additional public funding is being provided by the state Dept. of Housing and Community Development, the Community Economic Development Assistance Corp. and the City of Fitchburg.

MHP is providing a $2.8 million long-term loan from its bank-funded loan pool. This is the 11th time MHP has used its private financing to support Winn affordable housing developments. All told, MHP has provided over $50 milllion to Winn for the financing of over 1,000 units in Andover, Boston, Chicopee, Everett, Fitchburg, Lawrence, Lowell, Springfield, Webster and Westfield.

Bank of America is providing construction financing. Additional private financing is being provided by Boston Financial Investment Mgt. (tax credit syndicator), Cherrytree Group LLC, and the Boston Community Loan Fund.

One theme that emerged during the speaking program is that Winn will do a good job converting the mill into housing. When complete, Fitcburg Yarn will be the 29th adaptive reuse project Winn has done. All told, Winn has transformed historic properties into 3,100 mixed-uincome apartments in five states and the District of Columbia.

"Buildings like Fitchbury Yarn provided a lot of of jobs and stability for the community during the early 20th century, but it's been vacant for the last few years," said LeAnn Hanfield, vice president for WinnDevelopment "Transforming it into housing gives it new life."

"I'm sure people in Fitchburg will sleep a little bit better at night knowing that Winn has done over 25 of these kinds of developments," said Gov. Baker. "Practice makes perfect and Winn knows what it's doing."

"What's extrordinary about Winn is they make complicated projects look simple," added Clark Ziegler, MHP's executive director. "They take on challenging buildings and challenging projects."

For more information about this development and MHP's financing options, email MHP Director of Lending David Rockwell.