Gov. Baker speaks with Fitchburg Mayor Lisa Wong, Gilbert Winn and others at the Fitchburg Yarn Mill groundbreaking
Governor Charlie Baker was in attendance at the formal groundbreaking to transform the Nockege Mill in downtown Fitchburg into a 96-unit mixed-income housing community.
Baker announced a $3 million MassWorks grant that will provide for infrastructure improvements in the Main Street area surrounding the new housing project.
Fitchburg Yarn Mill is being developed by WinnCompanies, which has extensive experience in converting vacant and underused mill buildings into mixed-income housing communities.
"These kinds of projects can be complicated and full of surprises but WinnCompanies has done more than 25 of these kinds of projects and practice makes perfect," said Gov. Baker. "I can't wait to come back and see it when it's all been done."
MassHousing will provide $1.4 million from the Affordable Housing Trust Fund for the project, which involves the adaptive reuse of the long vacant, three-story, 110-year-old former yarn mill into 96 units of mixed-income housing, of which 38 will be affordable to households earning up to 60% of the Area Median Income and the remaining 58 units will be rented at market rates.
"Site by site, project by project we are rebuilding this city," said Mayor Lisa Wong.
"We are really excited about this project," said WinnCompanies CEO Gilbert Winn. "We intend to do what we have always done, up the game with high quality housing in the downtown and the asset values of the surrounding properties will rise."
The $37.4 million project is also being financed through the sale of state and federal Low Income Housing Tax Credits and Historic Tax Credits, the state Department of Housing and Community Development, the city of Fitchburg, the Massachusetts Housing Partnership and Bank of America.
"WinnCompanies has a proven track record of turning these vacant, blighted properties into new, vibrant housing communities for working families," said MassHousing Executive Director Tom Gleason. "This will certainly be an important new part of downtown Fitchburg that will be an attractive housing resource for many years into the future."
The contractor will be Colantonio, Inc., the architect is The Architectural Team and the management agent will be WinnResidential.