The Spencers’ First National Development LLC, Doyle said, “will invest $25 million in this project, transforming this once vacant mill into a premier complex,” where residents can take advantage of the growing Blackstone Bike Path and potential revival of the Pawtucket-Central Falls train station stop for MBTA commuter rail
.“Their investment demonstrates once again that Pawtucket is a city on the move,” Doyle said.
The Spencers’ investment is coming at a time when economists say Rhode Island is in recession and a mortgage foreclosure crisis continues nationwide. The privately financed project is also being done without any reliance on federal or the state historic tax credits, so crucial to other mill makeovers in Pawtucket, recently curtailed by the General Assembly.
Then again, the Spencers’ project can be said to have overcome the odds right along.
It was in August 2005 that First National Development bought Union Wadding, on 6.5 acres at 125 Goff Ave., out of the state form of bankruptcy known as receivership. The former 200-year-old manufacturer entered receivership in October 2004, owing $9.7 million to principal creditor Citizens Bank.
FND’s $1.3 million bid was accepted even though it was below its sole rival’s $1.75 million offer because the Spencers put no environmental contingencies on their bid, feeling comfortable such issues were minor, Garfield Spencer said at the time, a judgment that has since proved sound
No sooner was that hurdle cleared than the developers began considering selling the property due to a massive trash transfer operation -- literally in Union Wadding’s back yard -- proposed by a New Jersey partnership allied with Amtrak. But the Spencers ultimately decided to remain, and earlier this spring the city defeated the trash outfit on zoning issues in federal and state courts.
“It was a bumpy ride,” project manager Aurora Leigh remarked to Doyle at the open house ceremony. “Certainly we’ve been at your office a few times with our concerns.”
“We do want to thank the City of Pawtucket tremendously,” Rebecca Spencer said.
With Doyle’s backing, the City Council last December approved a five-year tax treaty that will stabilize the tax rate for Union Wadding Lofts at $1.75 per square foot, from the time the units become habitable. Leigh told the council the project would bring about $100,000 in tax revenue to the city the first year.
Construction of the project’s first phase was accomplished with commercial loan financing from Rockland Trust, whose Jonathan Neuner, first vice president and manager of Rockland’s commercial bank lending center in Attleboro, attended the ceremony. Neuner said the funding used “our New Markets Tax Credit Program, a program put together by the federal government to spur (development of) ‘hot zones,’ generally defined as areas of economic distress.” The same funding was similarly used to renovate the former W.T. Grant building on Main Street for commercial and office uses, he noted.
Neuner said Rockland financed FND’s first construction phase, in an amount he declined to specify, and said “we’re open” to funding later phases of the project, though no deal has been finalized yet. He said visiting a similar (though half the size) project FND had successfully done in Bridgeport showed the project here would be viable. “Other than the owner’s equity, we were the only (financing),” he said.
Of more concern to buyers are the units themselves, which will start at $99,000 for 700 square foot studios to $285,000 or more for up-and-downstairs townhouses with private entries, in a complex that will function as a gated community, a first in the area. Parking surrounds the complex.
After the base studio unit, the next two tiers are one-bedrooms, about 900 square feet for $130,000, and $175,000 for two-bedrooms of approximately 1,200 square feet. The square footage does not include loft areas (ranging about 5 to 6 feet from flooring to ceiling) that are provided with all units to take advantage of the high ceilings -- which on the top, third level reach 18 feet or more.
The kitchen in the model unit, the first completed, boasted maple cabinets, granite countertops, all GE appliances (microwave, dishwasher, refrigerator), and the stainless steel upgrade; lighting fixtures in the living area lent a stylish industrial nod; and the ceramic tile bathroom featured a full tub and shower.
Last Friday, All Pawtucket All The Time toured through the complex, whose first phase is four months ahead of schedule and targeted for completion in August, and its many innovative features. Leigh said 18 units are 90 percent complete, 15 units are 80 percent done and 56 are 70 percent finished.
Heat is provided by an exposed forced air system coursed through the complex in an overhead duct. “One, it fits the style, an old factory transformed into loft style units,” and is more efficient than baseboards, said Leigh. Each unit also has separate air conditioning.
Gas-powered high efficiency hot water heaters function on a demand basis, “so it only calls on it when you need it,” Rebecca Spencer said, another cost-saver, and is instantly hot though the device itself stores no water. (Electric heat is used for the hallways, which will also benefit from heat spilling over from the adjacent dwelling units.)
“Every unit has a loft space above the bathroom and kitchen,” said Leigh. The ubiquitous hardwood floors vary: Where the old flooring could be saved, it remains, and where it was too worn, new hardwood has been installed. Other items retained to link to the mill’s past are some of the massive fire doors and various small pieces of machinery to be sited here and there.
Leigh said the loft spaces allow owners creative license. “Some people use it for storage, or for a bed or a desk, whatever they feel will fit them,” she said.
For further information, call 877-UW-LOFTS or go to www.unionwaddinglofts.com. |
