Book biz breathes life into old mill

COURTESY BOOK ENTERPRISES
BUY THE BOOK: Book Enterprises’ location in the 260,000-square-foot Pilgrim Mill in Fall River.
COURTESY BOOK ENTERPRISES BUY THE BOOK: Book Enterprises’ location in the 260,000-square-foot Pilgrim Mill in Fall River.

Book Enterprises was days away from leaving the South Coast for Stoughton, Mass., when owner Jason Zutaut made one last call looking for an inexpensive space that would keep his wholesale book business and its 72 employees closer to home.
What he found was a 101-year-old former textile mill in Fall River, the kind of historic, industrial space so often spurned by contemporary businesses for suburban commerce parks. But for Zutaut, who spent years working in Fall River mill buildings for companies such as the defunct book-distributor Strictly By the Book, the 260,000-square-foot former Pilgrim Mill building on Pleasant Street was just what he was looking for.
“I couldn’t believe the condition it was in – much better than the two other Fall River mills I had worked in,” Zutaut said. “It’s a lot of space and perfect place for us. A lot of my employees are from Fall River and being able to be close to them was nice.”
While mill conversions in Massachusetts and Rhode Island have continued in recent years, commercial-industrial buyers ready to move into large mills in their existing condition have been rare throughout the region.
In Fall River, the Pilgrim Mill sale is the most significant mill sale since the former Quaker Fabric headquarters was purchased at auction for $1.5 million in 2010. The lower-level commercial spaces in that 400,000-square-foot building are now mostly occupied, with residences in the works for the upper floors.
Because of the flurry of mill conversions in Rhode Island in the early part of the last decade, when the state’s historic tax credits made it a magnet for developers, the current activity level for historic properties in the Ocean State can look slow in comparison. Massachusetts still has its historic-credit program.
“In general there is more activity in Fall River and New Bedford than Rhode Island, where there is no activity in raw space,” said Mike Giuttari, president of MG Commercial Real Estate in Providence. “In Rhode Island many of the mills have either been converted, torn down or are in bad shape.”
Len Lavoie, who specializes in mill properties as a real estate agent with Rhode Island Commercial Industrial Realty, said the Rhode Island market for mill space is healthy and pointed to the recent sales of the former American Insulated Wire building in Pawtucket and the conversion of 560 Mineral Spring Ave. in Pawtucket into industrial and artist spaces as examples. “We have gotten steady calls for mill space for years,” Lavoie said. “There are people interested in conversions, but not as many and not as many financed. For basic, bare-bones, live-work space there is no inventory.”
For Zutaut, the old Fall River mill, last used by curtain maker CHF Industries in 2008, had the space he was looking for. Book Enterprises had run out of room at its 80,000-square-foot space off Route 140 in New Bedford and the Stoughton space was 120,000 square feet, still smaller than optimal.
For another, the price was right: moving to Stoughton would cost $22,500 per month in rent under a sublet that would expire in three years and force another move.
Zutaut bought the three-story Pilgrim Mill building and nearly 10 acres of land it sits on for $1.35 million at the end of February. He began moving 2 million books from New Bedford to Fall River in March.
Now Zutaut has three-and-a-half times the space to grow Book Enterprises as he had in New Bedford and also the potential to open a retail store at the mill.
As good as the purchase might end up being for Book Enterprises, it will likely be even better for the building itself. Just last year a Florida developer wanted to tear it down in order to build two apartment buildings.
That plan was blocked by city officials, but with so many old mill buildings in Massachusetts and Rhode Island vacant and languishing, it was far from certain that the Pilgrim Mill would find a commercial buyer.
“The fact that they are … in the city not only helps create additional job growth, but is also occupancy of what had been a previously abandoned building,” said Kenneth Fiola Jr., executive director of the Fall River Office of Economic Development, about the sale.
To help make the Pilgrim deal happen, the Fall River Office of Economic Development provided a $67,500 loan to Book Enterprises.
While about 10 percent of Book Enterprises’ business is now fulfilling online orders, Zutaut also has brick-and-mortar stores in Methuen, Kingston and Hannover, Mass., and is looking to expand that presence.
Zutaut said the biggest difference between the new mill building and the former New Bedford space is working on multiple floors, but the additional space makes it worth it.
“In this business there is a lot of labor involved sorting through titles,” he said. “You need a lot of space and you can’t pay a lot for it.” •

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