The R.I. Commerce Corp. set up a streamlined review for historical rehabilitation projects this year, intended to reach more economic-development projects that needed $1 million or less in state credits.
Multiple awards announced last month will allow several of these smaller conversion projects to move forward.
One of the largest of them, ARTech Hub LLC in Woonsocket, will turn three vacant mills into a community for artists and technology entrepreneurs who need affordable rent and want to work in or near their apartments.
The developer, NeighborWorks Blackstone River Valley, already has a track record of converting old, dilapidated mill buildings into new uses.
In ARTech Hub, the community-development corporation will take a former two-building textile mill and a machine shop building, located in the Island Place Historic District, and create 70 live-work apartment units, as well as additional commercial space.
The location is close to downtown Woonsocket and the Museum of Work and Culture. The project will become part of the Millrace District, joining other commercial spaces converted for artists, as well as the Millrace Kitchen, a shared, commercial kitchen for food companies.
Joseph Garlick, executive director of NeighborWorks Blackstone River Valley, said the new project will unfold in two phases.
The entire project will include three buildings, two connected brick structures at 68 South Main St., as well as the adjacent former machine shop, a building constructed of field stone. All of the structures date to the 1800s. At one time, the machine shop made and repaired horse-drawn carriages.
In total, 54,399 square feet of mill space will be converted.
The buildings have been vacant for years, and to the eye look a bit ramshackle. Garlick sees the potential in them for apartments and work units with natural light and high ceilings, and plenty of space for the machinery that artists may need to create jewelry or sculptures.
To get to that point, the project will take nearly $22 million in investment. The $1 million recently awarded from Commerce RI will be used for fitting out the building envelope for new commercial tenants.
“As I tell some of my colleagues, they’re buildings only community-development corporations can love,” Garlick said.
The project is one of four historical rehabilitation projects that received awards through Rebuild Rhode Island on June 22. A fiscal analysis conducted for Commerce RI estimated that it will generate $566,200 in additional state taxes over 12 years.
Commerce RI also provided gap funding through Rebuild RI to help finance the following:
• $450,000 for Fuller Mill Realty LLC, a project that will create nearly 3,000 square feet of residential tenant space at the Fuller Mill, 145 Exchange St., in Pawtucket.
• $500,000 for Nexus Holdings LLC, for conversion of the former Feldman Furniture building at 49 North Union St. in downtown Pawtucket into residential lofts. The project is to be called the Nexus Lofts.
• $1 million for Pebb 33 Bassett Providence LLC. This is a postwar, brick commercial building at 33 Bassett St., in the Jewelry District of Providence, which will be converted for commercial tenants.
For ARTechHub, construction of the first phase could begin as soon as early 2021, assuming additional legs of financing are secured. In addition to the $1 million Rebuild RI grant through Commerce RI, NeighborWorks will apply for an affordable-housing tax credit through the R.I. Housing and Mortgage Finance Corp., as well as grants through Citizens Bank.
Finding the tenants will not be a problem, according to NeighborWorks. Already, the organization has a running list of more than 1,000 people interested in affordable rentals. The rents will vary, Garlick said, and will include some market-rate units, but the most affordable will start at about $550 a month, well below the going rate for the city or state.
Once the building is occupied, whether with artists and tech entrepreneurs, or other people, a community will form, he said. Unlike some other projects that seek to create a community, such as the Innovation District in downtown Providence, the Millrace District is more laissez-faire in its design.
“First and foremost, people need affordable housing,” Garlick said. “We view that as an important first part of the process.”
The live-work component will allow people who are already creating things in their apartments, or basements, often without zoning approval, to move into a building designed for that.
The Millrace Kitchen started much the same way, he noted. Many of its initial tenants were cooking and baking in their home kitchens.
“A lot of folks actually do stuff … on the down low,” Garlick said. “They’re doing this in their unit. This brings it all out into the open. We expect you to work in your apartment. There are so many ordinances, all over the state, that say you can’t do this. This is a space where you can have your equipment.”
Mary MacDonald is a PBN staff writer. Contact her at Macdonald@PBN.com.
