Boston – MassHousing has closed on a total of $40.8 million in financing to Reed Community Partners LLC for the creation of Pac10 Lofts, a new, 180-unit affordable and workforce housing community in the gateway city of Lawrence.
Reed Community Partners has transformed a 6-story section of the former Pacific Mills textile complex into new, mixed-income housing for households across a range of incomes, including 40 workforce housing units for moderate-income families.
Pac10 Lofts
Pac10 Lofts has been completed and is expected to be fully leased by year’s end. The project experienced significant construction delays due in combination to the COVID-19 pandemic, the September 2018 gas explosions in the Merrimack Valley, and multiple water leaks that damaged more than half of the completed units and resulted in a long insurance claim process.
Pacific Mills, a former textile mill, was originally built in 1910. The Pac10 Lofts project on Methuen Street is the first phase of a two-phase redevelopment of the mill complex. The Pac10 Lofts offer 82 one-bedroom apartments, 10 two-bedroom apartments and 88 three-bedroom apartments. The development also includes a fitness center, event space, and a conference room on each floor.
Of the 180 new apartments, 18 are reserved for low-income households earning up to 30% of the Area Median Income (AMI), 112 will be affordable to households earning up to 60% of AMI, and 40 will be workforce housing units for households earning up to 80% of AMI. The project also has 10 unrestricted market-rate units. The area median income for a family of four in Lawrence is $114,000.
MassHousing provided $17.8 million in tax-exempt permanent financing, an $18 million tax-exempt bridge loan, and $5 million from the agency’s Workforce Housing Initiative. Other financing sources included $28.8 million in tax credit equity from an allocation of federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credits by the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), $2.5 million in State Historic Tax credit equity, $43.3 million in construction financing from Sterling Bank and Trust, a $3.6 million acquisition note, $3.2 million in developer financing, $210,000 in CDBG financing from the City of Lawrence, and $175,000 from the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center. The tax credit investor was Affordable Housing Partners, Inc., an affiliate of Berkshire Hathaway.
The general contractor was LaRosa Construction Company. The architect was Rogue Architecture PLLC, and the management agent is WinnCompanies.
