Fitchburg, MA – MassDevelopment has awarded a $315,175 grant to Prime Real Estate Investment LLC, which will use funds to redevelop a vacant 3-story building at 759-769 Main St. in Fitchburg.
The grant, awarded through MassDevelopment’s Transformative Development Initiative (TDI) Equity Investment program, will help developers Manuel Joaquin and Rosario Nicotra build out ground-floor commercial space and add four market-rate apartments on the upper floors of the building. Built for commercial purposes in 1945, the downtown building has been completely vacant for more than a year.
MassDevelopment designated downtown Fitchburg a TDI district in 2018 and since then, the agency has provided approximately $3 million in financing or awards for housing, businesses, nonprofits, coworking spaces, brownfields assessment and remediation, and placemaking projects in the neighborhood.
“This project is another step towards a transformative revitalization of the City of Fitchburg, and we are proud to be a partner in saving these significant buildings, and are thankful for the supportive collaboration with MassDevelopment, the Mayor’s Office, the Planning Board, and the Transformative Development Initiative (TDI), HDIP programs, and everyone on our team,” said Prime Real Estate Investment LLC Managing Members, Nicotra and Joaquin. “We want to invest in Fitchburg, and we will continue to seek projects that will beautify the city, provide housing, improve the downtown and neighborhoods, and create jobs.”
