Multi Residential

Loan Issued to Convert St. Joseph’s Schoolhouse into Housing

Rendering of St. Joseph's / photo courtesy of Atlantis Investments, LLC

Haverhill, MA – MassDevelopment has partnered with Pentucket Bank to provide $6,482,090 in loan financing to St. Joseph’s Schoolhouse, LLC, which will use the funds to buy and convert the vacant former St. Joseph’s Catholic School building at 26 Broadway in Haverhill into 36 units of market-rate rental housing.

Once converted, the building will include 28 studio apartments and eight one-bedroom units. In addition to the main building, the property also consists of a smaller adjacent building containing a gymnasium and a candlepin bowling alley, which Atlantis plans to lease to local businesses.

The developer will also use the loan financing to buy a vacant lot at 2 Federal St., where it will build a parking lot for residents of the housing facility. MassDevelopment and Pentucket Bank were 50-50 participants in the loan. MassDevelopment also enhanced the financing with a guarantee, which allowed Pentucket to increase its loan amount.

Established in 1888, St. Joseph’s served students ranging from nursery school through eighth grade for nearly 130 years before the Archdiocese of Boston closed the school in 2017 due to declining enrollment and rising costs.