What was once a deteriorating light manufacturing plant has been transformed over the course of two years into a much-needed modern apartment community, the Waterhead, uniquely situated on an island between the Concord River and the Wannalancit Canal in Lowell, Massachusetts.
The Waterhead Mill building, four stories tall and 74,000 square feet in size, was originally built in 1910 as a corduroy plant and held various light manufacturing businesses throughout the years, as well as a boxing gym used by boxer Micky Ward. The mill was underutilized and in rapidly declining condition at the time of its acquisition by Heritage Properties in 2019, and principals Brian and Jeffrey Bush utilized a mix of tax credit benefits to facilitate its conversion to market-rate apartments, including state and federal historic tax credits and Massachusetts Housing Development Incentive Program credits.
The renovation process aimed to preserve as much of the original industrial architecture as possible, and it included restoring and cleaning the brick structure and façade, sandblasting the wood beams and staircases, and rebuilding the bridge that connected the property to the mainland.
Because the building sat 4 feet below the floodplain, modern local ordinances also required the developer to fill in 4 feet of the building’s first floor with gravel before the new floor could be installed. The structure’s 12-foot ceilings provided room for the space to shrink, but the fill process posed an additional difficulty in preserving the original wood columns, which had to be braced with HMUs and concrete during construction.
Each of Waterhead’s 71 studio and one-bedroom apartments showcases a mix of modern comforts and historic architectural landmarks, including its heavy timber construction and brick walls. The design layout incorporates wide hallways and dramatic vertical and horizontal space arrangements.
Original staircases and doorways have been preserved where possible throughout the building, and elements that could not be kept, such as windows, have been replaced with historically accurate reproductions. The new infrastructure utilizes all-electric heat pumps for heating and cooling, high-efficiency water heaters, energy-efficient lighting, and high-R-value insulation in the roof.
New modern amenities include a gym, a theater room, a community room, a pet spa, co-working space, open reading nooks, and an outdoor patio and lounge area. The new bridge also connects the city of Lowell to the Concord River Greenway bike path.
Despite opening at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Waterhead beat its pro forma lease-up by two months and is currently fully leased. The project team attributes the community’s success to the efforts of its marketing team, which showcased the building’s amenity offerings and unique architectural features to appeal to its target market of young professionals.
