On Sept. 28, 2017, WinnCompanies held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the completion of Yarn Works Apartments, a $24.2 million adaptive-reuse project in Fitchburg, Mass., which transformed a former yarn mill into 96 units of mixed-income housing.
The original Nockege River Mill Building, designed by noted industrial architect Frank Sheldon, was constructed on Fitchburg’s Nashua River at the start of the 20th century. It was home to the Fitchburg Yarn Co. from 1907 to 1970 and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2016.
The 186,000-square-foot mill was reimagined by The Architectural Team (TAT), a longtime client of WinnDevelopment. TAT repurposed many of the building’s original features in Yarn Works’ private units and community spaces alike, including 15-foot ceilings, more than 280 8-by-10 foot windows, and exposed original brick and steel beams. Structural renovations included removing and rebuilding the first floor, adding a concrete slab that raises the building above the 100-year floodplain, repairing the roof and exterior envelope, and replacing all windows and frames with historically matched replicas.
"With some of the highest ceilings and largest windows we've seen in a historic mill, Yarn Works is really a standout development," says TAT project manager Scott Maenpaa. “Our goal was to preserve these valuable amenities to create truly unique, uplifting homes for this mixed-income community. With its transit-oriented, downtown location and deeply rooted past, this conversion plays an important role in Fitchburg's revitalization."
Yarn Works’ units, which range from one- to three-bedrooms, are priced at a "true" mixed-income distribution: 30% market rate, 30% middle income, and 40% set aside for residents earning 60% of or below the area median income. Its amenity spaces include a 3,000-square-foot community room with a 25-foot ceiling and 17-foot windows, a fitness and yoga center, a bike workshop and storage, and a two-story central atrium gallery.
The project was a public–private effort that made use of a multitude of low-income housing tax credits and historic tax credits at the local and state levels. Public financing partners included the Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing & Community Development, MassHousing, and the city of Fitchburg. Private financiers included Boston Financial Investment Management, Bank of America, Boston Community Loan Fund, and the Massachusetts Housing Partnership. The city of Fitchburg also received a $3 million Mass Works award to improve infrastructure near the community.
“Yarn Works is meeting an important need for high-quality apartment living in downtown Fitchburg,” Mayor Stephen DiNatale said during the ribbon-cutting event. “There is a reason these units leased up so quickly: It speaks to a growing demand for this style of living, and to a rapidly improving housing market in the city. WinnCompanies has been a great partner in this project, and we hope to see many such projects in the future.”
The Yarn Works community is located less than a mile from Fitchburg’s commuter rail station and Fitchburg State College. “The Yarn Works Apartments typifies the kind of quality mixed-income, transit-oriented housing that is badly needed throughout the Commonwealth,’’ says MassHousing executive director Tim Sullivan. “We were pleased to collaborate with WinnCompanies, the Baker-Polito Administration, and the city of Fitchburg to help transform an underutilized mill property into 96 new apartments in downtown Fitchburg that are now home to residents with a range of incomes who want to live and work in the city."
WinnDevelopment has completed 36 adaptive-reuse projects in five states and the District of Columbia to date, creating more than 3,600 new mixed-income units with a collective value of over $500 million. TAT has won over 100 awards for its design work, which includes a large number of adaptive-reuse projects.
“Yarn Works is a once-proud historic property now reborn as a modern community asset that not only provides badly needed housing but also direct and indirect economic impacts for the local community,” Larry Curtis, president and managing partner of WinnDevelopment, said during the event. “We’re pleased to have been part of this public–private effort to support new housing and economic growth for … Fitchburg. The city has been a great partner in this effort.”
