Like many of its East Coast counterparts, the city of Haverhill, located in northeastern Massachusetts, is enjoying a renaissance. Over the course of a century, the city of about 60,000 saw its once-thriving shoe industry die and leave behind large, brick buildings ripe for redevelopment—and their day has come.
“Across the East Coast, the first transformation was from agriculture to industrial and now from industrial to culture,” says Mike Binette, principal of The Architectural Team in Chelsea, Mass., whose firm renovates former industry buildings.
The newest symbol of Haverhill's rebirth is Beacon Communities' $38.8 million rehabilitation of the Haverhill Board of Trade Building, which was built between 1906 and 1908. The eight-story building housed a furniture store when Boston-based Beacon purchased it to create 146 apartment homes, with 15 live/work units on the bottom floor.
The building also will keep its Queen Anne-style architecture, including 1,100 windows that will be replaced with vinyl versions of the originals.
“With the windows, the value of living in these spaces is the historical character and ambiance that tends to invite a fairly warm environment,” Binette says. “It brings a natural light into the spaces without additional electricity.”
The first units are set to open in January. For more information, visit www.thecordovan.com/home.html.
Morningside Group and Mid-America Development Partners are developing Prairie Town Center, a 70-unit condo community in Oak Lawn, Ill. The one-and two-bedroom units will feature balconies with panoramic views and open kitchens with breakfast bars. The project is located in walking distance of the village's central business district, restaurants, shops, and a senior center.
Dubin Residential is building McKinley Park Village, a community of condos and townhomes in Chicago's McKinley Park neighborhood. The project will feature 110 condos with one- and two-bedrooms and 134 town-homes with three or four bedrooms. The units will feature stainless steel appliances, granite countertops, and hardwood flooring throughout the main living areas. The community is a five-minute walk from McKinley Park, which features 69 acres of public space.
Simpson Housing Solutions and LINC Housing have opened Riverview Apartments, an 80-unit community in Barstow, Calif. The two-, three-, and four-bedroom units are set aside for families earning between 30 percent and 60 percent of the area median income for San Bernardino County. The units feature patios or balconies and free Internet access. Amenities include a community room, computer center, fitness center, laundry rooms, and tot lot.
Faison and Canyon Johnson Urban Funds have broken ground on Onyx on First, a 266-unit condominium community in Washington, D.C.'s southeast waterfront area, just two blocks from the site of the new Nationals baseball stadium. The 14-story community will offer studios and one- and two-bedroom units starting in the upper $200,000s. Amenities will include a rooftop pool, underground parking, fitness center, game room, and outdoor courtyard. —Listings compiled by Rachel Z. Azoff
