FROED One Government Center Fall River, MA 02722-7700 Tel 508-324-2620 Fax 508-677-2840 info@froed.org		BOARD OK’S PLAN TO TURN MILL INTO APARTMENTS Conversion Project Could Begin by August The Herald News, Friday, January 16, 2009 - Page A1 Fall River — The half-vacant Wampanoag Mill abutting the Quequechan River will become 97 age- and income-restricted apartments under a $25 million conversion plan a Boston developer presented to the Zoning Board of Appeals Thursday night while seeking needed permits. Applicant Winn Development, represented by city attorney James Clarkin, received special permit and variance waiver approvals on a pair of 4-0 votes by the ZBA after about an hour discussion and 15 minutes of deliberation. The board’s chairman and vice chairman, David Assad and Gene Alves, recused themselves from discussion over potential conflicts of interest. Assad’s family has long owned a small adjacent property, while the retired Alves for six years has owned Alco Technology inside the 138-year-old granite mill. Board secretary Andrea Simister chaired the meeting, which included regular member Richard Mateus and alternates John Frank and Denise Luccida to form the needed four-member quorum. The special permit to convert the historically significant mill located within an industrial zone for multifamily residential use met the two required criteria: that the public good is served and not adversely affected by such use, and the permitted uses are not “noxious” as multifamily apartments. All apartments would have one person age 55 and older and two-thirds would require incomes up to $33,000 for the one-bedroom and $40,000 for 10 two-bedroom units. The next step, youthful Winn Development Vice President Gilbert Winn said afterward, is “we have a good year of further approvals in front of us,” mostly to gain financing. Timetables Winn provided listed a goal to begin construction in August and spend one year converting what had been space for dozens of long-gone outlet and small manufacturing businesses into apartments. The mill contains 126,000 square feet of space, said architect James E. Podesky, of TAT in Chelsea. All of the windows would be replaced to historic mill standards and extensive landscaping would be made, he said. The lions share of funding for the project would be from federal and state historic and low-income tax credits, including the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, National Park Service and state Department of Community and Development, Winn said. There would also be private funding and private equity investments, Winn said, declining to say how much. He and Clarkin declined to estimate tax impacts for the city, other than to say the mill’s value would increase substantially from the $1 million it’s assessed at now. That includes the 2.3 acres at the 420 Quequechan St. property. Clarkin estimated there are “millions of square feet” of available mill space in the city, suggesting the eight tenants would have no problems relocating. Jim Petrosso of 422 June St., who’s managed the building for five years after losing his textile business and ownership of the mill in 2001, responded skeptically last week to the prospective sale. “This is not the first time we’ve been through this,” he said in an interview. Last night, he passionately urged the sale and ZBA approval. “It’s way beyond what we can afford to do,” Petrosso said, saying most of the windows are “falling out” and there’s no passenger elevator. The five-story building has great views of the river and out to Providence. Petrosso said their desperation has forced them to lower rents the past two years and, in at least one case, to “$15 a day” to help pay utility costs. “We’re in a failing situation,” Petrosso said. “This will be good for the mill, good for the city, and I think great for the neighborhood.” Gilbert Winn said completion of a purchase and sale agreement with the owner, listed as Mill Building LLC at 1001 Eastern Ave., was contingent upon receiving permits to convert the mill and finance the project. He could not offer a target closing date for Winn to take over. The 37-year-old company lists itself as the largest residential management company in New England and ninth largest in the country with 60,000 managed units. According to Clarkin, there are eight tenants in the building, five “at will” and the others with short-term leases that should expire this year. While no one renting space spoke out at the meeting, at least one is unhappy over the conversion prospects. “Although the building has been struggling, my store has been seeing increases for the last five years,” Donna Holland, owner of Party Dress Express, wrote in an e-mail this week. Saying she would be out of town for the ZBA meeting, Holland said, “Despite a building needing repairs, has potholes in its parking lot and a neighbor who uses his lot as a dump site, you can still come into my store any given Saturday and see mothers and daughters picking out prom dresses or brides and their attendants seeking the perfect dress.” Three men from the city building trades spoke up to question Winn about who would be hired to work on the building and pointedly criticized the company for not returning phone calls. Ron Rheaume, business manager for Local 1305 of the New England carpenters’ union, noted several owners will be displaced and how there are still outlet companies in the mill and nearby. He asked how the city would benefit and steps taken to remove any contaminated materials from the mill site. Another Local 1305 official, Dan Rego, said, “We need the work,” saying city workers and residents should have preference for the work and rentals. Simister told him the board could not impose such restrictions, although Winn said government funding does stipulate hiring priorities the company would follow. Clarkin said historic tax credit and other funding would require remediation of any site contamination. Joe Pimentel of Somerset, from a bricklayers’ union, voiced skepticism over “the company’s (hiring) record in the past.” The 97 units would have one parking space for each unit, with the board attaching numbers of units and parking to the proposal as conditions for a use and dimensional variance for multi-family development. The one-bedroom units would range from 750 to 900 square feet with rents of $800 to $850, with the 10 two-bedroom units renting for $925 to $1,000 and having 950 square feet. Winn said those rental prices were within “$50” of what market rates would be if not tied to income limits to gain tax-incentive financing. Winn, who asked that detailed questions be e-mailed to him, noted projects like these often have delays. Back