First Eagle Mill Units in Lee to Open in Springtime
LEE, Mass. — More than 50 affordable units are expected to come online at the Eagle Mill this spring.
This is the first of several planned development phases at the former paper mill that dates back to the early 1800s, totaling more than 200 units. The Lee Chamber of Commerce hosted an information session on the project during its Business Breakfast last Wednesday.
"We are here because we have a really big project that's happened for a very long time here in Lee, that, for myself, has provided a real sense of hope, and has has really defined this community as one of the few in the Berkshires that's really looking forward, as opposed to just being sort of stuck in the past," Chamber member Erik Williams said.
Hearthway is accepting applications for 56 affordable apartments called "The Lofts at Eagle Mill" with expected occupancy in May. The housing nonprofit was also approved for 45 additional units of new construction on the site.
Jeffrey Cohen of Eagle Mill Redevelopment LLC said the project dates back to 2012, when a purchase contract was signed for the West Center Street property. The developers didn't have to close on the property until renovation plans were approved in 2017, and the mill was sold for $700,000.
It seemed like a great deal for the structure and eight acres on the Housatonic River, Cohen explained, but he wasn't aware of the complex pre-development costs, state, and local approvals it would entail. Seven individually owned homes adjacent to the property were also acquired and demolished for parking and site access.
"If I knew today what I knew then, I'm not sure we'd be sitting here," he said, joining the breakfast remotely over Zoom.
Cohen praised the town's government, explaining that the redesigns and critiques "Could not have been done in a friendlier way, in a more helpful way," and the two Massachusetts governors serving during the project's tenure. The Eagle Mill redevelopment is supported by state and federal grants, as well as low-income housing tax credits.
Matt Kropke, Hearthway's director of real estate development, said the 56 units are staged for a May 6 completion.
He explained that these are "probably one of the biggest mixes of income we've been able to accomplish in a long time," thanks to MassHousing's Workforce Housing Initiative. Twenty units will be rented to people earning 80 percent of the area median income, eight units will be for people learning 30 percent of the AMI, and everything in between will be for people earning 50 percent of the AMI.
"We also have applied for very similar program for low-income housing tax credits for phase two, which is the flat piece of land north of that building. It's going to be new construction," Kropke reported about the additional 44 units.
"…That one has been approved. So we're now in that, where we kind of bring that one to a financial closing, which we expect would be in the fall. Once that happens, we can start construction on that portion."
Applicants will be put into a lottery that will be drawn in February. One bedrooms range from about $1,200 to $1,600, two bedrooms from about $1,700 to $1,900, and a three-bedroom between $1,900 and $2,100, reported Kristin Coyne, the director of portfolio operations for Hearthway.
Cohen explained that there are five phases of the mill's development: Hearthway's 56 units that are soon coming online, Hearthway's additional 44 units of new construction, 35 units and 4,000 feet of retail and commercial space that would be applied for around 2027, 10,000 square feet of retail space in the former machine shop, and possible market-rate townhouses.
Two acres of property across the street is under contract for a 69-unit affordable housing building by a different developer.
Tags: affordable housing, eagle mills, mill reuse, redevelopment,
