LAWRENCE — Restaurateur and real estate developer Sal Lupoli is joining forces with developer Bob Ansin to restart work on the stalled Monarch on the Merrimack project.
Lupoli said yesterday that the plan calls for him to build office and retail space in a portion of the old Wood Worsted Mill at the corner of South Union and Merrimack streets, while Ansin would convert part of it to residential use.
"We have an agreement in place," said Lupoli, owner of the Sal's pizza chain of restaurants and the Riverwalk mill complex on Merrimack Street. "Both of us have a vision. We want to bring both our visions together. I think we can make great things happen there."
Ansin said last night that the written agreement between him and Lupoli "limits what I can say in public." But, he said, "the thinking is that Sal's experience is nonresidential, our focus is on eco-housing."
Within a month, he said, "Sal and I can make a more comprehensive statement on the plans." He also said he expected to be able to make an announcement about "recommencement of construction" at Monarch within two weeks.
The mill, named after William Madison Wood, the former president of American Woolen Co., is one-third of a mile long and contains 30 acres of space under one roof. Ansin's original proposal was to break the project into three phases: The first portion — about 90,000 square feet over six floors — will be retail and commercial. The second portion, still part of the first phase, would be about 300,000 square feet of residential space over six floors.
Ansin said the project will continue along that path, with Lupoli focusing on the commercial/retail while he finishes the residential portion, which will include 200 high-end condominiums using innovative environmental technology to heat and cool the dwellings, such as geothermal power.
Ansin said the first phase is about 50 percent complete but that he ran into trouble getting financing when the credit market began to tighten. As a result, work on the project all but ceased last fall.
"Our problem had nothing to do with demand," Ansin said. "It's not that we can't get people to buy. But we always knew we'd have a challenge getting financing for high-end condos in Lawrence because there are no comps (comparable sales). We had 30 percent presold, but that was not enough. When we started construction, there was panic across the banks and the first casualties were condo projects in markets where it hadn't been done.
"We had a commitment, it fell through, then we had additional opportunities. But by then, it was front page news that world credit markets were frozen. We introduced the Merrimack Valley to what was happening worldwide. ... When you have a $200 million development, you do need banks. If banks aren't open, it's a problem."
Lupoli and Ansin have been friends since 2003.
"Sal and I for years have been talking about joining forces," Ansin said. "His speciality is commercial/retail; ours is housing. It makes perfect sense. We are complementary. What he and I have done is raise the bar. Our plans are very similar — if you build it, they'll come. We proved it with residential but couldn't get financing. Our project has been delayed, but we think people will respond."
Lupoli agreed.
"Bob Ansin has great vision," he said. "He's been a friend since 2003. I'm not going to abandon a friend."
They've worked together in the recent past. Last year, Lupoli purchased 290 Merrimack St., the old boiler plant for the Wood Mill along with the Hampshire Fabrics building, from Ansin. Lupoli now owns land from Interstate 495 right up to Wood Mill — about 35 acres, six or seven buildings and more than 2 million square feet of mill space. He also owns hundreds of parking spaces in the vicinity.
Ansin purchased the 1.6-million-square-foot Wood Mill in 2003. He said that if construction starts within the next month or so, "there's a better than 50/50 chance that people will be living there by December, January or February."
He said the first phase of condo construction is in various stages of completion. Some of the units on the second floor just need appliances and a coat of paint, he said, while those on the sixth floor aren't nearly as far along.
