From condos and artist lofts to corporate and commercial space, millions if not billions of dollars worth of economic development projects are underway or on the horizon for the Merrimack Valley and Southern New Hamsphire. Developers, planners and others interviewed for this section identified 10 local projects that promise new business opportunities, jobs and tax revenue for the region.
1. Mothballed mills come back to life
The Lawrence textile mills that once hummed with activity and enriched the region are coming back to life, reincarnated as housing, offices, retail space and restaurants.
Leading the latest wave of conversions was entrepreneur and pizza magnate Sal Lupoli, whose Salvatore's Italian Restaurant and function hall turns 3 this year. Lupoli's Riverwalk complex also houses a day-care facility, family entertainment centers, the Merrimack Valley Federal Credit Union, and a host of nonprofit and medical service agencies.
Just up Merrimack Street, developer Robert Ansin continues work on the Monarch on the Merrimack project, converting the old Wood Mill to high-end condominiums.
The latest mill development project proposed for Lawrence continues the trend on the other side of the river.
Dubbed Union Crossing, it is a mix of commercial, retail and residential space in what is now the Southwick Clothing mill complex off Island Street and the Duck Mill on Union Street.
The $75 million project would be done in three phases.
The first would convert the Southwick mill complex from its current use as a manufacturer of high-end suits for companies like Brooks Brothers into several uses. Southwick plans to move to another facility in the Merrimack Valley, and the space it now occupies in three buildings would be broken up.
The building closest to Union Street, which is being purchased by brothers Luis and Juan Yepez, will be converted to a commercial and retail complex.
The building just to the east of that will be used primarily as a housing complex, with a day-care facility on the first floor and parking on the ground floor. That building, owned by Lawrence Community Works, will offer a mix of affordable or work-force housing and market-rate, owner-occupied condos and rental apartments. Part of the plan is to lease several of the apartments to Lawrence General Hospital for physicians and nurses who are here for short-term assignments.
A smaller, single-story building that now houses the Southwick retail store is also being refurbished for a use that has yet to be determined.
The parking lot that serves the complex of mills that includes Southwick and 60 Island St., owned by Chet Sidell, will be changed dramatically. It will be partly covered with a deck that will support a park, with a walking path leading from Island Street to the complex.
A new bridge over the North Canal will provide vehicle and pedestrian access to the property and link the project with the new 1,000-space parking lot and park on the other side of Canal Street.
The second phase of the project is to convert the Duck Mill into a complex of housing on the upper floors and commercial and retail space on the lower floors. The mill is owned by Sidell but is being sold to Lawrence Community Works.
Phase 3 includes construction of several buildings along Island Street that could eventually become commercial or retail space.
Lawrence Economic Development Director Tom Schiavone praised the project.
"It's an additional level of investment in an area where the city is already spending a lot of money in partnership with the state and federal governments on the Gateway initiative," he said. The centerpiece of the initiative is a 1,000-space parking lot and recreational park being built on formerly contaminated land off Canal and Prospect streets.
"We are starting to see the fruits of that labor. There is a tremendous amount of investment going on."
Schiavone said Lawrence Community Works has created a "thoughtful plan, and we are working very closely with them."
The residential and commercial project will add affordable housing, jobs and property tax revenue.
2. Canal District makeover may include hotel
In Lawrence, one of the big players in the city's revival is the nonprofit Architectural Heritage Foundation.
The foundation has converted an old textile mill into an apartment complex and is seeking to turn another, smaller mill into a culinary school and professional offices. The foundation is also partnering with a Washington, D.C., developer to build a hotel in the historic Pemberton Mill.
All the work is taking place in the so-called Canal District, bordered on one side by the Merrimack River, bisected by the North Canal and crisscrossed by downtown streets.
Residents of the high-end apartment complex, as well as the guests of the proposed hotel and the students and staff of the culinary school, are expected to bring new life to the city.
The foundation's first project was Washington Mills, at 270 Canal St. The 19th-century textile mill has been transformed into a 155-unit apartment complex that features a soaring entryway, well-appointed common spaces, a workout center, artists' galleries, a roof deck and plenty of parking. The apartments have high, Palladian windows with expansive views of the city or the river from the upper floors. A bridge was built across the North Canal to give emergency vehicles as well as occupants easy access to the building, which maintained its historic look to take advantage of generous federal tax credits. A spokeswoman said about 90 of the apartments have been rented since the building was finished late last year.
The Architectural Heritage Foundation is also tackling the old Morehouse Bakery building on Tremont Street, a block or two away. The first floor of the vacant building is expected to become home to the Cambridge School of Culinary Art, with professional offices on the upper floors.
The foundation also has its eyes on the Pemberton Mill, owned by Iron Mountain, a data storage company that uses the building for document storage. The foundation has teamed with Washington developer Bob Holland, who was instrumental in the revival of the art-deco district in Miami in the 1970s and '80s. Together they hope to convert the building into a 110-room, boutique-style hotel. City officials are thrilled that the hotel could bring well-heeled visitors to the city to spend time and money at shops, museums and restaurants.
Another building in the Canal District is also slated for development. The old River Mill is under agreement to be sold to Forest City Enterprises, an Ohio company that is also developing an apartment complex in Haverhill. The mostly vacant River Mill, along with a low-slung, old dye factory, will be turned into a 280-apartment complex and open space.
3. A 'mini Hall' at Salem Depot
The Depot in Salem, N.H., is in for a major overhaul.
Businessman Steve DeVito has already spent $6 million to build a two-story stucco building that houses DeVito's fine dining on the first floor and Stevie D's Sports Grille on the second. The restaurant and sports bar, with a combined 280 seats, replaces the old Players Restaurant & Lounge at 67 Main St. (Route 97).
He has even bigger plans for the crossroads of Routes 97 and 28.
"I want to build a mini Faneuil Hall in New Hampshire," said DeVito, who made his fortune in the trucking and recycling businesses he owns in Salem and Epping. It will be called Salem Depot Marketplace.
With financing from Bank of New England and Enterprise Bank, DeVito spent another $6 million buying a half dozen properties around the restaurant. All of those buildings, including apartments, offices and the old Craftmania building on Willow Street, will be demolished to make way for a retail and residential complex, complete with its own bypass road.
DeVito recently purchased a 35-foot-wide, hand-carved fountain in Italy that he hopes to make the centerpiece of what he calls his "mini town," which could include up to 100 condos and a variety of stores and commercial outlets such as a bank, an ice cream stand and a Starbucks.
Town officials are supportive of the plan, much of which is still preliminary.
The marketplace in the Depot would be a "huge shot in the arm for an area of town that has not been heavily invested in," Town Planner Ross Moldoff said "I hope it will stimulate further economic development."
A bypass road cutting through the site would connect Route 97 to Route 28 near Dodge Grain Co., easing traffic at the congested intersection, where it can take up to 15 minutes to get through the lights.
The bypass road has been on the drawing boards for years as a way to redevelop the area and ease traffic, but has never become reality, DeVito said, because so many owners were involved.
The town has plans of its own for the Depot. The town-owned former train station that gives the spot its name is being renovated as a community center or museum. The old railroad bed between DeVito's restaurant and the old train station, meanwhile, would be converted to a walking trail from Salem to Manchester.
4. Lowell Junction: A billion-dollar bonanza
Millions of dollars in tax revenue and thousands of jobs are riding on construction of a new exit off Interstate 93 between the Dascomb Road and Route 125 exits, near Andover's Lowell Junction industrial area.
The interchange would open 700 acres in Andover, Wilmington and Tewksbury to industrial, commercial, retail and residential development.
"This is probably one of the biggest economic development projects in the North of Boston region," said Paul Materazzo, director of Planning and Economic Development in Andover.
A task force of representatives of the three communities has been meeting for months and is closing in on a unified vision for the land around the exit, said Robert Halpin, president and CEO of the Merrimack Valley Economic Development Council. Halpin also serves as coordinator for the Tri-Town Task Force.
The project would lead to development of 3.6 million square feet of industrial, commercial, retail and residential space and create 5,000 to 12,000 new jobs, Halpin said.
In the end, the $50 million interchange could leverage an economic boost worth $1 billion, he said.
At the heart of the plan are two "villages," one on the either side of the highway. The mixed-use villages would be linked to outlying businesses via walking and biking paths, as well as small feeder streets.
Also in the mix is a mall to be developed by the Simon Property Group. Simon owns malls all over the country and now owns the land in Tewksbury that is part of the interchange footprint.
In Andover, direct access to I-93 via the interchange would benefit Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, Procter & Gamble (formerly Gillette) and other businesses in the Lowell Junction area, south of Andover's Ballardvale section.
The current road system "can't service these businesses," Materazzo said. "Every time they come in for expansion, there is a lot of concern in the Ballardvale neighborhood" about traffic.
Commuters who clog residential roads in Ballardvale would have more direct access to I-93 via the new exit.
"Once the interchange becomes available, existing businesses would be able to grow," Materazzo said.
The project would also create a "tax windfall for communities in the millions of dollars," he added.
Next on the agenda for the task force is to turn the vision into a series of zoning and other proposals that will bring it to reality, Halpin said.
5. Exit could open doors in New Hampshire
Like the proposed Lowell Junction exit off Interstate 93 in Andover, a new interchange off the highway in New Hampshire could open doors for economic development in Derry and Londonderry.
Beth Thompson, business development coordinator for the town of Derry, said both communities have been working for years to win approval for an exit off Interstate 93 between Exit 4 and Exit 5.
Exit 4A would ease traffic in both towns and provide access to about 400 acres of undeveloped land. The exit — a full interchange about a mile north of Exit 4 — would take traffic off I-93 and carry it east, about a mile or so through Londonderry into Derry.
Thompson said the land off the exit is zoned for industrial and commercial use, and its development would bring in much-needed tax revenue to both communities.
Each community has pledged $5 million toward the $30 million to $40 million cost of the interchange.
It has the support of many people in both communities, as well as that of Gov. John Lynch, Thompson said.
During a recent visit to Derry, Lynch said the new exit could be created as part of the project to widen I-93. The widening has been delayed by environmental challenges but it "will happen," Lynch said, though "not next year."
Thompson said she believes "the whole thing" — the widening and the new exit — "will happen in the next five years."
6. Derry has 270 acres for new retail business
There's land for sale in Derry, lots of it, all zoned commercial/industrial on a stretch of Route 28 that is being widened to accommodate development.
A 230,000-square-foot Super Wal-Mart had been planned for a portion of the 270 acres off Crystal Avenue (Route 28). But Wal-Mart pulled out, leaving the land available for other development. The town of Derry is offering a tax break on the property and paying for the road-widening project.
Beth Thompson, business development coordinator for Derry, said Wal-Mart withdrew plans for several New Hampshire mega-stores at the same time it dropped the Derry proposal. She said the property would most likely be developed for retail business but could also be developed for industrial use or a mix of uses.
7. Back to the future on Lawrence's Essex Street
A bustling, two-way street filled with shoppers darting in and out of a variety of retail shops, restaurants, offices and apartments or condos is what Mayor Michael Sullivan said he has envisioned for Essex Street since he took office six years ago.
Now the street is about to be made two-way, and city leaders hope the rest will follow.
"In 1978, the city turned Essex Street from a two-way street to a one-way street, and that experiment failed," Economic Development Director Tom Schiavone said. "It's taken us 30 years to correct it."
At a ceremony last month, officials unveiled new street signs, banners and trash receptacles that will give the street a new look while it undergoes a traffic transformation.
Some work is already underway along either side of the street. The old Blakely Building has benefited from storefront improvements and renovation of upper floors into 45 apartments. Nearby, the Intown Mall is in the final stages of being sold to Northern Essex Community College, which will demolish the longtime white elephant and put up a campus devoted to health sciences and technology, Schiavone said.
Also on Essex Street, Michael Tarshi Jr. has converted an unused parcel into a retail complex.
Schiavone said the business community is "almost 100 percent behind the initiative," and investment has climbed and building activity has increased.
8. New blood boosts Haverhill downtown
New businesses are cropping up all over downtown, and it's no mystery why.
Hundreds of new apartments and condominiums are either in the works or already occupied as developers take advantage of favorable zoning, encouragement from city leaders and a good stock of 19th-century mills built during the city's shoe manufacturing heyday.
And the tenants in those buildings are out buying stuff. In Haverhill.
"Three new restaurants have opened in the downtown area in the last couple of months," said William Pillsbury, Haverhill Economic Development director. "That's a result of new disposable income locating downtown — the people who live in those units."
Also new to downtown are a coffee shop, a bead shop, a small bookstore and other boutique-type stores, all supported by the "changing demographic," Pillsbury said.
For its part, the city is redoing sidewalks and plans a parking garage near the train station.
Haverhill cleared the way for redevelopment of the mills in 2005, when it became one of the first cities in the state to adopt a zoning law, known as 40R, that allows residential and commercial development of industrial buildings.
Pillsbury said 40R projects will ultimately add 512 units of housing downtown. Among those projects:
Beacon Companies of Boston has rehabilitated a brick building at 16 Walnut St. into The Cordovan at Haverhill Station, a 146-unit apartment complex. It is fully occupied, Pillsbury said.
Forest City Enterprises, a national development company based in Cleveland, is converting the old Stoller Building at 113 Essex St. (the former Hamel Leather Co. factory) into 243 one- and two-bedroom apartments. It is also converting the Lagasse Building at 10 Duncan St. into 60 apartments. Residents are expected to move into the largest and most expensive housing project in city history beginning in October.
The vacant Charles H. Hayes building at 14-36 Granite St. will have 61 units of housing, plus street-level retail space. A project of the Planning Office for Urban Affairs, an arm of the Archdiocese of Boston, it has been OK'd by the city and is awaiting state approval.
9. Methuen takes cue from Newburyport
A vibrant, inviting downtown business district is a goal not only of Methuen's 2007 master plan, but also of Mayor William Manzi's second term.
The idea is to create something that has attracted visitors to Newburyport and Amesbury: a place that blends shops, professional offices and restaurants with apartments and condos while preserving the city's historic attributes and "small-town feel," according to the master plan.
The plan's authors wrote that the downtown — described roughly as the Gaunt Square area stretching along Broadway, Hampshire and Osgood streets — should become a place that offers residents a place to gather and patronize "smaller-scale, more unique stores and restaurants than the Loop provides."
The Loop is the reborn Methuen Mall on Pleasant Valley Street, which houses chain stores such as The Gap, Old Navy and a Borders bookstore as well as a Loews movie theater.
The city is debating zoning changes that would allow for such downtown development. The new rules would also encourage "smart growth" principles, allow for different building uses in Methuen's center, create contiguous business districts, and clearly identify conservation land and open space.
10. Bradford comes back as Bible college
By fall, hundreds of students, faculty and staff of Zion Bible College are expected to fill the former Bradford College in Haverhill. That's a good thing for the city, said Pillsbury of the city's Economic Development Department.
"It's been vacant for five or six years," noted Pillsbury. "Now it's being brought back to life. It will be populated by a fully operational college. From an economic development standpoint, there's a multiplier effect — several hundred students living on campus, shopping in stores, using our restaurants, buying in the variety stores. It will inject an entire population and demographic into the city."
A roughly 40-acre section of the campus was sold for housing soon after the college closed in 2000. The housing development built there, called Carrington Estates, includes a mix of individual homes and townhouses.
But when the debt-ridden Bradford College closed, the remainder of the campus was deserted, leading many to worry that it would fall into disrepair. But the Barrington, R.I., school has vowed to restore the historic campus to its former glory.
Obama Gives Education Waivers to 10 States
Giffords Aide to Run for Her Seat
LA School in Sex Abuse Scandal Reopens
Winter Slamming North Asia, Parts of Europe
Syrian Forces Renew Bombardment of Homs
States, Banks Reach Foreclosure-abuse Settlement
Raw Video: Italy's Mount Etna Bursts Into Life
Greeks March; Angry Despite Debt Deal
Raw Video: U.S. Pullout Celebration
Raw Video: Annual Empire State Building Run-Up
Man Killed in Courthouse Shootout
Video of Ga. Man Who Killed Girl Released
Air Force Airlines: Leaders Get Polished Service
Ga Girl Fights Off Kidnapper at Walmart
Nevada Highway Patrol, City Settle Beating Case
Homs Bombardment Continues, Global Outcry Grows
Raw Video: Dog Rescued From Icy Colo. Water
Skip the Coffee Cup and Inhale Your Caffeine Fix
