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MassDevelopment In The News
N.H. Engineering Firm Plans $5 Million Lowell Rehab
January 31, 2008: The Lowell Sun, by Dan O'Brien
LOWELL - A New Hampshire-based environmental engineering firm is breaking ground tomorrow on a $5 million project to redevelop an historic mill complex on Middlesex Street, where it plans to move its Massachusetts operations - and as many as 45 jobs.
Nobis Engineering Inc. is rehabbing the 21,000-square-foot Davis Sargent Building into professional office space. The structure, located at 585 and 607 Middlesex St., was built in 1879 and housed the former Davis & Sargent Lumber Co.
A ground breaking ceremony is planned for 11:30 a.m. tomorrow, with construction beginning on Monday, according to Allison Dunn, Nobis' marketing director.
Concord, N.H.-based Nobis expects to begin occupying the building this fall, she said. It will move 20 people from its existing Massachusetts office in Lawrence, and expects to add as many as 25 new jobs in the next year or two.
"We had been renting (in Lawrence) for about five years, but came to the point where we wanted to build roots in a community of our own," Dunn said. "Lowell, by far, provided us with the right options and development."
Theresa Park, Lowell's director of economic development, said the project was significant to the city because it would bring "great, well-paying jobs" with a growing company.
"They're a great addition for us," she said, noting that Lowell has developed a cluster of various environmentally-related companies, including TRC Cos., Watermark Environmental and Global Energy Services.
Nobis has committed to redeveloping the building while incorporating "green" elements to the design, officials say. Among those are solar panels on the roof, high-efficiency lighting systems, and use of environmentally-friendly materials in construction.
The general contractor is Billerica-based Aberthaw Construction Co.
Finance partners include the Massachusetts Housing Investment Corp. and MassDevelopment, the latter of which provided a $2 million low-interest loan and a $50,000 predevelopment assistance loan; $280,000 in state historic renovation tax credits; and other federal and state historic tax credits totaling more than $2 million.
Nobis was founded in 1988 as a remediation company. It is an employee-owned consulting engineering firm specializing in civil, environmental and geotechnical engineering, with annual revenues of about $10 million.
Dunn said the company has done work at Lowell's Boott Mill and master campus planning for UMass Lowell.
It employs some 72 people between its Concord headquarters and Lawrence office, she said.
© Copyright 2008 The Lowell Sun.
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