Leominster 21-unit housing project receives $2.5M MassDevelopment loan

September 15, 2021 : Worcester Business Journal, by Katherine Hamilton

An historic factory building in downtown Leominster will be redeveloped into 21 market-rate rental units with the help of a $2.52-million loan from MassDevelopment and Clinton Savings Bank, according to a Wednesday press release from the state agency.

Construction on the three-story building began in March and is slated to finish by the end of the year, said the announcement. The majority of the units will be studios and micro-units, with two one-bedrooms, as well.

The loan was granted to Summer Street Apartments LLC, which is registered in the Massachusetts Corporations Division to the president of Cougar Capital Management, a Boston-based real estate developer.

In November 2019, Summer Street Apartments LLC purchased the property at 41 Summer St. from the South Middlesex Non-Profit Housing Corporation for $300,000, according to the Worcester Northern District Registry of Deeds.

The property was sold previously in 2017 for $245,000 and is assessed by the City of Leominster at $367,800. 

Cougar Capital Management has also developed a larger, 36-unit property next door at 45 Summer St. dubbed the Toy Factory Apartments after the Reed Toy Factory formerly residing in the building.

The Toy Factory Apartments were sold to Cougar Capital for $500,000 in 2017 and are now assessed by the city at $751,200. 

Construction on the market-rate Toy Factory Apartments was completed in September 2020 with $6 million in financing from MassDevelopment.