MassDevelopment Partners With Main Street Bank to Finance Worcester Market-Rate Housing

April 30, 2018

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contacts:
Kelsey Abbruzzese, MassDevelopment, 617-330-2086 & 617-448-9077 (cell)
kabbruzzese@massdevelopment.com

Daniel Stroe, North Villages Lofts, 508-791-8804 (cell)
daniel@wallachiainvestments.com

MassDevelopment has partnered with Main Street Bank in Marlborough to provide a $2,781,710 commercial real estate mortgage loan to North Village Lofts LLC, a real estate development company in Worcester. Main Street Bank was the lead lender on the financing, and MassDevelopment contributed $1,390,855 to the loan. North Village Lofts LLC is using loan proceeds to buy and renovate the former Indian Hill Schoolhouse at 155 Ararat Street in Worcester, converting the building into 23 market-rate rental housing units. MassDevelopment also enhanced the financing with a guarantee.

“As a community lender, it is gratifying to be a part of the revitalization of a historic building and a partner with MassDevelopment on this project,” said Rick Bennett, CEO of Main Street Bank. “The developers have such a great vision for the property and we’re excited to see this come to fruition.”

“MassDevelopment is proud to partner with lead lender Main Street Bank on this financing, which will help North Village Lofts LLC restore a vacant building to active use and preserve a historic Worcester property,” said MassDevelopment President and CEO Lauren Liss. “We are pleased this project will add high-quality, market-rate housing in Worcester.”

North Village Lofts LLC is a partnership between Worcester developers Timothy Adler and Daniel Stroe. The Indian Hill Schoolhouse project is the team’s first real estate venture together. The property was built in 1925 as a public elementary schoolhouse, but the City of Worcester declared it a surplus property in 1981. The City then sold the building to The Salter School, a private secretarial school that occupied the facility until 2006. The building has been vacant for more than a decade. In addition to re-activating an underused property in Worcester, the developers plan to preserve the Indian Hill Schoolhouse building’s brick, wood beam, and stucco gothic exterior and many interior architectural elements. North Village Lofts LLC expects the building to be ready for occupancy in early 2019. More information about the project can be found at loftsatnorthvillage.com.

“MassDevelopment and Main Street Bank’s willingness to support this project is the key to rejuvenating this historic building,” said Daniel Stroe, co-owner of North Village Lofts. “After a lengthy rezoning and permitting process, it’s exciting to be at this milestone of executing upon our plans for creating 23 high-end, loft-style apartments within this beautiful and historic building.”

MassDevelopment, the state’s finance and development agency, works with businesses, nonprofits, financial institutions, and communities to stimulate economic growth across the Commonwealth. During FY2017, MassDevelopment financed or managed 377 projects generating investment of more than $4.3 billion in the Massachusetts economy. These projects are projected to create about 9,488 jobs and build or rehabilitate 1,863 residential units.