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When the A.E. Coffin Press Lofts development entered its final
phase of construction late last year, the sponsors felt confident
that several structural challenges that arose during the initial
phase of the process had finally been resolved.
Coffin Lofts involves the conversion of three vacant commercial
buildings in downtown New Bedford into 18 loft-style apartments
and ground-floor commercial space. Five of the apartments will be
reserved for very low-income households and six for low- to moderate-income
households.
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| Interior
view of the Coffin building.
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Developed by the Waterfront Historic Area League (WHALE), a nonprofit
dedicated to preserving historic properties, and HallKeen LLC, a
real estate-investment company, the Coffin Lofts initiative is part
of an ongoing effort by developers and the city to revive the city's
once-moribund downtown district.
By December 2004, the Coffin Lofts project was in full swing. Roofs
were being reconstructed and interiors gutted. The developers, however,
were also wrestling with several structural challenges that threatened
to add significant costs to the development.
"Even though we had done so much investigation, we're finding
in many cases that the buildings are in much worse condition than
we'd anticipated," says Antone G. Souza, Jr., executive director
of WHALE. "This leads to cost overruns. It has really been
a process of working with the contractors and the architect to make
sure we get the most value for our dollar."
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| Exterior
view of the Coffin building. |
The developers found more deterioration than anticipated in the
roof of the Coffin building and in the flooring of the New Bedford
Dry Goods building; they also found more structural problems than
expected in the frame of the Phinney Building. "We're eating
up the contingency budget, but it's work that has to be done,"
says Mr. Souza."
To compensate for the added costs, the developers have taken steps
to raise additional funds and shave costs where appropriate. "For
instance, we were going to take all of the windows out of the frames,
but we found that the historic frames were in really good condition,"
says Mr. Souza. "It turns out we only had to replace the window
sash. This means that the windows will look more historically correct."
"The partners are going to be investing more dollars into
the project, but we're trying to keep that to a
minimum," says Andrew P. Burnes, principal of HallKeen LLC.
"WHALE has applied for a grant from the National Trust for
Historic Preservation, and we've gone back to the city to talk about
an increase in the HOME funds allocation. The project has been a
cooperative effort amongst the partners, and I believe we'll come
up with a solution to make it work."
Financing for the $4.0 million initiative included a $307,709
grant and $1.45 million subsidized advance
from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston's Affordable Housing Program
(AHP), $647,116 in new markets and historic tax credits, $1.1 million
in state and local HOME funds, and a $70,000 Massachusetts Preservation
Projects Grant. Member Compass Bank also took a $600,000 Community
Development advance from the Bank to finance expenses associated
with the project's commercial space.
"The first stage in the investigation is always the hard part,"
notes Mr. Souza. "Now that we've been able to see through all
the structural stuff it should be more clear sailing from here."
Built between 1910 and 1915, the Coffin Lofts buildings once housed
jewelry, stationery, and clothing shops. Sections of the buildings
were also part of the Star Store, one of New Bedford's largest downtown
department stores prior to its closing in 1989. "The buildings
have typical early twentieth century architecture with some classical
forms," says Mr. Souza. "I wouldn't say any one of them
is a major architectural gem, but taken together they're handsome
buildings."
The successful conversion of the main Star Store building into
the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth's graduate school of visual
and performing arts has drawn more young people to the area and
served as a catalyst for development of the adjacent Coffin Lofts
project.
The decline of American downtowns has often been attributed to
the emergence of America's car culture and the accompanying growth
of suburbs and malls. But after years of decline, the downtowns
of cities such as New Bedford and Providence are experiencing a
renaissance. Attractive old commercial buildings are being converted
into housing and new businesses are being generated to serve the
new residents.
"There are 16 rehabilitation projects going on in downtown
New Bedford right now," says Mr. Souza. These include Lawton's
Corner, a mixed-use, mixed-income development also sponsored by
WHALE and HallKeene; the conversion of another former department
store into the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth's New Bedford
Professional and Continuing Education Center; and construction of
a new residential building and bank.
Mr. Souza believes that young people attending the growing number
of downtown educational institutions, artists, and empty nesters
will all be drawn to the budding residential community. "We're
seeing a younger crowd downtown," he says. "At night,
downtown used to be like a ghost town, but that's not the case anymore;
it's hard to get a parking space at night now."
A firm believer in the smart-growth principles that have inspired
the Coffin Lofts plan, Mr. Burnes argues it's wise for cities to
be focusing their resources on recycling these older downtown buildings.
"It really makes a huge amount of sense for the public sector
to support these slightly more expensive projects," he says.
"Developing them assures that resources are being directed
toward where the infrastructure and resources already are."
"I think there is a reality that downtown living is a really
positive thing in our society today," he adds. "More people
are excited about living in the downtowns of cities like New Bedford,
Providence, and Fall River."
With the completion of the development planned for the fall of
2005, the developers are already looking ahead to the upcoming marketing
phase of the plan. In recent weeks, they have been encouraged by
the interest Bristol Community College has shown in leasing the
development's ground-floor commercial space.
"There will be bumps along the road, just as we've had in
the construction process," says Mr. Burnes, "but I'm sure
that this project will be another brick in the rebuilding of downtown
New Bedford — a major brick."
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