The Eagle Mill, built in 1808 and in operation as a paper mill for the subsequent two centuries, currently sits vacant on the banks of the Housatonic River. A ceremonial groundbreaking Wednesday signaled the kickoff of a long-awaited revitalization of the property into rental units as well as shops, office space, and condos.
“My partners and I saw the opportunity to transform and revitalize the town of Lee by creating a village of affordable and market rate housing, in which people could live and eat and work and enjoy life while recognizing the history and the character of this charming town,” said developer Jeff Cohen.
The project to transform the mill began in 2012, four years after it was finally shuttered and the last employees let go. Now, he says the project is waiting on one more approval from the state department of Housing and Community Development.
“We've been at this as you know, nine years," said Cohen. "We have one more letter to receive from DHCD, which is an environmental funding approval. We're kind of hoping that'll happen in the next few months. And demolition, abatement, remediation for the mill will actually physically begin shortly.”
Cohen and his partners will sell the residential elements of the property to Rees-Larkin Development and Berkshire Housing Development. Of the planned 122 units, 70% will be designated as affordable housing and 30% as workforce housing.
“Today, we launched a new beginning that not only will bring new life to a long vacant site in the heart of Lee, but importantly, will provide desperately needed housing. The situation is daunting. In Berkshire County, as well as the rest of the state, we have a serious supply issue, combined with too many households making too little to afford a home," said Berkshire Housing Development CEO Eileen Peltier. “About one-third of Berkshire County households make less than $35,000 a year. We also know that many families who earn up to 80% of the area median income, also called AMI, or around $58,000 for a family of two, struggle to afford housing. Eagle Mill’s first residential phase will be a mixed income project. It will provide 36 apartments for extremely low and low-income residents earning no more than 60% AMI as well as 20 more apartments for those earning up to 80% area median income. In our work, Berkshire Housing has seen many hard working families just over that 60% AMI threshold, lose out on an opportunity to have a home. With Eagle Mill’s mixed income approach, we can say yes.”
The celebration brought out public officials including State Senator Adam Hinds, now running for lieutenant governor, State Representative Smitty Pignatelli, and Congressman Richard Neal of the 1st District, who developers credit with securing almost $9 million in federal and state historic tax credits.
“When Jeff approached me- and my staff went back and got the date- the first time that we spoke was on July 3rd of 2016. And he needed help with the National Park Service, because the National Park Service is the custodian of many of these historic buildings across the country. And they do a great job. So little by little, we had to assemble the site to make it attractive to investment dollars. And as that happened- Bill Powers in my office did a great job on this- in these subsequent meetings, we convinced the park service that the project was not only worthwhile, but over a long view, would be a sizable investment in the town of Lee.”
While the prosecco has been popped and the caramel apples distributed to attendees at the ribbon cutting, there’s still the matter of actually developing the long-decrepit site. Cohen.
“There’s two phases," explained the developer. "Phase one is 56 apartments, and a market and office space in the historic machine shop. That should start construction, actual construction, January, February, and it should be finished not later than 18 months- So the end of 2023, at which time we'll be into phase two, which is two new apartment buildings, another 66 apartments, and six condominium townhouses. So that'll be done [by] 2025.”
