By Jennifer Myers, jmyers@lowellsun.com
LOWELL -- The land-disposition agreement transferring the Hamilton Canal District from the city to developer Trinity Financial is expected to be executed within 30 days, according to City Manager Bernie Lynch.
Lynch and other city and business officials on Friday toured the 15-acre parcel at the end of Jackson Street, which is slated to undergo a 10-year, $800 million redevelopment, with U.S. Rep. Niki Tsongas and project managers from Trinity Financial.
"This is a very exciting project that meets the goals of the city, including continued economic development, bringing jobs to the downtown area and bringing an important historical property back to life," Lynch said.
Jim Keefe of Trinity Financial is hopeful that the first phase of the project, which includes rehabbing the 50,000-square-foot Freudenberg building into commercial retail space, as well as the construction of 150 affordable artist live/work lofts at the site of the Appleton Mills on Jackson Street, will break ground next spring.
Project manager Abby Goldenfarb of Trinity Financial added that the project is the first in the state to earn "Super" status from the Massachusetts Environmental Protection Agency, meaning that the often-lengthy permitting process will be consolidated by bringing all of the state agencies to the table at the same time.
The draft Environmental Impact Report for the proposal is expected to be filed with the state next month, she added.
When all is said and done, what now stands as a burial ground for the cold, crumbling remnants of the city's industrial past, a blighted abandoned neighborhood on the fringe of the vibrant downtown, will be transformed into a 1.9 million-square-foot mixed development of commercial, retail, housing and recreational uses, cognizant of its history, that is expected to bring more than 1,000 permanent jobs to the city.
The plan includes a 450-seat theater that could be a new home for the Merrimack Repertory Theatre, a 980-space parking garage, parks, and pedestrian walking routes along the Pawtucket, Hamilton and Merrimack canals.
The site is adjacent to the future home of the Lowell Judicial Center, a $175 million, 250,000-square-foot facility that will house Lowell's four courts: district, superior, juvenile and probate.
One of the main goals of the project is to connect the Acre and Lower Highlands neighborhoods to the Hamilton Canal District and downtown by extending Broadway, Jackson and Revere streets, as well as adding pedestrian walkways between the neighborhoods and to the Gallagher Terminal, and extending the trolley line possibly as far out as LeLacheur Park.
The buildings in the complex will utilize green technology, including solar power. The buildings will have grass on their roofs, which will assist in storm-water management by absorbing up to the first inch of rain and slowing run-off.
Hank Keating of Trinity Financial said all of the building will be built to the certification standards of Leadership in Energy and Design.
In the interest of preserving the area's rich mill history, the outer walls of the mill ruins along the canals will remain.
"It is a unique feature, a historic asset that cannot be duplicated," Keating said. "This will be a vibrant mix of historic rehab and contemporary architecture that represents the next century of Lowell."
Mayor Edward "Bud" Caulfield described the condition of the district today as resembling a bombed-out European city following World War II.
"We have neglected it for over 50 years," he said. "Every city has a neighborhood you brush by and don't pay any attention to, and you can either continue to let it deteriorate or step up to the plate and do something about it."
This story appeared in the Lowell Sun on Monday, August 11, 2008