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Lee Select Board eyes additional funding for Eagle Mill project’s second phase

The Select Board signed a letter to the state's Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities requesting grant assistance.

Lee — The Select Board pushed the town’s Eagle Mill project forward on February 4 as members signed a letter of support aimed at gaining state funds in addition to local monies for its second residential phase.

The Eagle Mill Redevelopment Project will transform an 1808 former paper mill, the Eagle Mill building, into affordable-housing units with commercial space on its 8.4 acres abutting the Housatonic River. The West Center Street mill shut down in 2008, and the efforts to redevelop the tract have been in the works for almost a decade.

Addressed to the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (EOHLC), the correspondence outlines the project’s second phase that adds a new building on the site with 44 mixed-income family rental apartments. Its first phase will include 56 affordable apartments, and its third phase plans to add more units across the street.

According to the letter, the town of Lee will “provide additional funding for Phase II,” with that amount “under consideration.”

The two-year-old EOHLC seeks to add more residences and lower housing costs for state residents by distributing funds to towns and cities. With its designation as a Smart-Growth Overlay District, the Eagle Mill project fits into the EOHLC funding requirements.

The letter, read aloud by Select Board Chair Gordon Bailey, proclaims “strong” support for the project that will “contribut[e] significantly to the revitalization of downtown Lee” by not only preserving the town’s historical pieces but also providing the affordable housing that is lacking in the region.

A copy of that letter of support can be found here.

“I’m happy to see they’re moving forward with Phase Two,” said Select Board member Sean Regnier. “It will be a good thing for the town.”

Bailey said the effort is spearheaded by “Hearthway RLD Lee LLC, previously known as Berkshire Housing Development Corporation that, along with Rees-Larkin Development LLC, is responsible for the project.” About $5.8 million in funds were released April 1 for the first phase of the multiphase plan. The town of Lee contributed $150,000 in financing for that phase, and, according to MassHousing, monies were also contributed through state and federal Historic Tax Credits ($13.5 million), EOHLC Low Income Housing Tax Credits ($9.7 million), EOHLC direct funds ($4.4 million), American Rescue Plan Act funds ($1 million), Berkshire Regional Planning Commission ($1.8 million), and MassSave ($30,000).

According to Town Administrator Christopher Brittain, Hearthway CEO Eileen Peltier is scheduled to attend the Select Board’s next meeting on February 18 to provide more information on funding the upcoming 44 housing units before a construction permit is issued for that phase of the project. Bailey said he is hopeful Peltier will be able to provide a projected occupancy date for Phase One. “I’m sure a lot of people in town would like to know when is somebody going to actually move into this,” he said.

As of July, when Lee officials joined contractors to begin demolition of the premises, a total of at least 135 new housing units were slated to be built in the Eagle Mill project. Since the site previously housed a machine shop and its structures contained lead-based paint, the property required environmental remediation.

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