Bernon Mills project ‘huge push forward’ for downtown

WOONSOCKET – A new project pitched by a New York-based developer is poised to become one of the largest mill redevelopments in the city and will almost certainly reshape the economic prospects of the city’s downtown.

Brisa Development, an associate of Brisa Builders Corp., has submitted plans to redevelop the Bernon Mills, a six-building complex between Front Street and the Blackstone River. The company has proposed a total of 60 residential units in three mill buildings along with retail and office space located on the property.

Hammad Graham, one of the company’s principals, told The Breeze the company has been pursuing the project for about nine months. A native of Springfield, Mass., Graham said the company recently expanded into New England and is working on another project in Chicopee, Mass.

“This is going to be our first project in Rhode Island. We wanted to start off on a very significant campus that means a lot. We’re pretty excited about it,” he said.

The Bernon Mills, a former textile mill complex that traces its roots to 1827, occupies about 3.9 acres along the banks of the Blackstone River. In 2003, Steven Lima, now a state representative, purchased the buildings and began renovating them into luxury condos. The work stalled amid the 2008 real estate crisis, and in 2012, he sold off the remainder of his investments to Millbury Credit Union. Only 16 units were completed in one of the buildings before the project was abandoned.

According to their project proposal, Brisa expects to complete an additional 44 units for a total of 60 residential units onsite. A defunct shoe repair business on Court Street, referred to as the “cobbler building,” will become office space, while the carriage house will be developed into offices and a food mart. The company also proposes outfitting the old pump house next to one of the mill buildings with an observation deck overlooking the river.

“It is going to be a mixed-use property that has some retail in it, that has some office component, but the campus itself is so gorgeous that we just believe that a mixed-use, residential-anchored programming would make the site just kind of pop and stand out. That’s the goal,” Graham said.

Mayor Lisa Baldelli-Hunt told The Breeze this week she sees the project as a “huge push forward,” not just for the city as a whole, but for the downtown area. Like other recent residential projects, the apartments offer the promise of potential customers for businesses and other organizations on nearby Main Street.

“We will be bringing in residents into the area of our community where we have been working hard to increase the human capital on our Main Street, and to drive people, whether it’s to our restaurants or our coffee shops, our bike path, our theater, our museums,” she said. “You’re developing this particular area keeping in mind that the folks who live here are also going to have people visit them or people meet them here to go out.”

The same considerations have seen city officials excited in recent months about residential projects at 43 Railroad St. and 122 North Main St., as well as interest in the CYO building on Federal Street. Baldelli-Hunt said the Bernon Mills redevelopment will be one of the bigger projects in recent years contributing to the city’s overall growth.

“There has been a lot of movement. Every piece of progress, whether it’s small or big, plays a significant role in its own way to making the city of Woonsocket a more attractive city,” she said.

Graham said the company plans to market the apartments as “workforce” housing that includes a range of rental rates and unit sizes. Though the company has previous experience developing affordable housing, often in partnership with religious organizations, there’s no plan at this time to designate any of the units as affordable, he said.

“We want to be able to attract folks not only in Woonsocket but all over Providence County, and we think we have the development to do that,” he said.

In addition to the building renovations, the company also plans to develop a 5,000-square-foot recreation facility for resident use. Graham said the company has spent the past nine months pursuing the site and developing their overall plan for the property, which he called a “sustainable mixed-use development.”

“It takes a while to build that kind of development,” he said.

The company will have to go through several stages of municipal review before beginning construction on the project. On Tuesday, May 11, they’ll appear before the Planning Board to present their application for a major land development. They’ll also need to appear before the Zoning Board to seek relief from zoning ordinances restricting the street frontage and number of units.

They’ll also need to seek guidance from the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management regarding contamination from a former power plant. According to a letter submitted by Pare Corporation, the company’s engineer, the groups have been in contact with the RIDEM and have a plan to partially remove and replace a soil cap to allow for redevelopment.

If all goes well, Baldelli-Hunt said the company hopes to begin construction by the first quarter of 2022.

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