Adaptive Reuse Creates Affordable Housing for Grandparents and Grandchildren

Adaptive Reuse Creates Affordable Housing for Grandparents and Grandchildren

Mill Street Square in Paterson, New Jersey, turned the site of a vacant textile warehouse into 74 affordable apartments targeted to grandparents raising grandchildren. Photo credit: WinnCompanies

Paterson, a city of approximately 156,000 residents in Passaic County, New Jersey, has an urgent need for affordable family housing. Compared with the rest of the state, Paterson's residents are generally younger, less affluent, live in larger households, and are less likely to own a home. Although the city's economy has struggled following the loss of manufacturing jobs, Paterson also has become a hub for new immigrant families, increasing the city's social and economic diversity. Many Paterson households include grandparents who live with and care for their grandchildren. These living arrangements are increasingly common and typically occur when parents face imprisonment or health problems, and these custodial grandparents are more likely to experience economic and emotional difficulties. The city has prioritized supporting these families as part of its goal to expand its supply of affordable family housing.

Mill Street Square emerged in response to these needs. Developed by WinnCompanies and ART-JIUS Enterprises, this mixed-use, affordable housing development in the city's Great Falls Historic District turned the site of a vacant textile warehouse into 74 units of affordable rental housing with additional support for grandparents raising grandchildren.

Honoring the Past, Building for the Future

Construction of Mill Street Square began in November 2021 on the site of the Argus Mill, a former textile warehouse and mill dating to the 1870s. The mill had been listed in the National Register of Historic Places since 1986 but had been vacant for years. The site also had two small historic structures dating to the 1830s, the Thompson and Ryle Houses, and a large surface parking lot owned by the Paterson Parking Authority. "Our vision was to incorporate the mill building, the surface parking lot, and the Ryle [and] Thompson houses so that the entire city block functioned as one cohesive project," said David Ginsberg, senior vice president at WinnCompanies.

The resulting development includes a new 4-story, 68-unit apartment building constructed on the Argus Mill parking area. The former mill building was converted into six 2-bedroom apartments, and the Thompson and Ryle Houses were converted into office space for local nonprofits. The developers also built a new ground-level parking garage for the Paterson Parking Authority.

During the construction and renovation process, the project team struck a balance between historic preservation and modern building standards. Developers worked with a staff historian at Public Archaeology Laboratory to inform their design decisions, ensuring that the new construction was stylistically cohesive with the brick-and-wood historic buildings. This included attention to historical details, such as locating window fixtures that matched the style of the original building while meeting modern energy-efficiency standards. The developers also hired archaeological consultants ACME Heritage Consultants to categorize any historic findings that the construction team discovered during underground infrastructure work.

About the Development

Mill Street Square opened in October 2023, offering 74 affordable apartments. Twelve 1-bedroom and 10 two-bedroom units are restricted to households earning no more than 80 percent of the area median income (AMI). The remaining 52 units are reserved for households earning no more than 50 percent of AMI and are targeted to families with grandparents raising grandchildren. Residents of these units, which include 8 one-bedroom, 40 two-bedroom, and 4 three-bedroom apartments, are eligible for project-based rental assistance through the Housing Authority of the City of Paterson and have access to support services through the Grandparent Relatives Care Resources Center, a nonprofit with onsite program space. The nonprofit offers financial aid to these families and connects them to counseling and medical care resources.

The apartments at Mill Street Square feature stainless steel appliances, large windows, and full kitchens. The unit shown above is one of six 2-bedroom apartments in the original Argus Mill building. Photo credit: WinnCompanies

All Mill Street Square units feature stainless steel appliances, large windows, and full kitchens. Each floor of the new building offers access to a community space, such as a children's playroom and a library; the development also has a secured inner courtyard, laundry facilities, and onsite professional management. The development is within walking distance of retail, restaurants, parks, and schools, and the Paterson Music Project, a nonprofit that provides classical music training to children, has offices on site.

The development also includes several sustainability features. The buildings feature energy-efficient building materials, continuous insulation, triple-pane windows, energy recovery ventilation systems, high-efficiency heating and cooling equipment, LED lighting, and ENERGY STAR® appliances. On the building's roof is a 97-kilowatt solar photovoltaic system that produces approximately 120,000 kilowatt hours of clean, renewable electricity annually and offsets 35 percent of the building's electricity costs. Mill Street Square is certified through the Zero Energy Ready Home and ENERGY STAR® Multifamily New Construction green building programs.

Financing

The financing package for Mill Street Square totaled $42.1 million. Major funding sources included $17.8 million in 4 percent low-income housing tax credit equity administered by the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency (NJHMFA) and purchased by Bank of America, a $10.6 million bridge loan from New Jersey Community Capital/BlueHub Capital, and a $6.5 million tax bond loan issued by NJHMFA and Citibank. Other sources included $3.2 million in deferred developer fees, $17 million in state tax credit equity through the New Jersey Economic Development Authority and syndicated by Fallbrook Capital, $600,000 in HOME Investment Partnerships Program funds, and $911,000 in Regional Contribution Agreement loan funds through the city of Paterson. The development also received $570,060 through the federal Historic Tax Credit program that was purchased by Bank of America, $340,000 through the U.S. Department of Energy’s Section 45L tax credit program, and $82,987 through the Solar Investment Tax Credit.

Honoring the Past, Building for the Future

With 90 percent of units occupied as of May 2024, Mill Street Square provides multigenerational housing for Paterson residents while respecting the character of the city's Great Falls Historic District. By combining new affordable housing for families with support services for multigenerational families, Mill Street Square contributes to several of the city's goals.