Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.

Apartment complex seeks funding for expansion

The owners of the Ames Privilege apartments in the former home of the Ames Foundry are now seeking funding to convert one additional wing of the complex into 45 more apartments. Reminder Publications by G. Michael Dobbs
By G. Michael Dobbs

Managing Editor



CHICOPEE Downtown may get more market rate apartments if the plan proposed by the owners of Ames Privilege is able to line up the proper financing.

"There's a long way to go with this project," David Carlen of Norwich Corporation, one of the parties involved in the development, said.

Last week Mayor Michael Bissonnette sent Secretary of State William Galvin a letter supporting the request of the managing partner of Ames Privilege, HallKeen Real Estate Management and Investment, to receive Massachusetts Historic Tax Credits to be used to create 46 more apartments.

The tax credits would be used in conjunction with $500,000 of the city's HOME funds, according to Bissonnette's letter.

Carlen explained the new apartments would go into a wing of the building that was closed down about 18 years ago due to water damage. Apartments were planned for the wing, but the structural damage put the plans on hold.

Carlen said, "In the last couple of years we've tried to figure out how to bring these [apartments] back on line."

He said the tax credits represent part of the financing that would be required for the project.

"At this point, it's purely a financing issue," he added.

With Ames Privilege a successful development of both residences and businesses, Bissonnette sees the additional apartments as "a critical part of the city's continued efforts to enhance the downtown area given its proximity to the Chicopee River."

"We expect that the Ames Privilege work will serve as a stimulant for other projects and thereby accelerate the realization of our vision for Chicopee's downtown and riverfront areas," Bissonette continied.

Carlen said the new apartments would be "primarily market-rate with some affordable housing components."

He added the original plan was for 45 apartments, but the developers are resizing the floor plans to bring the apartments in line with "what people would rent today."

"HallKeen's involvement in the project gives us confidence of its success, knowing that HallKeen has the experience navigating the complexities financing and redeveloping historic structures with the many layers of oversight and multiple funding sources," Bissonnette wrote.