2014: The Year in Review

December 28, 2014

Another great year (almost) in the books and we'd like to thank all of our family, friends, and colleagues for making this a tremendously successful year and we look forward to more in 2015! Just a few of the things that made 2014 memorable....

Flats at 22 under construction, due for completion in January 2015

Governor Patrick cuts the Ribbon at the Flats at 44, completed March 2014

The new computer lab at the RTH Community Center

Off-Centre Lofts in Jamaica Plain, completed in September 2014

We completed the historic rehabilitation Off-Centre Lofts in Jamaica Plain - 21 new studio and one-bedroom lofts fully leased.
The Flats at 44 opened in March and was fully leased by mid-year representing the first Housing Development Incentive Program project in the Commonwealth. Governor Patrick helped us cut the ribbon.
Following closely behind we broke ground on 50 apartments at the Flats at 22 and expect to finish this coming month. More than half of the building is pre-leased.
We broke ground on Cable Mills, the conversion of a beautiful historic mill into 61 loft apartments in Williamstown, MA across from Williams College.
Completed the 28,000 square foot Roxbury Tenants of Harvard Community Center creating an amazing community space provide new wellness and educational opportunities for the residents it serves.
We permitted 18 lofts and 4,500 square feet of ground floor retail at the former Surplus Office Supply building as momentum continues to build for what will be a remarkable transformation for downtown Haverhill.
We accepted a national Urban Land Institute Award along with our Box District partners for our work in Chelsea, and spoke on several panels about workforce housing, modular housing, and reducing costs of development.
Dave and Julia welcomed twins to the family! Whit and Ellie Traggorth were born in September.

Boosting Workforce Housing: Lessons from Gateway Cities

December 2, 2014

In the December 1 issue of Banker and Tradesman, Dave highlighted Chelsea and Haverhill as two places where workforce housing is getting built and the lessons that successful projects in those cities might mean for the rest of the Commonwealth. To read the article, click here.

Box District Wins National ULI Award

October 25, 2014

Dave was down in New York City this past week with Ann Houston, Executive Director of The Neighborhood Developers, and Jay Ash, Chelsea's City Manager, at the Urban Land Institute for their Fall Meeting where it was announced that the Box District won the Jack Kemp Excellence in Affordable and Workforce Housing Award which celebrates and promotes the exemplary efforts of real estate and public policy leaders from across the country who are working to expand affordable and workforce housing opportunities.

We are incredibly thankful to all of our partners that helped envision the Box District - Mitchell Properties, the City of Chelsea, and The Neighborhood Developers - for the opportunity to help create this amazing neighborhood. TC provided project management services for Atlas Lofts, the Flats at 44, and the Flats at 22.

(L to R) Jay Ash (City of Chelsea), Dave Traggorth (Traggorth Companies), Ann Houston (The Neighborhood Developers), Marty Jones (MassDevelopment), and Sarah Barnat (ULI New England)

A video of the finalists in the 2014 ULI Terwilliger Center for Housing awards. Learn more about the program and past winners at http://on.uli.org/1yHObRO

Governor Patrick Opens Flats at 44

May 21, 2014

Last Wednesday morning, Governor Patrick visited the Flats at 44 to cut the ribbon (only four units remain!) and put a shovel in the ground at the Flats at 22 (opening November 2014). The Governor was also joined by Secretary Greg Bialecki, Undersecretary Aaron Gornstein, Senator Sal DiDomenico, Representative Dan Ryan, and Representative RoseLee Vincent.

During his keynote speech at the event, Governor Patrick spoke about making investments like those made in the Box District as a catalyst for growth in Massachusetts. You can read more about his remarks here.

In addition, we honored Rufus Phillips, Peter Hollands, and Kristin Blum who all provided key predevelopment and acquisition loans early in the project when it took a lot more vision to see what was possible.

Both projects expand on the previous successes within the Box District, an award-winning revitalization of a once vacant and blighted industrial area into a vibrant mixed income community. The revitalization was conceived by the City of Chelsea, The Neighborhood Developers, and Mitchell Properties, a highly successful public/non-profit/private partnership formed around this effort. With public and private funding seven new residential properties have been built over the past ten years providing high-quality, safe, and attractive housing for families, young professionals, and retirees. Residents are attracted by the Box District’s proximity to Boston and Cambridge workplaces, transit, and public amenities such as the Box District Park, installed and dedicated in 2013 by the City of Chelsea. In addition, The Flats at 44 is the first building to be completed utilizing the Commonwealth’s Housing Development Incentive Program, a program that provides Gateway Cities like Chelsea with a development tool to increase residential growth, expand diversity of housing stock, support economic development and promote neighborhood stabilization.

Construction for Flats at 44 started in July 2013 and opened to new residents in March 2014. The building offers studios, one-bedrooms, and two-bedroom homes and is over 80% leased. Flats at 22 recently started construction and is anticipated to open in the Fall of 2014. Each apartment comes fully equipped with stainless steel energy efficient appliances, in-home washer/dryer, hardwood flooring, gas cooktop, granite counters, 42” cabinets, 9-foot, and expansive windows. Amenities include a fitness center, a roof deck along and off-street covered parking.

Flats at 44 Over 60% Leased

April 26, 2014

With the first move-in's in March, after a month of being open we're over 60% leased and are on pace for a summer full-occupancy. New residents are recognizing the tremendous value that the Flats at 44 presents: hardwood floors, oversized windows allowing for generous natural light, energy efficient systems, fitness center -- with rents that start in the $1,400's for studios. For more information about the property visit www.flatsat44.com or www.boxdistrictliving.com

The Flats at 44 is a 46 apartment development located in Chelsea's Box District, a neighborhood revitalization effort that TC has been a part of since 2008. TC provided project management services for Atlas Lofts, which is next door, and involved the substantial rehabilitation of a historic box factory into 53 loft apartments. For more on Atlas Lofts visit www.atlas-lofts.com

Box District Living

January 25, 2014

What makes living in the Box District so appealing? It's really about the value for your money and finding a place that balances a small neighborhood feel with all the conveniences of an urban location.

For example, in the Box District you can:

Live 15 minutes away from Haymarket/North End in Downtown Boston with your monthly rent for a brand NEW one-bedroom with 9' ceilings, energy efficient systems, hardwood floors, and a roof deck for around $1,600/month. See www.flatsat44.com or www.atlas-lofts.com for more information about leasing opportunities now available.
Be on major public transportation lines such as the 111 to Haymarket (click here) which connects you directly to the Orange and Green T Lines, or the 116 to Maverick Station (click here) which connects you directly to the Blue Lines. Oh, and let us not forget the Commuter Rail Stop in Chelsea. It's one stop into North Station along with all the points North.
Live steps away from eateries where foodies come from miles away to visit, such as Fusion Foods (read a great recent review here) or the Mystic Brewery (their website is here). For all those everyday needs, there is Home Depot and Market Basket around the corner.
Become part of a community that really cares about each other and is absolutely intent on become a better place to live. How about movies in the park across the street with your neighbors or great organizations such as The Neighborhood Developers as your neighbor? That's all happening in the Box District as we speak.

To give you a better sense of how convenient the Box District is, we've put together the map below and if we've missed anything let us know!

2013: The Year in Review

December 22, 2013

The Roxbury Tenants of Harvard Community Center under construction

The Flats at 44 under construction in Chelsea, MA

Thanks to all of our colleagues, friends, and partners for making 2013, the first of TC, a very special year.

Tanya joined us in April bringing her many talents and determination to the team. She wasted no time jumping into the deep end by managing the closing of the Roxbury Tenants of Harvard Community Center New Markets Tax Credit closing with our friends at MHIC.
Cassandra joined us in July as an accountant/office manager and does an amazing job keeping us in line and laughing all along the way.
Nick joined us for a great summer and now knows why "One-Stop" strikes fear into affordable housing developers across Massachusetts.
We broke ground on three fantastic projects totaling 63 apartments and 21,000 sf of community space: The Flats at 44 in Chelsea, The Off-Centre Lofts (aka Norbert School) in Jamaica Plain, and The Roxbury Tenants of Harvard Community Center in Boston's Mission Hill. All three will be completed in 2014!
We celebrated with our friends at The Neighborhood Developers when funding was announced for the Silver Line Extension to Chelsea and the Box District Station to go along with it. Read more about this from the Chelsea Record here.
We were honored to assist the New Boston Fund and the Asian Community Development Corporation with the affordable financing closing at Parcel 24, now called One Greenway. It will be such an important project for Boston and the Chinatown neighborhood with 95 affordable apartments. Read more here.
We celebrated with The Community Builders on the opening of 225 Centre and look forward to an exciting 2014 as we continue to manage the retail leasing of the project.
And finally...we moved upstairs to Suite 833 to provide ourselves with a little bit more elbow room!

We're looking forward to a fun and productive 2014 and wish you all a Happy New Year!

Flats at 44 Comes Together in 4 Days

November 22, 2013

It's been an exciting week for the Flats at 44 team to say the least. The modular boxes were delivered and set into place over 4 days and fit perfectly into place. Whereas last week we had just steel and concrete foundations, today we have a three story double loaded corridor building where all of the units already have hardwood floors, appliances, cabinets, tile, carpet installed. That means we're on a path to be completed three months from now! Stay tuned for marketing updates as we launch later next week.

Flats 44 Update

October 20, 2013

We're now building in two locations simultaneously; full-time: in the factory (in what equates to a large airplane hangar) and on site in Chelsea. Over 100 carpenters, plumbers, painters, and electricians are buildings walls, hanging drywall, insulating, placing tile, hanging cabinets, and much, much more, and they're on schedule to be completed and shipped in the beginning of November.

Meanwhile, on the site we're wrapping up concrete, placing steel, fine grading, and prepping for the big delivery. Photos are below!

We expect that in the second week of November the individual boxes will arrive on site and be craned into place. In addition to all the building activity, we're ramping up marketing and will soon launch our new logos, with a website to follow shortly after that. Stay tuned...

For more information about the project or general questions, contact e-mail Dave or feel free to call us at 617-542-6500.

TC/MP Close on The Flats at 44

July 31, 2013

Mitchell Properties and Traggorth Companies is pleased to announce the closing on construction financing for The Flats at 44. Construction lending is provided by The Property & Casualty Initiative and Northeast Interiors is the General Contractor.

The Flats at 44 is a unique project in that it will be the first modular construction project completed by TC/MP utilizing KBS out of South Paris, Maine. Starting in the end of August, construction will begin at the factory in Maine with scheduled placement at the end of October.

The Flats at 44 is just the first phase with a planned construction closing of the Flats at 22 later this year.

Traggorth Companies has managed the design, planning, and financial closing on behalf of Mitchell Properties, and will continue through construction and lease-up. Stay tuned for more pictures and updates as the project progresses.

Chelsea Flats Begins Demolition

June 16, 2013

This past week, demolition of the 44 Gerrish warehouse began. In it's place will be Chelsea Flats - 46 new apartments opening in early 2014. The project is financed mostly through private and public financing, but is scheduled to be the first Housing Development Incentive Program (HDIP) project in the State.

Demolition of existing warehouse to make way for The Chelsea Flats.

Chelsea Flats Awarded HDIP Tax Credits

May 17, 2013

Joined by US Representative Michael Capuano and friends of the Box District, on Friday, May 10, Undersecretary Aaron Gornstein announced the award of $800,000 of Housing Development Incentive Program Tax Credits (HDIP) to Chelsea Flats -- a Mitchell Properties project that TC staff is managing through the development phase.

The Housing Development Incentive Program (HDIP) rovides tax incentives to developers for market rate housing in "Gateway Cities" in Massachusetts. In addition to working with the State for several years in the creation of the regulations, TC worked with the City of Chelsea to create an HDIP district centered around the Box District to allow for Chelsea Flats to utilize the credit and encourage the further development of market rate housing in the District.

or more information about the use of HDIP for project contact Dave directly at 617-542-6500 x705.

n addition to the award, TC was also excited to start demolition on Chelsea Flats which coincided with the Highland Terrace Ribbon Cutting --The Neighborhood Developers newest affordable housing development across the street from Chelsea Flats.