2020: Year in Review

2020…what was that!?   

It has been a tough year for so many, and we are thankful to still be in a position to help where we can: by facilitating and providing rental assistance to our residential and retail tenants, by making our buildings to be more pandemic resistant and prepared, by supporting our property management teams who have been working harder than ever, by working from home to stop the spread, and rooting for all the healthcare workers and public servants. 

Amidst the focus on our residents, tenants, and partners in this new reality; we’ve also tried to keep looking ahead; recognizing that continuing to build, vision, and plan for the future are also incredibly important to the communities where we work. So, we’re especially proud of the things we’ve been able to accomplish this year throughout the Commonwealth:

• Reading - Ace Flats in Reading is well under construction, with the model unit opened this month. We’re excited to cut the ribbon this summer and bring 55 more mixed-income households to a beautiful and growing transit oriented downtown. The building will feature an elevated, southern facing courtyard and numerous apartments with private decks.

• Williamstown - As soon as buyers could tour them, the stunning Riverhouses and Modern Mill designed by MERGE, located along the Green River within walking distance to Williams College were sold out. The ability to work remotely while enjoying the outdoors and all the cultural opportunities will only widen the appeal of the Berkshires in the coming years, and we’re excited to continue to build on our decades of work in the area.

• Hamilton - In the spring of 2020, as we were adjusting to working from home and conducting public meetings via Zoom, we secured the rights, and later in the year, the funding through the Community Scale Housing Initiative, to develop an 18-unit mixed income, mixed use building in the heart of Hamilton’s downtown. The project represents a long-time vision of the town to add sorely needed, well-located, well-designed affordable housing to their community. We’re looking forward to a groundbreaking in the Spring of 2021 and the project is being designed to passive house standards.

• Chelsea - We received funding in late 2020 from the Department of Housing and Community Development to advance our 38-unit mixed income project on the banks of the Mill Creek at the gateway between Revere and Chelsea. We’ll be shooting for a groundbreaking in the Summer of 2021, and this one is also being designed to passive house standards.

• Boston - Finally, it continues to be an honor to work with our non-profit clients (United South End Settlements, Children’s Services of Roxbury, YES, to name a few) as they have quickly adapted to serving their kids and families in a pandemic. Our work with each continues to be focused on getting their real estate to best advance their mission, and this year that meant adapting to a new early education operating model, to a new retail and economic development environment, and to a new funding environment.

2019: Year in Review

2019 was another fantastic year for Traggorth Companies. We had projects at every stage in the development process moving forward, delivering a transformative impact to the communities where we work. And as promised in last year’s update, we partied hard this past spring at Dan and Gen’s beautiful Maine wedding.

• In April we dipped our toe into Worcester by acquiring the smallest, most complex project we could find. While the conversion of the former Mission Chapel, near Union Station and the new WooSox ballpark into seven high end residential units will take every design and finance tool in the toolbox, we think this beautiful building with an important history is worth it.

• This fall we cut the ribbon at the Granville in Haverhill, completing construction on our second Haverhill adaptive reuse of a shoe factory along Washington Street (the first being JM Lofts). The 24 lofts are all spoken for and we’re looking forward to finding the perfect tenant for the 3,000 square feet of retail space in 2020.

• Travelling down the Haverhill commuter line to Reading, we broke ground on 24 Gould Street. Permitted under the Commonwealth’s smart growth incentive program, this project adjacent to the train stop with its 55 apartments (25% affordable) and 3,500 square feet of retail is a poster child for smart growth, transit oriented design, that Boston desperately needs.

• We’re close to wrapping up construction of the Riverhouses and Modern Mills at Cable Mills, 8 river front homes in Williamstown, Massachusetts. We cannot wait to unveil these spectacular homes in early 2020 with their massive windows, riverfront location, mountain views, and decidedly modern aesthetic. Meanwhile, the buzz around the Northern Berkshires as a great place to live, work, and play grows.

• In one of the more heartburn inducing experiences of 2019, we successfully permitted our next Chelsea project which will bring 38 affordable apartments and more than 5,000 square feet of open space along the Mill Creek. We look forward to securing the necessary financing in 2020 and starting construction in 2021.

• Last but not least, a big part of what we do on a day-to-day basis involves helping our non-profit clients align their real estate to their mission and vision. In 2019 we were honored to work with so many organizations doing good work in the Commonwealth. To name a few they are: United South End Settlements, YES, East Boston Social Centers, Southwest Boston Community Development Corp, Roxbury Tenants of Harvard, and the Eliot School.

Thank you all for supporting, encouraging, mentoring, and following our work in the way that you do. We look forward to another exciting year in 2020.

Dave, Dan and Tanya

2018: Year in Review

Our last ‘latest news’ blog posting, was last year’s ‘Year-In-Review’, so you might draw one of two conclusions — Traggorth Companies hasn’t been very busy at all, or we’ve been so busy we’ve forgotten to post about any of it on our website. If you know us, or if you follow us on Twitter (and soon Instagram), you know its the latter — not only with our work, but with our families; with Tanya's family welcoming Ida Jean in July and Dave's family welcoming August Lee in August. Dan wasn’t about to be outdone; so he and Gen were engaged earlier this year, and we’re all looking forward to a big party in 2019 to celebrate their wedding.

Our project and consulting news this year represents much of what we like best about our work: partnerships, and expanding our commitment to those communities that we know and love.

• Mayor Walsh joined us for the ribbon-cutting at the Residences at Fairmount Station’s in November. We celebrated with Southwest Boston CDC and other members of the community the completion of a project that represented the first new affordable housing in Hyde Park in 20 years.

• In September we joined Mayor Fiorentini in Haverhill at 87 Washington Street (soon to be called The Granville) to break ground on 24 market rate lofts over 3,500 square feet of retail just down the block from our enormously successful JM Lofts. We love creating spaces that drive the continuing transformation of Haverhill.

• We’ve started the construction of the Riverhouses and Modern Mills at Cable Mills, 8 river front homes in Williamstown, Massachusetts, building off of the success of the historic rehabilitation of the original mill completed back in 2016. The buzz in the Northern Berkshires, about it's natural beauty, art, and culture is undeniable and growing.

• We've partnered with The Neighborhood Developers, to bring much needed affordable housing, open space, and Mill Creek access to the Chelsea community by restoring an old muffler shop site, long since vacant at the gateway to Chelsea from Revere.

• Our consulting work continues to be largely focused on the nuts and bolts of affordable housing execution for many of our long-time clients, and we love putting our skills and relationships to work for these great organizations. While I thought that the early education center we built at the ground floor of Mosaic would be a one-off adventure, we're working on two more mixed income early education centers in the Boston area. We've found that our skills in navigating the complex finance and regulatory world of housing is quite applicable in the equally high need and high demand world of early education. Needless to say, our experiences as young parents, balancing life and work, also provides helpful perspective.

As 2018 wraps up, we thank so many of you for supporting, encouraging, mentoring, and following our work in the way that you do.

- Dave, Dan and Tanya

2016: Year in Review

As you'll read below, the highlights of 2016 have been numerous and we're so grateful for the opportunity to continue to advance innovative projects that push the boundaries in multi-family housing and community development. Thanks to all of our amazing partners and we look forward an equally exciting and productive 2017! 

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• On time and on budget, Mosaic wrapped up this fall. As of this writing, the 42 market rate condominiums are sold, the 60 affordable rentals are nearly full, and the 43 affordable condominium sales will wrap up in 2017. The project has been a tremendous success and most importantly will provide affordable housing near jobs and transit in Boston's Longwood Medical Area. 
• J.M. Lofts in Haverhill, completed construction in the summer and was an instant hit. It's 18 one and two-bedroom lofts were leased at record setting rents in Haverhill, and the retail is fully leased with some of the most innovative businesses in Haverhill: Battle Grounds Coffee, K Modern Furnishings, and another new, but well known Haverhill business that is already expanding. 
• Also in Haverhill, we just completed this month the permitting for 87 Washington Street, just down the street from J.M. Lofts. We're proposing 24 loft apartments with 3,000 square feet of retail. We're excited to build on the momentum happening in Haverhill.  
• We began a partnership with Southwest Boston CDC around the Residences at Fairmount Station, a 27 unit affordable rental building directly adjacent to the Fairmount commuter rail stop. The project, was awarded the necessary funds to move forward with construction in 2017 and we are proud to be associated with the first affordable housing to be built in Hyde Park in more than two decades. 
• Cable Mills completed construction in late Spring with the demand for loft apartments in Williamstown off the charts. After years of collaborative efforts to make this project happen, seeing a full building with kids and families playing by the river is one of the major highlights of 2016. 
• Given the success of Cable Mills, we've been collaborating with Merge Architects planning the River Houses at Cable Mills, our for-sale option in spectacular new construction homes along the Green River. 
• One of the best parts of our work is teaming up with amazing non-profits to help them advance their real estate objectives. We've expanded our work with Roxbury Tenants of Harvard and Asian Community Development Corp while working for the first time with Allston Brighton CDC and Youth Enrichment Services (YES!). 
• While we completed our last development project in Chelsea in 2015, we couldn't stay away for long. In the spring of this year we purchased 466 Broadway right in the center of Bellingham Square. An all affordable, historic building with ground floor retail, we're undertaking repairs to improve the resident's quality of life and planning for the future of this great building in a great city that we love.
• And last but not least, we've welcomed Dave Danker to the team this year as an Asset Manager as we continue to operate and always improve our growing portfolio.