Lowell, MA – A ribbon-cutting was held recently to mark the completion of Acre Crossing in Lowell, where a parcel in the city’s Acre neighborhood was redeveloped into 32 new homes for sale to first-time, moderate-income homebuyers, and a new five-story office building for Jeanne D’Arc Credit Union (JDCU).
“MassHousing’s CommonWealth Builder Program, the City of Lowell’s support, and Jeanne D’Arc Credit Union’s commitment to the Acre neighborhood made it possible for the Acre Crossing team to undertake this mixed-use development. This public private partnership was integral to our efforts to create affordable homeownership, commercial, office and onsite parking. Their collaboration is a prime example of how the public and private sector can achieve community and economic development goals.” said Will Soucy of Acre Crossing LLC.
The 5-story brick Acre Crossing Residences at 650 Merrimack St. has 24 two-bedroom homes and eight three-bedroom homes with first-floor commercial space. The new homes were developed through MassHousing’s CommonWealth Builder Program, which provided $8 million in funding. Other funding sources included $14 million in construction loan financing from Enterprise Bank and $763,000 in Community Preservation Act funding from the City of Lowell.
The new Jeanne D’Arc office building at 626 Merrimack St. also has 160 parking spaces in a two-level structure, with the lower-level underground. The 112-year-old JDCU formed in the Acre neighborhood and the new building is the credit union’s third in the neighborhood.
“This partnership has allowed Jeanne D’Arc to expand our presence in The Acre neighborhood, showing our continued commitment to our community,” said Mark S. Cochran, president and CEO at Jeanne D’Arc Credit Union. “It’s even more meaningful that our newest building takes us back to the location of our first branch in Lowell where we started more than 100 years ago.”
Acre Crossing LLC partnered with the Merrimack Valley Housing Partnership (MVHP) to bring the new affordable homes to the neighborhood and market them to first-time homebuyers with household incomes up to 100% of the Area Median Income (AMI). The AMI for Lowell is $132,900 for a household of four.
The general contractor for Acre Crossing was Acre Crossing LLC, the architect was Stephen Chung Architect and KOAL, PLLC Architecture, and the management agent is Linear Property Management.
