Westmass Area Development Corporation should be on track to purchase the Ludlow Mills property in June.
Ludlow MillsLUDLOW-The Westmass Area Development Corporation has secured $13 million in funding for the acquisition and initial development of the Ludlow Mills project.
Through a combination of state grants, private debt financing and equity investments, Kenn W. Delude, president and CEO of Westmass, said the corporation has authorized final site work which will culminate in the acquisition of the Ludlow Mills site in June.
Delude said subsurface environmental and geotechnical investigations will begin around March 21 as a final step in advance of the acquisition of the property.
The work is expected to be completed in approximately six weeks, putting Westmass on track to acquire the Ludlow Mills property in June, Delude said.
Permitting, a zone change and infrastructure commitments will be worked on simultaneously over the next 60 to 90 days.
Delude said, “Obtaining commitments for this portion of the Mills’ financial plan is a huge success given the challenges accessing capital in current economic conditions.”
Delude said that $5.2 million in state grant commitments that Gov. Deval L. Patrick made to the project, to the town of Ludlow and the region, helped Westmass secure the necessary funding.
The grants will be provided through programs administered by state Secretary Gregory Bialeck of Housing and Economic Development and state Secretary Richard K. Sullivan Jr. of Energy and Environmental Affairs.
“These grant funds were the catalyst needed to stimulate the project’s private equity investments and debt financing,” Delude said.
Delude said that when redevelopment is complete, preliminary estimates indicate the site could provide between 2,000 and 2,500 jobs for residents of the region and stimulate up to $300 million in private investment.
The project’s primary focus will be on commercial and industrial development with a limited number of residential housing units.
Delude thanked State Rep. Thomas M. Petrolati, D-Ludlow, state Sen. Gale D. Candaras, D-Wilbraham, the Ludlow Board of Selectmen and the Ludlow community for its support of the project.
“Westmass is committed to seeing that the Ludlow Mills once again become a major contributor to the economic prosperity of the region,” Delude said.
Delude said the Ludlow Mills site is the largest brownfield re-use development initiative in New England and currently has 66 buildings on the site and approximately 1,450,000 square feet of space on 170 acres.
Development of the project is planned to take place over 15 or more years.