Marriner Building | Lawrence CommunityWorks

NeighborWorks Capital is pleased to extend a $4 million predevelopment refinance loan to Lawrence CommunityWorks (LCW) in Lawrence, MA. LCW is a community development corporation that weaves together community planning, organizing, and asset-building efforts with high-quality affordable housing and commercial development to create vibrant neighborhoods and empower residents. Funds will be used to refinance existing balances of acquisition & predevelopment financing and increase predevelopment funding for Phase 2 of the Marriner Building redevelopment project.

The former Marriner Mill figures prominently in the downtown area of Lawrence. Formerly home to Arlington Mills, it once employed 1,000s of workers producing threads and yarns for the textile industry. The mill was shuttered in 2016 and has stood vacant since.

The city of Lawrence, in many ways, serves as a bedroom community to nearby Boston, 30 miles to the south. Many families residing in Lawrence work in Boston but are unable to live there due to the high cost of living. While the population of Lawrence is growing faster than the surrounding region, the median household income is less than half of the regional average. The need for affordable housing is significant and continues to grow.

The Marriner Building redevelopment project is an important one, as it repurposes a vacant 360,000-square-foot downtown building into 150 affordable apartments with commercial space on the ground floor. In addition to the NeighborWorks Capital loan, Phase 2 development will also use LIHTC, HTC, and other sources of development financing.

NeighborWorks Capital began our partnership with LCW in 2010 and has extended 4 other acquisition and predevelopment loans to the organization. We are proud to continue our partnership in support of their vision for the Lawrence community to be widely known as a vibrant and safe city of promise and opportunity – a great place to live, learn, work, and play.