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Ward B following rehabilitation |
Multi-Family Housing Rehabilitation - Market-Rate
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|
LOCATION |
Foxborough, Massachusetts |
|
DATE BUILT |
1891 |
|
DEVELOPER |
Abrams Group LLC |
| TOTAL # OF UNITS | 69 (55 Market Rate/14 Affordable) |
|
COMPLETION DATE |
June 2009 |
|
TOTAL REHABILITATION COST |
$12 million |
|
FEDERAL HISTORIC TAX CREDITS |
Approximately $2.2 million |
| OTHER FUNDING SOURCES |
Massachusetts Historic |
PROJECT OVERVIEW
MacRostie Historic Advisors served as the historic tax credit consultant to the Abrams Group LLC in the adaptive reuse of four ward buildings located in the existing Foxborough State Hospital National Register Historic District. The Foxborough State Hospital was established in 1889 as a treatment center for alcoholics. Wards B, C, D, and E are richly-ornamented Queen Ann style brick and terra cotta buildings designed by architects Brigham & Spofford and William G. Preston and completed in 1891, and represent the first period of the hospital's development. The entire Foxborough complex closed in 1975, but was marginally used until 1996, when the site was vacated. An extensive public planning process resulted in a detailed reuse plan for the Foxborough State Hospital as a new mixed-use community with various housing options, retail and office uses, recreation facilities, dedicated open space, and public service facilities.
The project scope for Ward Buildings B, C, D, and E addressed the cumulative damage done to the building by fire, vandalism, and years of general neglect. Exterior masonry was re-pointed, historic doors and windows, were restored and new mechanicals installed. The interiors of the buildings were sensitively reconfigured to accommodate multiple residential units with modern kitchens and baths. MacRostie Historic Advisors worked closely with the project team to develop a scope of work compatible with the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation, prepared and submitted the required documentation for the federal and state historic tax credit programs, and secured the necessary approvals from the State Historic Preservation agency (Massachusetts Historical Commission) and the National Park Service.
Scheduled for completion in June 2009, this project transformed a group of vacant hospital buildings into multi-family apartments in a bucolic setting within the new planned community of Chestnut Green.