Developer, Town Official: Roosevelt Mills Project is an Active One

A passerby to the Roosevelt Mills Building recently commented that the project to turn the old sweater factory into a combination commercial and residential showcase parcel in Rockville had stalled.

Again.

One of the principals in the development project this week took exception to that notion.

"It's exactly the opposite," said developer Mac Levine. "We did not get funding the last time, but we are re-applying for funding."

Shaun Gately, the Town's economic development coordinator said the application for a combination of federal and state money administered through the state Department of Economic and Community Development is a realistic goal.

Neither discussed a dollar figure this week.

The mill at 215 East Main St. was built in 1906 and was known for some of the best sweaters around. It is on the National Register of Historic Places. The Loom City Lofts project, boosted already by more than $1 million in state aid, is designed to construct 68 apartments and 10,000 square feet of commercial space.

In 2003, The Architecture+Development Studio, L.L.C.. also known as Studio A+D, entered into an agreement with the town for an option to purchase the site. Execution of the option was contingent upon each party reaching the agreed upon a series of "performance milestones," according to a history of the development on the Studio A+D web site.

In 2004 the Roosevelt Mills was placed into the state Department of Environmental Protection Voluntary Remediation Program. The two main areas of contamination were coal ash in the parking lot and chlorinated solvents under the first floor slab, left over from the mill’s former dry cleaning machines, Studio A+D said. Secondary "contaminant concerns" were minor amounts of asbestos and lead paint. An approved Remediation Action Plan was secured on May 15, 2005.

In April, 2010, then-Mayor Jason McCoy announced the groundbreaking ceremony for the project.

Development plans for Loom City Lofts include a combination of residential and commercial use, with sixty-eight one-bedroom apartments intended for the upper floors, and approximately 10,000 square feet of retail and office space planned for the first floor.

The project was anticipated to take approximately 15-18 months once construction begins, McCoy said in the original new release.

The property has been cleaned out and the building gutted for the transformation, but it still sits vacant while the developer works on the plans.

Gately mentioned that the parcel to the immediate north of the - a white multi-family house - is now part of the project. 

The factory across the street - if ever taken on - would be an entirely separate development, Gately said.