PHOTOS: Restored Allen Spool Mill Opens In Mystic

Vintage melds beautifully with all things modern in Mystic’s . The three-story, circa 1880 mill building, transformed into luxury residential and commercial use space celebrated its opening Thursday evening.

The building behind Seaport Marine at 60 Willow St., keeps its historic past with features such as original ship knees. Shipwrights built the original building and the property retains that original structure, but the eight 2-bedroom and four 1-bedroom apartments are modern inside with stainless steel appliances, windows with water views and a New York style feel.

The space is nearly 23,000 square feet with the first floor designated for commercial use and the second and third floors as apartments. The project cost $4 million and tenants began moving into the place in November. Garvey & Associates LLC and easymeeting.net leased two-thirds of the commercial space and 10 of 12 apartments are rented.

And the building hopes to do its part to preserve the wetlands that surround it and the views of the Mystic River and Fishers Island Sound. Geo-thermal heating, insulation from recycled paper, carpeting woven with all recycled meters and buried utilities keep the space doing its part for the environment.

“All of us involved in the Allen Spool Mill project were committed to high environmental standards,” said John S. Johnson of New London’s Thames River Properties LLC, in a press release.

In addition to Thames River Properties, there were many local businesses involved in the yearlong project including Stonington’s , Mystic landscape architect , People’s United Bank in Norwich, 18th Century Restoration Carpentry of Waterford and Chester architect Stephen Lloyd.

“We are especially grateful to Michael Blair and his team at Hunter Moore & Stearns, who did a terrific job of marketing the project to prospective tenants,” Johnson said. “A financially successful project with high standards for environmental sustainability and the adaptive re-use of a historic building is a win-win for the Town of Stonington and for our investors.”