Beacon Looks to Break Ground in September

Joshua and Howard Cohen said at a recent Board of Selectmen meeting that the development of the Project would begin this fall after a series of procedures and preparations.

The Beacon Communities LLC representatives said all has gone smoothly and on schedule.

"Its been an extremely busy time," CEO Howard Cohen said. "We’ve accomplished all the goals that we hoped to accomplish."

Among things they had hoped to accomplish, Beacon Development received comprehensive permits from the Zoning Board of Appeals. The group was also awarded $2 million so far from the state and had a site plan approved by the conservation commission.

Cohen said the group is working with the town, the state and Bank of America to fund the project, which will cost approximately $43 million.

"We’re hard at work on the financing side," Howard Cohen said. "Financing for this development is probably just as complicated as the design issues."

The project, which the town voted to assist in funding last year, would include 120 apartments, a quarter of which would be reserved for households earning less than the average median income. It would also house North Easton's Village new

Development Director Joshua Cohen said the group would begin recruiting for the apartments during development.

"Part of what we’ll do, is during construction, we’ll really begin aggressive local outreach," he said. "We’ll kick off meetings say at the library or another local sport that will give us space."

He said that coordinating with state and town historical authorities has been one of the most difficult parts of the venture. There could be no significant changes to the makeup of the buildings, which were originally designed to be factories with little sunlight.

"This is much more complicated than you can possibly appreciate when rehabbing older industrial buildings," Howard Cohen said, while acknowledging that standards set forth by the National Park Service were extremely high.

While the Cohens said they hoped to break ground by September, they acknowleged that there was much more to do and many more risks to consider.

Among them, Beacon needed to close on financing with the town and Bank of America and attain the remaining $2 million from the state and finalize agreements and easements with the town and the state.

Joshua Cohen said rising interest rates and construction costs could pose as threats. He said, however, that Beacon would assume the risks.

"We are comfortable that, barring the unforeseen, we should be in construction in September," he said.