Eastern Bank Provides $14 Million Loan To The Arts & Business Council Of Greater Boston For Its Landmark Purchase Of The Western Avenue Studios & Lofts In Lowell, MA
June 15 2022 - 1:00PM
Business Wire
The Western Avenue Studios & Lofts, one of the largest
live/work artist communities in the country, will be preserved and
provide affordable housing
Eastern Bank is pleased to announce a $14 million loan to the
Arts & Business Council of Greater Boston for its landmark
purchase of the Western Avenue Studios & Lofts (WASL) in
Lowell, MA. The WASL complex includes 240,000 square feet of space,
250 work-only artist studios, 50 live/work studios, and a brewery,
cafe, and gallery, representing an economic development and
cultural asset in Lowell and beyond.
“Affordable housing is essential to keeping our local economy
thriving and growing,” said Pamela Feingold, Senior Vice President
and Group Director of the Community Development Lending Group at
Eastern Bank. “Through a collaborative financing model with our
community partners, the Western Avenue Studios & Lofts building
will be preserved and rent for practicing artists will be kept
affordable.”
The Arts & Business Council of Greater Boston (A&BC)
seeks to empower artists and organizations with the resources they
need to practice their crafts and grow their businesses. The
purchase of Western Avenue is part of the A&BC’s Creative
Campus Initiative, a response to gentrification in Greater Boston
and the resulting loss of affordable maker spaces for creative
communities. This purchase ensures that the artists spaces at
Western Avenue Studios & Lofts will remain affordable,
community-based and dedicated to creative businesses.
“As our local communities gentrify, access to capital to
preserve their arts spaces becomes challenged,” said Jim Grace,
Executive Director of the Arts & Business Council of Greater
Boston. “As a community bank with a specialty in community
development lending, Eastern had the experience needed to
understand the unique economics at play and build the collaborative
financing model needed for this project to succeed. As a result, we
expect artists in Lowell to have affordable and secure spaces to
live and work for generations to come, sustaining a vibrant and
active role of the arts in this community.”
Eastern provides a range of community development financing
offerings to fund the development of affordable housing and support
the credit needs of non-profits. Community development lending
solutions include construction and real estate financing, working
capital lines of credit, multi-layered leverage loans for both New
Market and Low-Income Housing Tax Credit projects, tax-exempt bond
financing, and highly sophisticated treasury services and deposit
products.
The Community Development Lending team advising A&BC was led
by Vice President and Relationship Manager Johanna Stone. Eastern
collaborated with BlueHub Capital, a community development
financial institution based in Boston, which contributed an
additional $3 million in financing to A&BC for this
transaction.
About Eastern Bank
Founded in 1818, Boston-based Eastern Bank has more than 120
locations serving communities in eastern Massachusetts, southern
and coastal New Hampshire, and Rhode Island. As of March 31, 2022,
Eastern Bank had approximately $23 billion in total assets. Eastern
provides banking, investment and insurance products and services
for consumers and businesses of all sizes, including through its
Eastern Wealth Management division and its Eastern Insurance Group
LLC subsidiary. Eastern takes pride in its outspoken advocacy and
community support that includes $240 million in charitable giving
since 1994. An inclusive company, Eastern employs approximately
2,100 deeply committed professionals who value relationships with
their customers, colleagues and communities. Join us for good at
www.easternbank.com and follow Eastern on Facebook, LinkedIn,
Twitter and Instagram. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (Nasdaq Global
Select Market: EBC) is the stock holding company for Eastern Bank.
For investor information, visit investor.easternbank.com.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220615005847/en/
Media contact: Andrea Goodman Eastern Bank
a.goodman@easternbank.com 781-598-7847
Investor contact: Jill Belliveau Eastern Bankshares, Inc.
InvestorRelations@easternbank.com 781-598-7920
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