It only took a decade to get there. But this week, developers celebrated a key milestone in their efforts to convert an old industrial site along Needham Street in Newton Upper Falls into that city’s largest-ever apartment development: They topped off the first building.
A decade after first proposing a large housing development at a former industrial and textile manufacturing campus along Needham Street in Newton Upper Falls, real estate firm Northland this week celebrated a key milestone on the first of eight new buildings planned for the 23-acre site.
Northland is renovating the former Saco-Pettee Mill, a long, three-story brick building dating to the late 1800s that was formerly the American headquarters for shoe company Clarks, into 100 loft-style apartments. At full buildout, the project — which will be called the “Pattern District” — will include 822 apartments, including 145 set aside at affordable rents, and 96,000 square feet of retail space, all surrounding a 1.5-acre park. Northland also developed a community splash pad, a cooling water feature that opened last year.
The Pattern District is the largest multifamily housing project in Newton’s history, and one that faced substantial pushback from some corners of the city. That culminated in a 2020 referendum where 58 percent of Newton voters approved the project.
Greg Reibman, the chief executive of the Charles River Regional Chamber, had one word for the topping-off celebration of the Pattern District’s first building: “Hallelujah.”
In the decade since Northland first proposed building on the site, there has been an “incredible” amount of citizen engagement, Reibman said, including environmental and housing advocates, business associations, and clergy.
“There was a huge grassroots effort on so many levels,” Reibman said.
Northland worked with the Newton community on a master plan that emphasized walkability and flow, including integrating a series of small parks and green spaces, said Deb Crossley, a former Newton city councilor who has long championed housing and good development.
The developer “put a tremendous amount of care” into the project, she said, especially with creating a village green. That kind of walkable community is rare in Newton, where folks are much more likely to get in their cars and drive to a shop than to walk there.
“It’s hard for a lot of people to see what the end result could be of a project without seeing all of it,” she said. “It’s a visionary project. It’s a transformative project.”
The project’s first phase includes renovating the historic mill and building two ground-up apartment buildings with a combined 315 units and 32,000 square feet of retail, and construction is expected to be complete in 2027. Northland declined to disclose the total project cost.
And they’ve worked to ready the entire site for more. Since the 2020 vote, Northland poured $100 million into pre-construction work, including design and engineering, along with underground infrastructure such as a 250,000-gallon filtration system and a 120,000-gallon rainwater storage system, said Peter Standish, Northland’s senior vice president of development.
Even for a real estate private equity firm with $8 billion in assets under management, $100 million is a lot of money to spend without generating any revenue. Standish said the investment underscores Northland’s commitment to Newton.
“We’re not a typical developer that’s focused on ‘in, out, quick,’ that’s looking to sell quickly,” Standish said. “That’s not who we are.”
Catherine Carlock can be reached at catherine.carlock@globe.com. Follow her @bycathcarlock.