Wood Joiner

LAWRENCE — Having this past week acquired Buildings C and D in the four-structure Wood Mill abutting Salvatore N. Lupoli’s signature Riverwalk development, the real estate owner, pizza king and restaurateur now controls an entire stretch of the mighty Merrimack waterfront running from his bustling complex up to the Patricia McGovern Transportation Center, across from which both of the final Wood Mill assets purchased this week for $38 million are located. The Lupoli Cos. previously bought Buildings E and F, and has been in lengthy negotiations since to secure the final two, a complicated process that included needing approval from the holder of housing tax credits on the buildings.

“It has taken a while, but Sal has alot of energy and he was able to see it through all the way,” Goedecke & Co. debt expert Sean Herlihy tells Real Reporter in confirming the acquisition and financing arranged by his firm that includes $31.3 millionin agency funding from Arbor Commercial Mortgage. That piece is on Building D, better known as Monarch on the Merrimack, a refurbished section of Wood Mill that has 203 high end Apartments and permits for dozens more, with that asset and Building C purchased from developer Ronald Ansin.

Goedecke has previously assisted Lupoli in securing debt to upgrade Riverwalk, including $40 million from East Boston Savings Bank, plus separate loans to acquire Buildings E and F. Those six-story structures that were bought for $6 million are closer to Riverwalk, a property visible from Interstate 495 and home to the owner’s namesake restaurant, Salvatore’s. Northern Bank & Trust backed that earlier deal, recounts Herlihy, a purchase that included the dilapidated Building E which totals 360,000 sf and will require extensive renovations to rival the apartment facility next door and the Riverwalk rebirth.

Lupoli would seem up to the task, having taken on his Riverwalk facility when it was in a similarly decrepit condition and using a hands-on approach from negotiating leases and overseeing tenant fit out to lobbying for zoning changes needed to enhance the area, improvements that have since come to fruition. “It’s remarkable,” marvels Herlihy, pointing to a newly opened gym, FlowFitness, that is open to Riverwalk tenants and those in the four Wood Mill buildings now under Lupoli’s control. The gym features state-of-the-art treadmills, elliptical cross-trainers, and various exercise bikes plus a steam room, expansive locker rooms and lounge replete with big screen television and relaxed seating options.

There is also new retail on Merrimack Street along a strip previously set by broken mill windows, weed-choked lots and graffitistrewn billboards, along which Building E remains the largest eyesore. Herlihy predicts the un-restored sections will soon get his client’s attention. As it is, Building C did receive $2.3 million from Belmont Savings Bank this week in an interim loan that will be used to restore that facility, something Herlihy says reflects his client’s support for a city that has seen decades of infrastructure deterioration, economic disenfranchisement and political upheaval. “The Merrimack Valley has a real friend in Sal Lupoli,” says Herlihy in pointing to the creation of what is now a 3.6-million-sf mixed use fiefdom that has attracted several companies and state agencies offering over 3,000 positions, among them in the legal, medical and corporate sectors. “It is hard to overestimate what Sal has meant for the city and the whole region and how passionate he is in creating jobs and having an atmosphere that everyone can enjoy,” says Herlihy. “I can’t think of anyone who has done more there, and he is committed to do even more going forward . . . It has been a real pleasure working with him.”

Reached just prior to press deadline, Lupoli offered a brief assessment of the results this week, terming the purchases “a big step” in his vision for the community. “We are getting there,” says the CEO whose support staff has been increasing to handle the growing portfolio, including the role of CRE veteran Gerry-Lynn Darcy as VP of Real Estate. The company now celebrating its 25th anniversary began last year looking to other markets, taking over another mill building in Lowell at 145 Thorndike St.