2024-05-17T14:35:31-04:00 https://archinect.com/news/article/150357253/relics-of-an-industrial-past-are-the-key-to-future-of-affordable-housing-in-massachusetts Josh Niland 2023-07-19T11:37:00-04:00 >2023-07-19T15:15:14-04:00 <img src="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/c3/c3ef5fc68e8b864d4bfd097c6a109dd5.jpg?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&enlarge=true&w=1200" border="0" /><em><p>As Massachusetts continues to suffer from a shortage of affordable housing, former mills like those in Lawrence are a bright spot. With the assistance of state and federal funding, developers have renovated and converted more than a hundred mills around the commonwealth into housing complexes in recent decades &mdash; projects that both provide much-needed homes and help revitalize post-industrial areas.</p></em><br /><br /><p>Conversions are often marketed towards high-end buyers, critics say. But the demand from young professional renters and the state&rsquo;s affordable housing crunch means its stock of former textile mills are once again a vital economic cog considering their costs versus new construction and in spite of the considerable price of built-in environmental cleanups. The recent&nbsp;<a href="https://archinect.com/CUBE3" target="_blank">CUBE 3</a>&nbsp;conversion of the historic <a href="https://www.masslive.com/business/2023/06/how-a-mill-no-one-wanted-became-a-mass-success-story.html" target="_blank">Riverwalk complex</a>&nbsp;in Lawrence (once the largest worsted wool mill in the world) leads the field, followed by billions of dollars worth of other revitalization projects in the area that could help alleviate the need for new units which currently stands at around 175,000.&nbsp;</p>