His business partner, Jon Rudzinski of Rees-Larkin Development, speaks candidly about the challenges.“ Everyone loves the Eagle Mill— it’ s iconic,” he says.“ But it was not a great mill for residential conversion.” In some areas, floors had to be lowered by as much as 20 percent simply to meet residential requirements, dramatically increasing costs. Still, both men agreed the project mattered beyond financial logic.
“ From a public policy standpoint, this absolutely had to be done,” Rudzinski says,“ and it’ s in the center of town. You don’ t get many opportunities like that.”
Addressing a Regional Crisis
As is the situation in other parts of the state and nation, the Berkshire’ s housing shortage has grown acute. Employers here struggle to hire and retain workers who cannot afford to live where they work. Teachers, police officers, firefighters, and restaurant workers— the backbone of small towns— are increasingly priced out.
Cohen recalls a conversation that made the issue painfully clear.“ The police chief told me his son couldn’ t afford to live here,” he says.“ That’ s the reality for a lot of essential workers.”
As Lee’ s newly hired town planner, Healy experienced the crisis firsthand. Despite working for the town, she struggled to find housing she could afford and ultimately settled in Stockbridge.“ There just weren’ t many apartments available and those that were available weren’ t in my price range,” she says.
For Eileen Peltier, president and CEO of Hearthway, Inc.( formerly Berkshire Housing Development Corporation), the nonprofit managing the Eagle Mill project, the issue is structural.“ It’ s economic drivers and cultural changes,” she explains.“ We don’ t have the right mix of housing: smaller homes for seniors, attainable units for single adults.”
The first units of The Lofts at Eagle Mill are now expected to be occupied in September, with applications currently being reviewed.( By some counts, over 600 people attended tours of the building in early August, so there is clearly interest.) When the overall project is complete, Lee will become one of the few Massachusetts towns to meet the state’ s affordable housing threshold.( Commonwealth municipalities
The ribbon cutting in August at The Lofts at Eagle Mill was a joyous occasion after 14 years of the project.
are considered to have sufficient affordable housing if at least 10 percent of their yearround housing stock are designated as affordable according to criteria set by the state Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities, the EOHLC.) Of the 56 units at Eagle Mill, eight will be reserved for very low-income four-person households earning up to $ 35,900 annually; 28 units for lowincome households earning up to $ 79,020 annually; and 20 units for moderate-income households earning up to $ 105,360 annually.( Income limits are based on a family of four; limits vary for different household sizes.)
Eagle Mill gets Lee right to the threshold of the affordable housing availability, according to Brittain.“ It’ s a huge piece of Lee’ s housing strategy.”
Cohen sees the impact of his legacy.“ Lee is going to be a bright star,” he says.“ People who work here will finally be able to live here.”
The Long Road to Completion
Making Eagle Mill a reality required a financing package as complex as the building itself. MassHousing, a quasipublic agency that provides permanent financing for affordable housing, provided $ 5.8 million. Historic tax credits generated $ 13.5 million; Low Income Housing Tax Credits added $ 9.8 million, with EOHLC providing another $ 9.4 million in other financing, and ARPA funds, brownfield loans, and local contributions filling critical gaps. A $ 21 million construction loan from Rockland Trust ultimately pushed the project forward.
State Representative Leigh Davis, who worked as development director on the project starting in 2018 until she made her run for state office, remembers tracking grants on two towering whiteboards.“ We had to raise a lot of money,” she says.“ It was relentless.”
Environmental remediation alone was arduous and expensive. Workers entered in protective gear to address contamination. The basement had to be carefully dewatered under strict oversight to protect the river. Buildings were shored up before demolition could begin, including the removal of six nearby rowhouses, a painful process Davis handled personally.
Despite its scale, Eagle Mill never faced community opposition that often derails projects like it. While some communities have resisted affordable housing in their backyards, the so-called NIMBY( Not In My Backyard) phenomenon, Lee embraced the project.
“ There’ s never been a whiff of NIMBYism,” Rudzinski says.“ That’ s incredibly rare.”
Town officials echo that sentiment.“ We’ re excited to see new life at that end of Main Street,” Brittain says.
88 // BERKSHIRE MAGAZINE Fall 2026