According to a proposed tax incentive agreement, the development would include 116 residential units, 10% of them affordable housing.
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A developer this week will present plans for a mixed-use project on the site of a former mill in downtown Thompson.
Robert Letskus of New Haven-based Refined Living LLC has drawn up conceptual plans for a $25 million development including new-construction townhouse condominiums, ground-level commercial units and recreational space on the 33-acre site at 630 Riverside Drive.
According to a tax incentive agreement proposed by the town, the development would include 116 residential units, 10% of which would be deemed affordable housing.
In addition there would be 9,240 sq. ft. of mixed-used neighborhood commercial units and 5,000 sq. ft. of restaurant or hospitality units.
The historic Belding-Corticelli thread mill on the site closed in the 1950s. Most of the derelict property was demolished in the early 2000s, leaving only a smokestack and a guardhouse.
Letskus has said he wants to preserve those fragments to make them a centerpiece of the site, with potential plans for a cafe and visitors center in the guardhouse building.
Much of the site is in a floodplain, or is designated as wetlands. The town says there are between seven and 11 fully buildable acres on the property.
“I believe the town has so much potential,” Letskus told a recent Economic Development Commission meeting in Thompson. He noted the town’s proximity to Worcester, Providence and Boston.
The mill site is one of two former industrial sites that bookend the town. At 929 Riverside Drive, the 750,000-square-foot River Mill has been earmarked for redevelopment into 300 housing units as well as commercial space.
In 2022, the state Department of Economic and Community Development gave the town a $2 million grant for the abatement of the existing buildings and soil and groundwater remediation at the 25-acre site. But, so far, private development of the site has stalled.
The public meeting on the future of the 630 Riverside site will be held Wednesday 1 October at 6:30 p.m., in the community center of the Thompson Public Library.
