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Tuscan Village will eventually contain 950 residential units and 1.8 million square feet of office and retail space. Image courtesy of Berkshire Bank
Even as the coronavirus crisis has shuttered restaurants and retail stores across the U.S., two Massachusetts banks have moved ahead with financing a retail development in New Hampshire.
Berkshire Bank recently closed on a $60 million construction loan for the development of South Village, a section of the larger Tuscan Village project in Salem, New Hampshire.
Salem Five Bank is partnering with Berkshire Bank on the financing. Berkshire declined to disclose to Banker & Tradesman the breakdown on the financing.
“Current conditions are certainly part of everyone’s thinking,” Doug MacLean, Berkshire Bank’s managing director of commercial real estate lending, said in response to an email from Banker & Tradesman. “That said, this project has many strengths, which combine to get the developer and the lenders comfortable that the project will be a success.”
The South Village is a 199,000-square-foot retail center at the former Rockingham Park Raceway, a few miles north of Methuen.
Joe Faro, founder of Tuscan Brands, is developing the site with his team. The South Village will feature a Tuscan Market and retail stores, including LL Bean, Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn, Old Navy and Ulta Beauty. Other tenants include Chick-fil-A, Chipotle, Drive Custom Fit and Chase Bank.
The South Village is part of the larger Tuscan Village development, which will have 800,000 square feet of retail space, 950 residential units, two hotels and 1 million square feet of office space.
Located on Route 28 and near Interstate 93, Tuscan Village will also have an 80,000-square-foot medical facility where Massachusetts General Hospital will offer clinical and diagnostic services.
Construction of the South Village is expected to be completed in early 2021.
“Berkshire Bank understands the challenges facing our customers as they work through the current environment while also planning for the future once the current situation abates,” MacLean said in a statement. “Berkshire is proud to be a part of the Tuscan Village project, and we look forward to its successful completion and scheduled opening in 2021, when we hope the region and the country will have come back stronger than ever.”
