Photo courtesy of Fantini & Gorga.

A proposal to redevelop a former corduroy mill in Lowell into 71 units of market-rate housing moved forward last week.

Heritage Properties Inc. is proposing to redevelop the 4-story, 80,000-square-foot historic mill on a 2-acre island in the Concord River in the city’s southern section.

Derek Coulombe and Lindsay Feig with Fantini & Gorga arranged $14 million in financing with an unnamed regional bank. The loan represents a traditional construction loan underwriting coupled with a bridge to tax credit equity loan.

“We were pleased with how well received this project was by the lending community and how competitive the environment got. The financing secured really allows our client to commence construction right away while continuing to pursue additional tax credits that will be utilized to make this development economically feasible,” Coulombe said in a statement. “This historically significant mill conversion attracted attention from a wide range of lenders because of the excellent sponsorship, the location, the uniqueness of the asset and the creative structure of the deal.”

Waterhead Mill sits on the newly constructed Concord River Greenway. The unit mix includes four studio units and 67 one-bedroom units. Community amenities will include a fitness center, movie theater, coworking space, dog washing station, resident lounge, bike storage, outdoor patio, management office and a package receiving area. Established in 1900, Waterhead Mill was most recently the home of Ramalho’s West End Gym and received some big screen acclaim when it was featured in the 2010 film “The Fighter.”