MassHousing yesterday closed a $2.3 million permanent loan for the acquisition and redevelopment of the Counting House Lofts in Lowell.

The 52-unit Counting House Lofts is being developed by WinnDevelopment of Boston. The building is currently vacant except for the Lowell Community Health Center, which will continue to occupy commercial space in the building and is not involved in the MassHousing financing.

The development will feature 52 one and two-bedroom apartments of which 26 will be affordable and 26 will be rented at market rates. It is expected to be completed in December 2014. The contractor is Dellbrook Construction of Braintree and the architect is the Architectural Team Inc. of Chelsea. The management agent is WinnResidential of Boston.

The $20 million project is also being financed through the sale of state and federal historic and Low Income Housing Tax Credits and financing from the city of Lowell and the state Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD). The project is receiving $1 million from the Affordable Housing Trust Fund, which MassHousing manages on behalf of DHCD.

Located on Jackson Street in Lowell, Counting House Lofts is part of the Jackson-Appleton-Middlesex (JAM) District, which is part of a plan to reconnect the area to downtown Lowell and the Lowell National Historic Park. Counting House Lofts is a three-story, brick building constructed in 1825 to house the Hamilton Manufacturing Co. Storehouse and Counting House.