MANSFIELD — A project to bring affordable housing for military veterans and seniors into the former former Century Link building will carry a $26 to $30 million price tag.
That’s what Karl Milliron told City Council on Tuesday before local lawmakers approved a rezoning request for the three-story building proposed by the Milliron Foundation.
“We don’t have a 100-percent guarantee, but we’re very hopeful that we will be able to partner with the Area Agency on Aging (to operate the 61-unit facility),” Milliron said.
“It’s our intent to bring them in to manage the facility and we will help them maintain the facility. We are going to finance a big portion of this, so we don’t eat into all of our funds right out of the gate.
“It’ll be about a 10-year payoff (on the financing) and after it’s paid off, we’re going to deed it to the Area Agency on Aging,” Milliron said about the 10-acre at 665 Lexington Ave. that the foundation purchased from Brightspeed a year ago for $1 million.
Milliron said it’s exactly the kind of project philanthropist and businessman Grant Milliron had in mind when his father set up the foundation before his death at age 88 in 2023.
The three-story site was almost destined to become a storage facility.
“We started bantering this around with our foundation committee and everybody was totally on board with it and we we approached Brightspeed,” Milliron said.
“We worked with them. They worked with us. There was another entity that was interested in purchasing the business and they wanted to make storage lockers out of the building. Brightspeed wanted to be a community partner, as well, and they chose us to work with us,” Milliron said.
The building was formerly owned by United Telephone and later Sprint, CenturyLink and then Brightspeed.
The city Planning Commission in July unanimously recommended the rezoning request that moved the property to B-2 from its current office services status.
The apartments, mostly one-bedroom units, would be on the upper two floors, with the lower floor designed for community spaces. It will be open to veterans of all ages, as well as senior citizens.
Milliron said the lower level of the building would be used as an events center, but companion services would also be added, including a gym/fitness area, potential medical service spaces, hair stylist and a theater.
“There will be plenty of common areas for the residents to gather in and mingle,” he said.
“There will be a restaurant in the facility that will not only serve the people at the building, but will also be open to the general public. The building is 120,000 square-feet, so there is a lot of space,” Milliron said.
“We just looked at this as a great project … something that I think Grant would be very proud of. Not only doing things for veterans but making a large community impact and also taking a large landmark structure and retaining it,” Milliron told the Planning Commission in July.
He said the project would re-do ADA-accessible entrances to the rear of the facility. He said four of the units themselves would be fully ADA accessible and others would have some ADA-compliant features.
“We’re also working with the historical preservation society to go after some tax credits that ensures that we maintain the integrity of the structure and the building and its appearance.
“The only thing really from the outside that you might see a difference if you looked close is we want put up a covered parking portion in the back for the residents so that they have sheltered parking,” Milliron said.
He said the Area Agency on Aging would have employees on site to operate the site and Milliron Foundation would have an employee there to maintain the building itself, including the heating/cooling system, roof and windows.
Unanimous council vote came after discussion on delaying decision
Council’s vote on the rezone was unanimous, but even taking that vote was unclear during caucus.
The legislation had originally been scheduled for a vote. But it was changed on Tuesday morning and scheduled for additional reads and discussion during subsequent council meetings with a final vote on Oct. 20.
Second Ward Councilwoman Cheryl Meier said she supported the project.
But she said one of her constituents had raised questions about the operations of the facility, which Milliron said could best be answered by the Area Agency on Aging.
Other council members had operational questions, as well, including if residents with criminal backgrounds would be considered and how a voucher system could work with rental assistance.
“That’s going to be totally up to the Area Agency on Aging because that’s outside of my wheelhouse,” Milliron said. “I don’t know how all the voucher systems work and things like that, but I do know that there is going to be a mix of tenants in there.
“We’ll have certain different types of vouchers possibly. There might be some tenants in there that will qualify for a voucher. (Others could pay) market rate, but that’s going to be totally up to the agency to manage and run that program.”
Milliron said he and foundation Director Brady Groves will meet Sept. 10 with the agency’s full board to finalize the deal.
“I had a list of concerns from one of my constituents who lives adjacent to this property, and not all of those concerns were answered (Tuesday night). Some of those were questions Mr. Milliron said would be left up to the Area Agency on Aging,” Meier said during council’s caucus.
Some of those questions related to how residents would be selected for the facility, a system which Milliron said the Area Agency on Aging would handle.
“That was the reason that I had asked to see if someone from a representative from there could potentially be here at the next meeting to maybe answer some of those other questions,” Meier said.
Mayor and council members praise Milliron and the foundation
Mayor Jodie Perry praised Milliron and the foundation, as did every council member.
“When the announcement was made that they were setting up the foundation, I knew that was going to just mean tremendously transformational things in the community. I don’t think any of us could have expected your first major project here, but I think it’s fantastic,” Perry said.
“I am really excited and I just want to say thanks for all you’re doing. Not just this, but there’s a lot of projects happening in the community right now that have the Milliron name attached.
“Having that funding is really making a difference in our community,” the mayor said.
Perry suggested council could schedule an economic development committee meeting in the future to meet with representatives from the Area Agency on Aging to get other questions answered.
