🔒Developer adding eight apartments to Downtown Fitchburg’s growing housing stock

Eight more apartments will soon be added to Downtown Fitchburg, as developer and real estate agent Nicholas Pelletier prepares to open the residential portion of his building he bought and converted from commercial space.  Operating as Miller’s Lofts, the building features five one-bedroom units and three studios above ground-floor retail space at 329 Main St. […]

Eight more apartments will soon be added to Downtown Fitchburg, as developer and real estate agent Nicholas Pelletier prepares to open the residential portion of his building he bought and converted from commercial space.  Operating as Miller’s Lofts, the building features five one-bedroom units and three studios above ground-floor retail space at 329 Main St. The first-floor retail space includes Tikki Tikki Chinese Restaurant, Backdoor Ink Tattoo Studio, and adult entertainment store Flirtatious. “When it comes to renovating downtown, each property is like a piece of a puzzle, and each owner fills their certain piece of the puzzle to make sure we have a unified redevelopment of downtown. If one piece isn't working, the whole puzzle falls apart,” Pelletier said. “The key to downtown is that each partner is working together towards a common goal, and that's really what's been the success of Fitchburg's redevelopment.” The building dates to before 1900, and Pelletier said the upstairs space had once been used as offices but had been abandoned for a number of years. The space now features wood floors, walls featuring original brick accents, and in-building washers and dryers.

Miller’s Lofts is one building over from 347 Main St., a building featuring Power Surge Bar Arcade and upper-floor apartments. The Power Surge building is owned by developer Paul Tocci, who has announced plans to convert a nearby office building at 280-288 Main St. into 35 apartments.  All of this is helping move the revitalization of Downtown Fitchburg forward, Pelletier said. The $440,000 in funding from the state’s Housing Development Incentive Program and a five-year tax increment exemption agreement from the City of Fitchburg allowed Pelletier’s project to be financially viable, he said. The TIE agreement allows for a 100% exemption for the residential portions of the building for the first three years, meaning the property will continue to be taxed as if its assessed value had not been impacted by the improvements made to the building. The property will have a 75% exemption the remaining two years, according to video of the June 2024 Fitchburg City Council meeting where the exemption was approved.

Pelletier is the president and founder of Pelletier Properties in Leominster and resides in Westminster. The project is part of his other firm, P. Props Development. He hopes to begin marketing the apartments soon as work at the site wraps up, with asking rents ranging from $1,400-1,600 per month.  Pelletier purchased the site for $320,000 in 2022, according to Worcester Northern Registry of Deeds records. The property has a 2026 assessment of $485,500, according to City of Fitchburg property records.  Eric Casey is the managing editor at Worcester Business Journal, who primarily covers the real estate and banking & finance industries.