North County

Hilltop Garden, a 120-unit Leominster apartment complex, has sold for $9.6 million.

An industry-wide spike in the number of applications from high school students has complicated the fine-tuned formula for figuring out which students – and how many – will ultimately enroll.

Little Leaf Farms, the Devens food manufacturer, said Wednesday it has received $38 million in financing from Bank of America, as it plans expansions in Devens, Pennsylvania and North Carolina.

The owners of the 159-unit Fitchburg Green property on Water Street has refinanced the senior housing development with MassHousing, the state’s affordable housing bank, to keep rents low for at least 35 years.

The Fitchburg Art Museum was a recipient of $690,000 in grants over the next three years to help reach a wider audience and fund a fellowship program.

Thanks to a $4.2 loan from Eastern Bank, a biomedical device factory at Devens will be expanded by summer.

A total of $650,000 has been awarded to Barre, Berlin, Bolton, Sherborn, and Worcester under the Housing Choice Community Capital Grant program to support home construction.

Collaborative workspaces in Worcester and Fitchburg took in $200,000 in funding announced Thursday by the Gov. Charlie Baker Administration.

Leo Ma Mall LLC, a division of Hull Property Group, a shopping mall management company based in Augusta, Ga., has purchased The Mall at Whitney Field in Leominster for $16 million.

Pier 1 Imports, the imported home furnishings retailer said up to 450 of its 942 stores are under consideration for closure, but it did not name specific locations. The Texas–based company operates Central Massachusetts stores in Bellingham, Framingham, Leominster, and Shrewsbury.