Bank Street Armory has a potential buyer. The project could transform downtown Fall River.

FALL RIVER — The majestic, albeit ailing Bank Street Armory once housed a volunteer militia, the National Guard and the Greater Fall River Re-Creation among its tenants before it was shuttered by the city building inspector in April 2015. Now a local developer with a track record of transforming old city buildings is eying the castle-like structure for redevelopment into 37 market-rate apartments or possibly a mixed-rate project with 20% of the units deemed affordable.

Alan Macomber, the principal in the development company Main Street Projects, was the only entity to respond by a March 17 deadline to a request for proposals by the city to redevelop the 126-year-old armory.

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Macomber recently completed a $21 million redevelopment of the former Bradford Durfee Textile School on Durfee Street, a building that also once served as campuses of Bristol Community College and Southeastern Massachusetts University, before that school became the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.

Called the Creative Class, the three-building mixed-use project at 64 Durfee St. features 55 apartments, both market-rate and affordable units, with some set aside for artists. It also has retail space and a black box theater, among other amenities.

Projects will complement each other

Macomber said his consideration in buying the armory is the proximity to the Creative Class project.

“It’s all adjacent to each other. It’s all complimentary. The Bradford Durfee Technical School was a big project, and the armory likewise is a big project,” said Macomber. “It supports the commercial uses; it creates that vibrancy of having people live downtown. And that three-block area would be a nice thing to deliver to the city, and I believe it is financially viable.”

Macomber said he also has plans to purchase the U.S. Postal Service garage building across Bank Street for redevelopment.

Macomber was also one of three partners who invested $33 million to redevelop a former Quaker Fabric Corp. mill into the sprawling Commonwealth Landing mixed-use commercial and housing complex on Davol Street along the Taunton River, which took seven years to complete.

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Mayor Paul Coogan supports Macomber's plan

The city’s RFP requested a minimum bid of $200,000, which Macomber offered in his redevelopment proposal.

Macomber said he anticipates an investment of $13 million into the armory project.

Starting in 2020, Mayor Paul Coogan had been negotiating a sale to another developer who has experience in converting old armories into event centers, like the one in Pawtucket, Rhode Island; talks stalled, with that developer pulling out of the project in late 2022.

“As we saw what some of these venues cost and the management of it, it would be very difficult," Coogan said. "It was going to be a little unwieldy, so we left it up to the bidders to make a proposal of what they thought would improve that neighborhood.”

Coogan said he was very pleased with Macomber’s proposal for the Armory redevelopment, “that will put money in the city’s coffers and renovate a piece of property downtown.”

“I think the more housing downtown, the better chance we have of revitalizing downtown with new little shops and restaurants,” said Coogan. “The more people you get downtown, the more vibrant your downtown is.”

The mayor also noted the property's access to the waterfront, which is also undergoing a revitalization.

shuttered safety concerns armoryBank Street Armory closed due to structural concerns

A challenging structure

The armory took a beating due to a bad winter before it was shut down because of safety concerns, with tenants literally having just hours to evacuate, which turned out to be permanent.

Since then, the city has basically used it as a storage unit, although there was work done to repair the decrepit chimney.

In his proposal, Macomber identifies concerns about failing gutters and roofing issues, suggesting that addressing the issues should be addressed “sooner rather than later.”

But the building still has good bones, he said, and despite needing a good clean-out, its interior accents like wainscoting throughout, tin ceilings and fireplaces harken back to the structure's better days.

The project also has another hurdle, since the building is subject to a preservation restriction, meaning any renovation plans will have to undergo approval from the Massachusetts Historical Commission.

Macomber said at best that could be an 18-month process.

The RFP cited benchmarks for the project that proposed construction beginning by June 1, 2025, and occupancy by June 1, 2026, but given the preservation restriction, those would likely need to be adjusted.

“This is going to be a five- to six-year project,” said Macomber.

This article originally appeared on The Herald News: Bank Street Armory proposal would build housing in downtown Fall River