When will Taunton's Union Block reopen after abrupt closure? What did engineers find?

TAUNTON — The nine businesses forced to vacate Main Street’s Union Block this past summer — afterstructural deficiencies were discovered on the second and third floors — could be home forChristmas.

“We’re aiming for December,” said Philip Giffee, executive director of Neighborhood ofAffordable Housing, or NOAH.

The non-profit community development corporation from East Boston will build 38 apartments inthe top two floors of two-thirds of the circa 1860 downtown commercial structure.

Giffee’s forecast is even more optimistic than that of the mayor’s office of economic andcommunity development, which recently said that the businesses should be able to moveback in sometime between February and March.

Why was Union Block abruptly closed?

An engineering study determined that decades-long rainwater damage and erosion andquestionable repairs throughout the years contributed to the gradual structuraldecline of the brick buildings’ upper floors.

NOAH in mid-September told city officials that contractors were continuing to monitor the fourbuildings in question for any further detection of structural cracks.

The great debate over parking What will the Union Block project's impact be on downtown Taunton parking?

What's the long-term fix?

NOAH said that temporary shoring up of buildings from 1 Main St. through 19 Main St. will befollowed up with the permanent installation of a stainless steel buttressing system.

How much will repairs cost?

NOAH also noted that the rear wall of 21-25 Main St. is scheduled to be demolished and rebuilt.The projected price tag of the unique, residential redevelopment project was just over $18million in 2021. Giffee now says NOAH can expect its eventual expenditure will be between$25 million and $26 million.

“You can’t win in this sort of thing,” Giffee said. “It’s a very old, chopped-up building (and) NOAHis paying for it.”

“It’s breaking us, frankly. We have to pay the contractors and insurance. It’s not easy.”

Giffee said NOAH has an approximately one-year time frame to finish the residential development project so that historic tax credits — which are a key component in terms of financing — can be provided to private investors, as per Internal Revenue and state Low Income Housing Tax Credit regulations.

“We’re under pressure to deliver the tax credits by 2024,” he said, adding that the entire projectshould be completed before the end of next year.

Structural 'weaknesses' discovered Here's more on the abrupt closure

How much will the apartments rent for?

Giffee said 26 of the 38 apartments will be listed as “affordable rate,” which translates to atenant or tenants earning not more than 60% of the local area median income (AMI).Those units will be assigned by means of a public lottery.

Eight apartments will be categorized as “workforce housing” for households that earn between60% and 120% of the AMI. The remaining four will be market rate.

Giffee said affordable and workforce rent rates in 2022 typically were in the range of $1,300 fora one bedroom and $1,500 for a two bedroom apartment. He said rental rates will undoubtedlybe higher by next year. He also said the Union Block apartments will initially be marketed nextspring or summer to residents of Taunton by property manager Peabody Properties.

Years in the making Taunton's Union Block Project nearing groundbreaking after years of planning

Which businesses had to move?

Union Block comprises six conjoined, three-story brick buildings situated in between Weir Streetnear Taunton Green and Merchants Lane, the latter of which runs down to Allans Avenue.Three of the four buildings involved in the NOAH redevelopment project are owned by JayDorsey, owner of Jim Dorsey and Son, an HVAC and plumbing company. Dorsey is alsopresident of the non-profit Taunton Business Improvement District.

Dorsey owns the 1-7 Main St. building that abuts Weir Street. Tenants include a Metro T-Mobilestore, Amy’s Nail Bar and Uplift Nutrition.

He also owns another two abutting buildings on Main Street. One of them, 21-25 Main St., hasbeen home to the Applause Academy musical theater and performance center. The other one,listed as 27 Main and 31 Main St., provides space to Real Arts Studios and Taunton VenetianBlind Company.

The fourth building, listed as 13-19 Main St., is owned by Michael Keene and Armen Tenkarian,both of whom own and operate Taunton Antiques Center at 19 Main St. They also own theadjacent Tex Barry’s hot dog business. Open Doors Yoga Studios rents space in the samebuilding at 13 Main St.

That building also includes a small section with an entrance at 22 Weir St. that was used as athrift store.

Dorsey, Tenkarian and Keene have sold the top two floors of their respective properties to a realestate business entity affiliated with NOAH.

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How much did NOAH pay for the top floors of the buildings?

According to Giffee, NOAH paid Dorsey $660,000 for his buildings and affiliated real estateassets; he said NOAH paid Keene and Tenkarian $720,000 for their building which sits in the centerof Union Block.

NOAH is wholly responsible for developing and managing the upper floors and is entitled tocollect all future rent revenue.

Dorsey complains that he hasn’t been kept abreast of the pace of remedial measures beingimplemented to eliminate the structural deficiencies in Union Block’s upper floors.

“I’ve got six displaced tenants, and I’m not happy about it. The delays are costing me money,”Dorsey said.

Two smaller, connected buildings closer to Merchants Lane are not part of the project nowknown officially as Union Block Condominium.

One of them, 35 Main St., is owned by Ivo Matos. His ground-floor tenant is BBB Driving School.The abutting building at 37 Main St. is owned by the family of the late downtown property ownerDavid DeSantis. Its current tenant is the non-profit Family Resource Center.

Both of those smaller buildings have a total of nine older apartments on their upper floors.

Tenants eager to return

After the business tenants were informed two months ago that they would have to vacatethe premises, the city paid for banners alerting the public as to the location of those businessesthat opted to temporarily relocate. The banners were put on protective barricades infront of Union Block by general contractor Dellbrook/JKS.

“We will be going back. That’s my goal,” said Marilva Wedge, owner of Open Doors YogaStudios, which for the time being is renting space at 16 Taunton Green in a large buildingformerly occupied by Santander Bank.

Wedge says her interim yoga studio and retail shop is half the size of herMain Street space.

Antiques store temporarily relocates to former school

One of the more unusual displacements has been the relocation of Taunton Antiques Centerinto 45 School St.

The two-story brick building originally was a public elementary school. But for many years afterthat — until the extensive renovation and rebuilding of City Hall downtown — it was used by boththe city’s health board and the office of economic and community development.

Michael Keene and his wife Julia have moved clothing, toys, costume jewelry,household items, Christmas decorations and just about everything except furniture into thevacant municipal edifice.

Keene, 63, credits Mayor Shaunna O’Connell for what he says was her rapid response to theemergency situation facing the Union Block businesses by helping them find temporary space.

“She was there for us from day one with Zoom meetings. She really made it a priority,” he said.Keene also gives credit to Jay Pateakos, director of the city’s Office of Economic and CommunityDevelopment; the city’s law department for quickly drafting a six-month lease for the SchoolStreet building; and Colleen Simmons, director of the city’s business improvement district andher assistant Eileen Kelleher.

“I’ve never heard of a city response that’s so instantaneous and gave immediate attention. It’sjust incredible,” he said.

Keene said the city within 24 hours removed what he described as a sizable quantity of junk inthe old school building and just as quickly undertook extensive landscaping work outside.He adds that a major part of the grunt work of hauling merchandise and dumping trash hasbeen handled by two young people as part of a Department of Youth Services statewideprogram, which Keene says he’s utilized for at least five years.

Taunton Antiques Center, he said, is now open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4p.m.

Keene said one major reason to stay open and relocate was to avoid having to lay off a handfulof part-time employees who are not part of his immediate family. He also said he’s not ready toretire.

“I’m used to working every day,” he said. “It’s what we do, what we enjoy and like, so we’retickled pink to have the opportunity (to utilize the School Street building).”

He also said that Applause Academy is now utilizing half of the second floor at 45 School St. forvoice lessons and perhaps other things. The youth-oriented group has also been renting spaceon the second floor of the former Manny’s Paint & Hardware store on Hill Street, a building owned by Jay Dorsey.

Keene says he and Tenkarian opened their Taunton Antiques Center on Main Street in 1992.

Sidewalk reopens to pedestrians

During the first month and a half after the four buildings were deemed unsafe for occupancy, theMain Street sidewalk from 1 South Main St. to 31 South Main St. was closed at both ends topedestrians.

But in recent weeks, police removed the temporary gate barriers and yellow tape afterattorney Joseph F. deMello, a long-time advocate of strict adherence to the Americans WithDisabilities Act, said he contacted Kevin Scanlon, the city’s ADA coordinator.

“The response was relatively quick,” said deMello, whose office is also located on Main Streetand who for years has relied on a wheelchair for physical mobility.

“They certainly responded once we notified them,” he said, adding that it took around two weeksfor the sidewalk to reopen.

An email from the mayor’s office stated that “after review by all City of Taunton stakeholders, thedecision was made to open the sidewalk to pedestrians after careful review of all safetyguidelines and ADA requirements.”

Origins of Union Block

Local historian and author Bill Hanna said Union Block was the result of a great fire inNovember 1859 — the night before Thanksgiving, to be exact — that destroyed a group ofcommercial buildings situated on the same block and same side of the street.

Within a year’s time, he said, all six conjoined buildings were ready for occupancy.

“That’s why they had fire walls,” Hanna said.

He said it’s possible that some people might assume the name came about as a declaration ofallegiance of sorts to the Union Army – notwithstanding that it would be another year before theCivil War broke out between the Union and Confederate armies.

“If that’s the case, then let them assume it. It can’t hurt,” Hanna said

This article originally appeared on The Enterprise: When can stores move back into Union Block in downtown Taunton?