Housing in Converted Industrial Buildings Appeals to N.H. Millennials and Retirees Alike
Future housing at the Frank Jones Brew Yard in Portsmouth. Photo by Robert Garrova for NHPR
In New Hampshire’s increasingly tight rental market, one area where there’s new development is conversion of industrial buildings. It’s a niche market, but one that’s attracting multiple generations of residents.
In a parking lot in Manchester, surrounded by a maze of early 20th-Century brick factory buildings just south of the ballpark, Mike Bernier explains how he ended up here.
“So my dad says tomorrow morning I want you to sit in the truck and I got a job for you,” Bernier says. “And I’ve been here ever since… Since 1969.”
The buildings date from the early 1900s. Bernier’s dad worked here, first making shoes for the McElwain company. When Bernier got his first job here in 1969, it was manufacturing sunglasses with the Foster Grant company.
For almost half a century he’s clocked-in at this place, now called the Sundial Center. These days people don’t just come here to work, they want to live here, too.
Now Bernier works in maintenance, taking care of these old buildings. A couple floors up, points to a blown up, vintage black and white photo hanging on the wall. It’s a picture of a factory employee party, complete with a band, dance floor and hundreds of workers in their best attire.