Franklin County Food Coop Expansion update

In the Last Two Months

Dear Member-Owners,

Meaningful progress has occurred since our expansion communication in mid-February.
Existing Business

Importantly, the financial results from our existing stores are moving in the right direction. Although the final numbers are not yet in, preliminary projections for the first three months of this calendar year are showing improvement, a major turnaround from the losses experienced during the last three months of 2024. Credit for the improvement goes to the entire Co-op staff, who together are making numerous adjustments to tighten the controls and shave costs wherever possible, and to our member-owners and customers who are responding to the call to increase purchases and promote the Co-op to others.

Expansion

After taking a step back to review where we stand with the expansion project, we’ve resumed work with energy and focus. Meetings are now being held every two weeks for all parties involved (Mass Development, The Community Builders, and Franklin Community Cooperative) to review progress and coordinate the multiple activities. We’ve been fortunate to have Senator Jo Comerford, Representatives Natalie Blais and Susannah Whipps, and Mayor Ginny Desorgher on these calls, instilling a strong sense of the importance of this work to the city and broader community.

With renewed clarity from these discussions, MassDevelopment is entering into substantive negotiations with the tenant to resolve the situation in a timely way that is fair to all.

The first phase of construction on the Wilson’s building – called the enabling phase – is scheduled to begin this summer. This will require significant work on the ground floor to prepare the entire building for the eventual build-out – adding code-required structural updates, clearing out old fixtures, conducting environmental abatement, and so on. As part of this work the 1970s addition (a portion in the northwest part of the building) will be demolished and the old external foundation (swimming pool) along Chapman Street will be filled in. The Community Builders will oversee this work. They expect to proceed with the development of affordable housing rental units on the upper three floors of the building in early 2026.

Financing

Our highest priority at this time is working to obtain the financing required for our portion of this project. We expect to be able to obtain a significant amount of our required capital in tax credits but will still need a substantial loan to cover the development costs. We are discussing financing options with MassDevelopment. These may, for example, include a mix of a conventional mortgage from a traditional financial institution, supplemented with some form of long-term, low-interest financing from MassDevelopment. Securing the member-owner loans was a vitally important first step. We remain deeply grateful for this generous support and the strong demonstration of community support for the project it represents.

We have added to the FCC team that is working to bring this initiative forward. The Board has hired David Rich, an excellent lawyer from Todd & Weld to handle any future negotiations, including conditions associated with the extension of our purchase and sale agreement. Our Board President Tammy Erickson is actively engaged in the process, communicating with the CEO of MassDevelopment and other key stakeholders on our behalf. Two respected consultants with extensive experience related to tax credits, Loryn Sheffner from Avenue Development and Doug Kelleher of Epsilon and Associates, are working closely with our General Manager John Williams and our Finance Manager David Russell to obtain financing through both historic and new market tax credits. Our Board Treasurer Jonathan Dean has joined the discussions with MassDevelopment’s financing group.

The next major step for FCC would be to invest in finalizing the construction and design plans. We will not take this step until we have assurance from MassDevelopment of their ability to provide the gap financing we will need.

Meanwhile, your support through your patronage of our existing stores remains vitally important. Positive financial results are essential to our ability to continue with the expansion project.