In the beginning of 2021, the long-awaited Mill One at Hamilton will open finally.
Located on Johnston Avenue just off Nottingham Way, Mill One is a recycled space that was built in 1895 as a textile mill where clothing and various other soft goods were manufactured.
Mill One has been touted as a sustainable urban village, with a current size of 350,000 square feet. The building is a partnership between the private Modern Recycled Spaces and the nonprofit Isles, who will split the building to create a campus.
Modern Recycled Spaces is a Hamilton-based historic/adaptive reuse developer. Principals Max and Daniel Popkin specialize in the adaptive reuse of old mill buildings into creative commercial spaces, and they plan to eventually move their headquarters to the Mill One campus. The Popkins have reclaimed other properties, such as Studio Park in Hamilton, Canal Studios in Lambertville and the Scudder Tractor building in Pennington.
One aspect of the Mill One at Hamilton will be the 10,000-square-foot C Street Artist Studios. Max Popkin said the studios will have an open floor plan, and collaborative space with natural light. With working artist studios and a display/ gallery area, Popkin plans to begin with 15-20 artists and grow from there. Monthly art studio rents will start just below $300. Popkin said he would also like to see one or two artists-in-residence who would have studio space provided for free for a period of time.
Modern Recycled Spaces also has artist studios in their other buildings, but Popkin is excited about the studio artist component of the campus and sees Mill One as a major addition to the Hamilton Arts District.
The other half of the Mill One at Hamilton is in the care of Isles, Inc. Founded in 1981, Isles, Inc. is a community development and environmental organization. The Isles Inc. project—also opening early this year—is named The Social Profit Center at Mill One.
This half of the building offers a mix of artist studios, offices and flex spaces for artists, nonprofits and social impact businesses.
“Our mission at the Social Profit Center is to do good, better,” Isles CEO Sean Jackson said. “We’ve designed the space for collaboration, so artists and organizations have opportunities to interact and learn and grow from each other.”
The Social Profit Center offers studios with the building’s original brick and timber, restored windows and floors and high ceilings. Beyond private studios, the Center offers gallery, showcase, and event space.
“We want art to be incorporated throughout the building and the programming of the center,” Jackson said. “In fact, we’re planning to find ways to engage local artists in the design of the lobby and other communal spaces.”
Currently eight studios are available, ranging in size from 500 to 1,000 square feet. More information is available at socialprofitcenter.org.
