Northshore magazine showcases the best that the North Shore of Boston, MA has to offer.
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/1239297
NORTHSHOREMAG.COM 32 MAY 2020 L I V E + P L AY CONTACT mills58.com features elegantly refinished furniture and home décor. There's a used bookstore, a bou- doir photography studio, and a salon offering hair and nail services and massages. On the first floor, Essex County Brewing Co. creates a range of beers in gleaming steel tanks and serves up brews and snacks in an adjoining, family-friendly tasting room; the brewery will be expanding its production op- erations in the building in coming months. On the fourth floor, a sprawling multivendor antiques shop tempts visitors to wander and browse for hours. Down the hall, popular meat subscription service Butcher Box has built a kitchen for testing recipes and shoot- ing videos. "We saw the potential for making the magic happen," says Butcher Box's creative director, Jennifer Valley, considering the ex- posed brick walls and soaring ceilings. "It's a really easy space to think and create in." Because Greeley wants to cultivate a sense of community, he does not merely rent space to all comers. He looks for potential tenants who have an attitude and personality that will mesh with the existing businesses. And it's worked: Talking to the business owners of Mills 58, almost all mention, unprompted, the sense of community in the complex. The building's entrepreneurs greet each other in the halls, attend each other's events, and offer to help out in any way they can. Greeley also tries to avoid having tenants go head to head: There may be a few fitness- oriented businesses, for example, but each has a unique offering targeted at different clients. "It's not competitive here," says Lisa Gagnon, owner of Inspire Dance and Fitness, which focuses on children's classes and rec- reational dance and fitness instruction. "We want to grow together." The building's finished units are 100 percent occupied, Greeley says, but more is on the way. A food court called the "Piazzo" is slated to open in May, offering coffee made from beans roasted on premises, pizza cooked in a coal-fired oven imported from Italy, and handmade pasta crafted right be- fore diners' eyes. Fresh-fruit smoothies, hearty salads, burgers, and grilled meats will also be on offer and a sweets shop will be stocked with gelato and European candies. A seating area in the back will host occa- sional farmers markets to support even more of the community's food producers. "When you're hungry, come here," Greeley says. "You'll leave full." Greeley also hopes Mills 58 can revive the original spirit of the building. In a 1924 photo he has—acquired via the antiques dealers in the building—more than a hundred employ- ees of the original tannery stand lined up out- side the building. When Greeley looks at the photograph, he sees a group of people who worked hard to provide for their families and he sees the business that let them do it. "You think about how many families were supported out of this property," he says. "Dur- ing the Depression, this property helped put food on people's tables." His goal is for Mills 58 to fill a similar role in the Peabody of today. "If we can get enough good people in one place," Greeley says, "something special can happen." Top to bottom, DiHard Fitness, Butcher Box test kitchen, Lisa Gagnon of Inspire Dance & Fitness, and 4th Floor Antiques.