David Lamattina, Arrowpoint Properties

Haverhill, MA The 1 Water St. high-rise apartment building, known as Rivers Edge Apartments, overlooking the Merrimack River has been sold for $15.6 million to a Lawrence-based company that owns and manages apartment buildings in Lawrence, Methuen and Pelham. 

Located across from Central Plaza and opposite the new Harbor Place development, the 1 Water St. complex is at White’s Corner, one of the busiest intersections in the city.

According to Southern Essex Register of Deeds John O’Brien, a Delaware limited partnership with the address c/o John M. Corcoran & Co. LLC, 100 Grandview Rd., Suite 207, Braintree, sold the building to Arrowpoint Burlington LLC, 49 Blanchard St., Suite 414, Lawrence. 

Arrowpoint Properties is a real estate management and investment company. Its president is North Andover native David Lamattina. 

Rivers Edge Apartments, 1 Water Street - Haverhill, MA

Arrowpoint manages several apartment buildings in the area, including Water’s Edge Apartments, Boxford Street Apartments, Salem House Apartments, Salem Village Apartments, Essex House Condominiums and Shawsheen Heights Apartments, all in Lawrence, as well as Oakland Heights Apartments in Methuen and Pelham Estates in Pelham.

Lamattina said that as part of the contract, his company will continue to set aside 20% of the 164  apartments at 1 Water St. for low-income residents until the requirement expires in 2021. The other apartments are market rate.

“We will continue to support our current residency,” Lamattina said, adding that residents received a letter from the prior owner indicating transfer of ownership and also received a welcome letter from his company.

Lamattina said his company is very familiar with the area and excited to add 1 Water St. to its portfolio. “I’m a Merrimack Valley guy born and raised in North Andover and I have ties to the area,” he said. “My dad, Richard, built The Loft (restaurant) in North Andover, then built Joe Fish (restaurant), and later sold them both. My family also operates Boston Chowder Co. in North Andover.”

Lamattina said the 1 Water St. property was attractive to his business for several reasons. “We are targeting 100-plus unit size properties and this is our first transaction of more than 100 units,” he said. “This is our largest by far. We took a leap on this and we were fortunate to take this big step up.”

Lamattina said the 1 Water St. property is more than three times the size of his company’s last purchase, which was a 48-unit complex in Pelham.

“We sold an 18-unit property in Lowell a few months ago and combined the proceeds with private investor equity and turned 18 units into 164,” Lamattina said. “In the real estate world, you don’t usually go from 18 to 164 units. It just doesn’t happen.”

Lamattina said his company plans to invest about $600,000 in improvements to 1 Water St., including replacing carpeting in all of the apartments with a laminate flooring, which can be a benefit to people with allergies and is easier to maintain.

“We also plan to make some minor cosmetic improvements to give the building a fresh look, including new exterior signage and resurfacing and re-striping the parking lot,” he said.

Lamattina said the 5,900 s/f of ground-floor commercial space has one longtime tenant, a rheumatologist who rents 2,500 s/f.

“There’s about 3,400 s/f that has been vacant for several years, and our plan is to divide it into smaller office suites and rent to a business such as an insurance agent or accountant, although there are endless possibilities,” Lamattina said.

1 Water St. was erected in 1970, sits on 1.1 acres, according to the assessor’s office.