Pontiac Mills

The historic Fruit of the Loom textile mill in Rhode Island has been rehabilitated and adapted into Pontiac Mills, a mixed-use complex with 133 apartments and 50,000 square feet of retail and commercial space. Ryan’s Historic Tax Credits team helped to secure $7 million in federal historic tax credits and $8.7 million in state historic tax credits for the rehabilitation. The multiphase process took five years to complete and involved the complete structural reconstruction of the complex’s 15 separate buildings.

The Fruit of the Loom industrial complex was established in the village of Pontiac in the City of Warwick, Rhode Island in 1863 by textile manufacturers Benjamin Knight and Robert Knight (B.B. & R. Knight Company). The successful business employed hundreds of local immigrants and led to the creation of a community post office, train station, library, church, and schoolhouse. During the American Civil War, the mill manufactured uniforms for Union Army soldiers.