Photo courtesy of Rockland Trust

Rockland Trust has provided $7.4 million in financing to Hajjar Management Co. Inc. to redevelop a vacant Fall River school into an apartment building.

The former Notre Dame Grammar School will be converted into a 48-unit apartment building known as The Lofts at Lafayette, Rockland Trust said in a statement. The three-story, 45,640 square-foot building is located at 34 Saint Joseph St.

“We’ve been working with Chuck and his team at Hajjar Management for many years and projects such as Lafayette always bring an exciting new energy to the area,” Erin Williams, vice president and commercial loan officer at Rockland Trust, said in the statement. “Working with them on the revitalization of vacant buildings makes what we do as a Commercial Bank even more special.”

The project is expected to be completed in early August of 2023, the statement said. The multifamily complex will include a mix of one-bedroom, two-bedroom and two-bedroom townhouse-style units. All 48 units will come with two off-street parking spots.

“The redevelopment of 34 Saint Joseph Street offers a unique opportunity to reinvigorate a vacant and historic building, preserving all of its structural elements as well as its exterior granite, brick and interior hardwood flooring, while also investing in Fall River’s residential market,” Chuck Hajjar, president of Hajjar Management Co., said in the statement. “The end-result will reflect the quality of new construction in the bones of a solid historical building.”