Taunton's flatiron building being transformed into upscale apartments with penthouse views

TAUNTON — Bob Bastis is putting his money where his mouth is.

First he spent $1.5 million converting two blighted and vacant buildings on the same Winthrop Street block near Taunton Green into low-income apartments.

Now the veteran Taunton firefighter is investing another $1.5 million to create a trio of upscale apartments — including a top-floor “penthouse” — in the city’s flatiron building at the corner of Winthrop and Cohannet streets.

And did we mention that he plans on eventually becoming a tenant?

Bastis, 53, says that he and his wife will likely sell their Dighton home within a few years and move into the flatiron penthouse once all four of their kids are out on their own.

The second and third floors, he said, are being converted into individual three-bedroom rental units.

Fellow real estate developer Mike Binda is likewise in the midst of a project on the opposite side of Winthrop Street that will result in the creation of 16 market-rate apartments.

Binda, 34, is redeveloping the former Baron Brothers Furniture site at 24 Winthrop Street, where a fire in 2004 destroyed what had been a 36,000-square-foot building.

He said his investment will easily hit the $2.5 million mark.

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Both projects fall into the mixed-use category and will include some type of commercial business as a ground-floor tenant.

Bastis says he’s encouraged, not only by recent and various downtown residential-development projects — including the predominantly affordable-rate Union Block project on Main Street — but by other, unrelated activity.

This includes improvements to the former Santander Bank building at 12 Taunton Green and ongoing roof repairs to the Bristol County Superior Court building on Court Street, the latter of which is visible from the future penthouse balcony.

“Lots of good things are happening. A lot of promising things,” Bastis said.

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Hot market for building apartments

Binda and Bastis both said the current housing market, especially when it comes to demand for rental units, remains very active, despite higher interest rates for mortgage loans and rising rents.

“Rents are up everywhere, but there’s a crazy demand for housing,” Bastis said.

Forbes reported that the national average, as of July 7, of the annual percentage rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 7.53%.

“Houses are so expensive — a lot of people don’t want the responsibility of owning,” said Binda, who said he currently owns eight multi-family apartment houses in the area.

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Commuter rail also a factor

They both said housing demand in the Taunton area will likely remain on an upward trajectory as the countdown continues for South Coast Rail commuter service from Taunton to Boston, which recently was pushed back to May of 2025.

The Taunton Daily Gazette has previously reported that an Arizona-based development company is constructing four buildings with 275 market-rate apartments on County Street, close to where the MBTA’s Taunton train depot will operate.

Bastis’ Winthrop Street track record

During the past four years, Bastis, who recently was promoted to the rank of deputy chief within the Taunton Fire Department, has built 21 low-income apartments on either side of Winthrop Street between Cohannet and High streets.

Ten are in a former single family house at 38 Winthrop St. that originally was built as a small church; the other 11 are contained within the confines of 15-17 Winthrop St.

All 21 units constitute two separate group homes under the auspices of Taunton-based, non-profit Community Counseling of Bristol County.

The agency, which has a year-to-year lease agreement with Bastis, provides services to people in Bristol County who are experiencing any combination of homelessness, mental-health problems or chronic substance abuse.

The split-level, elongated building at 15-17 Winthrop St. was once known to police as a nuisance — due mainly to a neighborhood bar, known as both O’Duinnan’s and Lounge 44, and a boarding house upstairs with 13 rooms that officials said became a magnet for prostitution.

Taunton's historic flatiron building

The circa-1880 flatiron building, listed as 2-4 Cohannet St., straddles the confluence of lower Winthrop and Cohannet streets and directly faces Taunton Green.

Bastis said he paid $365,000 to Daniel Schneider of Plymouth for the vacant, angular, three-story commercial building.

The last occupant, Isabella’s Bridal Fashions, left the premises in 2019. The business' owner, Isabel DeSousa, bought the flatiron in 2004 from local attorney Daniel Goldrick and eventually sold it to Schneider in 2019 for $150,000.

Bastis, who said he began buying and selling investment properties not long after being honorably discharged from the Marine Corps, is making major structural changes to the flatiron building.

Most conspicuously, he’s adding a fourth floor to what had been a three-story edifice for nearly 145 years. He’s been able to accomplish the feat by extending a parapet, or “dwarf,” wall by five and a half feet.

All three apartments will have central heat and air conditioning but no elevator service, which Bastis says is consistent with state law.

How much will rent be for flatiron apartments?

Bastis predicts that the market-rate rent for all four units will be around $2,500. He also says in order to ensure the availability of the penthouse for he and his wife, he might consider renting in the interim as an Airbnb.

When will tenants move in?

He said he’d like the flatiron apartments to be on the market by the time the city’s annual Lights On Festival on Taunton Green arrives in early December: “It’s my goal,” he said.

Flatiron building history

Noted Taunton historian and author Bill Hanna said the flatiron building was built around 1880. A photo submitted by Bastis dated 1885 shows the building with its fa?ade advertising a men’s and boys’ clothing store.

Hanna said tenants in later generations included a shoe store named Zack’s; a bus stop for the Interstate Transportation Co. that traveled to Providence; and a small convenience store and public bathroom known as the Comfort Station.

When informed of Bastis’s current endeavor, Hanna said, “I hope he makes a success of it.”

Baron Brothers site finally being redeveloped

Bastis, back in 2014, bought the nearby site of the former Baron Brothers Furniture store at 24 Winthrop St. for $110,000.

“Even if I have to hold onto it for a while I think it’s a sound investment,” he said at the time.

The sloping property, which sits close to a narrow section of Mill River and abuts the Congregation Agudath Achim temple, was home for three decades to a family business that got its start in 1908.

The building was destroyed by a nighttime fire in the winter of 2004.

Bastis at one point thought he might utilize the land for tenant parking. But after committing himself to purchasing and renovating the house at 38 Winthrop St. — which sits on the opposite end of the Jewish temple — he instead sold the property for $150,000 to Binda.

16 market-rate units on Baron Brothers site — rent and timeline

Binda is now putting up a three-story building that will include 12 two-bedroom apartments and four one-bedroom units, all of which will be priced at market rate – which he now estimates would be $1,900 for the former and $1,500 for the latter configuration.

The Halifax native and graduate of the former Coyle and Cassidy High School said for the past 15 years he’s concentrated on new construction and remodeling multi-family houses.

He expects the apartments at 24 Winthrop St. will be ready to rent within eight to 12 months.

This article originally appeared on The Enterprise: Penthouse views coming soon to Taunton's iconic flatiron building