Celebrate our Awards, & Press
Annual Arts Awards
May 2022
Artist in Residence Program, NHBCA
As an enterprise devoted to creativity and innovation, the Factory on Willow serves as a true creative commons. While the space has been designed to create a communal healthy lifestyle with features such as a community garden, a public gathering space and fitness facilities with dedicated hotel rooms for visitors, it is the incorporation of art into the living space that truly sets apart the Factory on Willow from other residences. With a twelve-week Artist in Residence program, they bring emerging photographers, painters, 3-D artists, designers, animators, and filmmakers from around the world to Manchester, New Hampshire. These artists work on capstone projects that stay in Manchester when their residency is over deepening the impact of their work and fostering meaningful community connections.
For melding the arts, innovation, entrepreneurship and community into one terrific “creative’s common” in the heart of the Queen City, the winner of the Microenterprise Award is The Factory on Willow
Plan New Hampshire
June 2022
Merit Award of Excellence
Every year the Plan NH Merit Awards recognize and showcase outstanding projects that reflect the mission and values of Plan NH and demonstrate how the built environment can make a positive contribution to people and places. The Merit Award program uplifts those nominated projects that champion Smart Growth and Livability Principles, the Triple Bottom Line (social, environmental and economic), and creative approaches to collaboration and cooperation.
Manchester Historic Association
May 2022
Historic Preservation Awards
The Historic Preservation Awards program recognizes and supports the efforts of individuals, businesses and organizations that have made significant contributions to the preservation of buildings, neighborhoods, traditions and other historic resources in the Queen City.
PRESS
The Factory is set to welcome first tenants next month
Published on: 2/28/21 in NH Union Leader
Elizabeth Hitchcock is ready to start leasing the first of 61 studio apartments inside a renovated mill building on Willow Street, but she knows there’s still a lot of work to be done She dreams of the space being used by residents and the public such as a café, outdoor amphitheater and incubator space for small boutique shops. Food trucks will be booked at events both indoors and outdoors.
Read the article.
The Factory on Willow wants to be the heart & soul of Manchester’s creative economy
Published on: 10/14/19 in Manchester Ink Link
Ten months ago local real estate developers Liz Hitchcock and Amy Chhom quietly announced a plan to buy and redevelop the old Cohas shoe factory at 252 Willow Street in Manchester. Read the article
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE QUEEN CITY’S ART SCENE & HOW CAN WE GET IT BACK?
“Art is a solo occupation, but artists need a community to thrive.” And she’s backing this belief by launching the $20 million dollar Factory on Willow project to provide residential and retail space where creatives and business people can mingle, provide support, and share ideas. She drew attention to the importance of investing in your creator, inventors, and entrepreneurs. Read the article.
MANCHESTER MILL BUILDING EYED FOR REBIRTH
Published on: 5/28/19, Union Leader
The four-story building located at 252 Willow St. in Manchester, NH will soon be under new ownership; Liz Hitchcock is in the process of buying what was formerly Cohas Shoe Factory. Their project, The Factory on Willow, will be a unique property space where a community of creative and business-minded people can live and work in the same building. There will be both residential and commercial leasing opportunities. The Zoning Board of Adjustment also approved a variance last week to allow artisan lofts, a photography studio and dwellings in upper stories of a building with a commercial first floor. Read the article.