The looms may have stopped at Abbot Mill over one hundred years ago but the lights are on and if you listen, you can hear the beeping of construction trucks backing in and out.

Work to renovate the mill into more than 100 apartments finally started this month. The concept was conceived about six years ago and recently moved ahead after financing was secured.

“For the first time in a long time, things are going better at the mill,” said Chris Yule, owner of Yule Development Company.

There are 129 units being built. Rents will range from $1,000-2,000 for studios and one- and two-bedrooms. Nineteen units will be set aside for affordable housing. There will be an underground parking garage.

The renovation is expected to be completed by December 2011.

“(Woburn-based) Tocci, the general contractor, has been on the project for two months and their large crew is doing amazing things,” Yule said.

The mill is registered on the National Register of Historic Places and has a lively history. The worsted wool it produced was renowned.  If you owned a Ford vehicle, you sat on the mohair wool made from the mills.

It hasn’t been an easy transition from mill into high-end apartments. 

“It’s a very complicated project and I want it to be gorgeous, interesting and successful.  After the underground garage and the complexities associated with that, this is the easy stuff,” Yule said.

More information about the project can be found here.