Former mill property in Oakland sells for $200K to Coventry-based LLC

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BURRILLVILLE – A 32.7 acre property that holds the remnants of a once majestic mill complex has been purchased by a Coventry-based LLC for $50,000 below the original asking price.

Mill Street Realty paid $200,000 for the lot at 65 Mill St., once home to the Ross Mill, also known as the Oakland Mill.

Named after John L. Ross, the mill was used to manufacture cotton yarns and satinet, on a property featuring a three-story factory building with several additions and a dam across the Branch River. It was once the center of village life, surrounded by housing built for laborers and their families, some of which still remains. Mill owners who followed Ross built artesian wells, provided electricity from the factory to the homes of workers, installed a sewer system and even opened a company store in Oakland.

Over the years, the mill changed ownership numerous times and produced everything from woolen goods and yarn, to hosiery and textiles. According to local historians Betty and Carlo Mencucci, there was a fire on the property in 1977.

The remains of the mill have sat, tucked away off just Victory Highway, vacant and decaying since, with floors caving and roofs collapsing. A vast skeleton of the former mill features falling bricks and crumbling walls and in recent years, a smoke stack that towered over the landscape also collapsed.

Although the structure is on private property, numerous tourist blogs have noted the surprising beauty of the abandoned site, which offers a glimpse into Burrillville’s industrial past. Town property records assess the value of the lot at $108,000.

Charles Cove, whose current address is listed in Weston, Fl., took title of the property in 1973, and it was subject to several violations from the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management under his ownership for issues including altering fresh water wetlands, release of petroleum products into waters, disposal of solid waste and maintaining underground tanks in an abandoned state.

Cove and his business Cove Metal Co. were released from the violations in a notice from RIDEM in 2024, effectively clearing the encumbrance from the property’s title.

And last February, the property was listed for sale at a cost of $250,000.

A quit claim deed for the property filed on Monday, Jan. 13 transferred ownership to Mill Street Realty, a business entity created last month that lists its principal office at 13 Northup Plat Road in Coventry. The address is home to Gina and Joseph Pakuris, and a corresponding mortgage deed filed for the property is signed by Joseph Pakuris as a member of the LLC.

Pakuris, a former contractor, is the CEO of Mother Earth Wellness, a cannabis store in Pawtucket opened in 2022.

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