Rockland Trust financing to help J.P. Licks to open three additional ice cream shops

By Chris Reidy, Globe Staff

Rockland Trust, a commercial Massachusetts bank with $5.1 billion in assets, announced a $4.5 million in refinancing for J.P. Licks, in part to help the local ice cream chain expand from 11 to 14 locations.

Headquartered in Boston, J.P. Licks Homemade Ice Cream will use the funds to refinance existing debt, said Rockland Trust, which added that it is also providing a construction line of credit to aid in the construction and development of the chain’s newest retail locations, which are expected to open in 2013.

Plans call for the new J.Pl Licks stores to open on Boylston Street in Boston’s Back Bay neighborhood and in Lynnfield. Rockland Trust said that the chain is also looking to open a store in Assembly Row, a $1.5 billion project planned for Somerville.

(A recent Globe story noted that the project’s developer has signed up three restaurants to be among the first businesses to open at the sprawling new retail and residential district being built on the Mystic River waterfront. The restaurants are Burger Dive, Papagayo, and Legal C Bar.)

Current J.P. Licks locations include Coolidge Corner in Brookline, Harvard Square in Cambridge, Newton Centre, Wellesley Square, West Roxbury, Legacy Place in Dedham, and Davis Square in Somerville.