HCDI Celebrates Comprehensive Permit Award for First Affordable Rental Housing Development in Pelham
Home City Development, Inc. is celebrating a comprehensive permit award for our affordable housing development in Pelham, a small town east of Amherst with a population of just 1300. In mid-August, the Pelham zoning board of appeals approved the comprehensive permit under MA law Chapter 40B for our site on Amherst Road. This is an exciting milestone as most of our developments are in the Greater Springfield area, and this is the first time that the zoning board of appeals has ever granted this type of permit. This is also the first affordable rental housing development in the Town of Pelham.
This team effort required patience, time, and energy from the Pelham zoning board of appeals, Pelham community members, the Pelham Select Board, Pelham Conservation Commission, and the Pelham Housing Committee.
“It’s been a pleasure to work with Home City Development,” Tilman Lukas, chair of the Pelham Housing Committee said. “Tom Kegelman and Peter Serafino have been extremely responsive to all of the issues brought up both at the Pelham Conservation Commission and Pelham Zoning Board of Appeals . . . All of the members of the Housing Committee were impressed with their dedication to meeting the needs of Pelham.”
Lukas is also on the Conservation Commission and is a long time Pelham resident. He explained that Pelham is a difficult area for affordable housing because of the topographic relief and the fact that there is almost no public water and sewer. Most rural communities run into these types of road blocks. This particular development is a result of the right elements coming together at the right time. Recently, the Town of Amherst extended its sewer and water lines along Amherst Road, and this allowed HCDI to hook up to public water and sewer for this development. The site became available when the owners of the properties at 18-20 and 22 Amherst Road decided to sell. Along with the commitment and dedication of the Home City staff, all of the various elements came together at the right time.
HCDI’s development, Amethyst Brook Apartments, will consist of two new buildings at 20-22 Amherst Road with a total of 34 affordable housing units. The north side of the development abuts conservation land with ample walking trails and a winding brook, Amethyst Brook. 22 Amherst Road will be designed to “Passive House” standards — a voluntary energy efficiency standard for new construction. These standards drastically reduce the building’s ecological footprint, consuming very little energy. HCDI will be working with Building Evolution Corporation to meet Passive House requirements. Other notable additions to the site construction include a stormwater management system and electric vehicle charging stations.
Another key issue in working with the town was maintaining the historic character of the street scape. “Through extensive analysis by the engineers that HCDI hired, it was concluded that these buildings were beyond salvageable,” Lukas said. “If HCDI were not proposing this new development with historical accuracy, the buildings would be demolished, and [the town] would have vacant lots there.”
Construction drawings for this development should be 70% complete by December 1st. The design team is led by Architecture Environment Life (AEL) based out of East Longmeadow, and Berkshire Design Group from Northampton will be doing civil engineering and landscape design. Home City Development will finalize project financing, and construction is expected to be completed within 12-14 months after the start date, which is TBA.
The Commonwealth’s goal is that 10% of total housing stock should be affordable. Pelham was at less than 1% before this development. With Amethyst Brook Apartments and two single family homes that are being built by Habitat for Humanity, the Town of Pelham will be at 7% and ultimately the town plans to expand even beyond the 10% goal.
Said Lukas, “You pick up the paper every day and see that [the housing issue] is a crisis state-wide and nation-wide . . . People are realizing more and more that there is a great need for affordable housing. Massachusetts [has some] of the most expensive housing in the country. It’s a regional problem that we have to address, be responsible for, and be a part of.”