The first of two significant projects that will change the look of Pleasant Street is set to come before the Planning Board Thursday night, an estimated $20 million development that will involve razing Northampton Lodging and building a 72-unit apartment complex in its place.
HAPHousing expects to close on a deal early next year to buy Northampton Lodging at 129 Pleasant St., a longtime single-room-occupancy building consisting of 58 units. The Springfield organization that develops and manages affordable housing complexes throughout the region is floating plans to construct a five-story, 65,000-square-foot apartment building at the site.
The building will include a combination of studio and one-bedroom apartments, with 48 designated as affordable and 24 as market rate. Another 3,500 square feet of space on the ground floor facing Pleasant Street will be leased for retail purposes.
“We’re excited about the property. It’s a significant project for us,” said Victoria DellaSperanza, HAP’s chief resource development officer.
HAP will formally present its plans Thursday at 7:35 p.m. before a joint public hearing of the Planning Board and Central Business Architecture Committee in the council chambers of the Puchalski Municipal Building.
The project needs a special permit and site plan approval to move ahead, though construction is not expected to begin until financing can be secured from multiple sources sometime next year, DellaSperanza said. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2016 and will take slightly more than a year to complete, she said.
Meantime, another affordable housing project is in the works for the old Northampton Lumber site to the south and on the other side of Pleasant Street. Valley Community Development Corp. is buying the 1.23-acre site at 256 Pleasant St. and intends to build an apartment building with between 50 and 60 one-, two- or three-bedroom units, with retail space on the first level. All of the units will be affordable, with the majority being earmarked for people earning $30,000 a year for an individual and $50,000 annually for families.
Both projects are expected to advance the city’s long-term desire to add to its affordable housing stock, especially for people in the middle income levels. Several housing studies in recent years, starting with the Sustainable Northampton Plan (2008-2028), a 2011 Housing Strategic Plan and a 2013 Market Assessment, have pointed to the low rental vacancy rates and called for more rental housing and the development of smaller homes.
“This project will help the existing population and fit in with the city’s larger residential goals,” said Peter Serafino, HAP’s project manager.
HAP project
Once complete, HAP’s so-called Live 155 project on Pleasant Street will be among the organization’s largest, though a similar-sized development is in the works for Holyoke. The building’s address will be 155 Pleasant St.
After it purchases Northampton Lodging, HAP intends to manage it until financing is secured and enough time is given to relocate residents now living there before beginning work, according to DellaSperanza and Serafino.
Tenants will be temporarily relocated to similar-sized apartments in Northampton and nearby communities, with HAP paying for moving expenses, rent differential and more. Tenants who qualify will be offered apartments in the new building at the same rent they paid at the time of their relocation. Those who move in after HAP acquires the property, however, will not be eligible to receive relocation benefits.
“We will help the folks who are there now move to other, appropriate housing,” DellaSperanza said. “They will pay an equal amount to what they are paying now.”
DellaSperanza said HAP’s mission is to make housing accessible and affordable for as many people as possible, but also to run a number of programs designed to get people into permanent housing. To that end, tenants in the new building will have access to a number of HAP programs such as job training, counseling and assistance with outside programs.
The organization intends to hire a full-time property manager for at least the first year and a part-time residence services coordinator after that. Serafino said HAP will work with local social service providers to understand the needs of current Northampton Lodging tenants, half of whom have lived there for a number of years while the rest tend to come and go.
“Whatever the needs, we’re going to try and access the services so when they do come back, we want to be able to provide those services,” Serafino said.
HAP intends to finance the project through a combination of sources, including low-income tax credits from the state and bank loans. The organization intends to submit an application to the state Department of Housing and Community Development for the tax credits early next year.
HAP plans to tear down the existing three-story, 11,700-square-foot building, which was built in 1967 as a dormitory for the now-defunct Northampton Commercial College. The new building will include five floors fronting Pleasant Street, including retail space on the main floor with room for between one and three businesses, depending on the tenant secured, and apartments on the upper four floors. The studio apartments will have about 480 square feet of space, while the one-bedroom units will have 600 square feet, Serafino said.
The building will also include flexible spaces on each floor that tenants can use for meetings, parties and other gatherings of between two and eight people.
The site is next to the Manhan Rail Trail, across the street from the new platform for Amtrak’s high-speed passenger rail service, and a Pioneer Valley Transit Authority bus stop.
“The location itself is a real amenity,” Serafino said.
Plans also call for a public-private “pocket” plaza to be constructed at the back of the property next to the rail trail that will provide access to the apartments but also allow for public use. Another area of open space toward the front is envisioned as a “artlet,” or space where art can be displayed.
Meanwhile, about a year ago, the Valley CDC received a $1.1 million loan from the Community Economic Development Assistance Corp., a state development finance institution, to help it acquire the former lumberyard that closed last year.
If successful in its plans, the organization would add to its recent development of affordable rental and ownership housing in its four-community territory of Northampton, Amherst, Easthampton and Hadley. Since its inception, the organization has produced 180 such units and is currently building a 38-unit family rental housing project in Easthampton called Parsons Village.