August 24, 2012
HUD administrator visits Fitchburg
By Anne O’Connor, Correspondent
FITCHBURG — During a tour here Thursday, HUD’s regional administrator for New England said the city is putting federal money to good use to improve housing for its residents.
“It’s not just occupying a building; it’s creating a community,” Barbara Fields said.
She toured several properties renovated or built with at least part of the funds coming from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The housing projects ranged in size from rehabilitating a 96-unit former public housing building, Fitchburg Place, at 16 Prichard St., to building new single-family homes on Elm Street.
Fitchburg Place, one-bedroom senior housing, is just a few doors from a remodeled seven-unit building at 50-64 Prichard St. with two- and three-bedroom apartments for families.
The elderly and family housing on Prichard Street complement each other, Fields said.
The area behind Main Street was “very, very blighted,” said Ryan McNutt, the city’s housing director.
The front of Fitchburg Place was “a pile of dirt and trash” but the new plantings and green space make it more appealing to passersby,” Mayor Lisa Wong said.
Having more residents in the neighborhood means less blight. In addition to attractive housing, the tax base is broader and small businesses like dry cleaners and a place to buy milk will be needed, Fields said.
“Folks think we need to start with retail,” Wong said, but the establishments need someone to patronize them.
Revitalization incorporating residences and commercial space is like “the chicken and the egg. What comes first? Both,” Fields said.
Some of the units are designated as affordable housing. A mix of income levels will be in close proximity, one of HUD’s goals, Fields said.
When Wong was elected she asked Marc Dohan, executive director of the Twin Cities Community Development Corp., what the CDC needed from her.
The answer, he said, was simple: “I need vision.”
The improvements along the Prichard and Elm street corridor are part of the city’s vision, McNutt said. Eyesores like a tarp-roofed apartment building and deteriorated buildings have been repaired or demolished.
The new housing has special features designed to appeal to future dwellers.
The common areas in Fitchburg Place are important to seniors who will not want to remain in a small apartment all day, Fields said.
A system of monitored cameras and loudspeakers will help to ensure the safety of the resident seniors, said Jim Harger, vice president of Winn Development, the property developer.
Fields praised the larger rental units for being energy efficient and having ample closet space. “You need some place to store the winter boots,” she said in a family-sized apartment.
The larger apartments have “defensible” backyard areas, a partially fenced area associated with individual units that will be part of the residents’ space instead of being used for parking.
A new day-care business is opening on Elm Street, right beside three new single-family homes that replaced a garage. Sidewalks were replaced, and the street was repaved.
The residences will make less of a carbon footprint than before. Fitchburg Place uses cogeneration — a heating and cooling system to produce electricity that can be used to light the corridors, Harger said.
The larger rental units and single-family homes are well-insulated and energy efficient.
Determining what new tenants do not want is also important, Dohan said. The CDC offices are on Main Street in a building with 31 apartments that used HUD funding for rehabilitation into mixed-income housing.
“What they don’t want is a 2 a.m. party,” he said.
The new housing is attracting residents.
Fitchburg Place has taken 88 applications for the 96 units. One of the homes is occupied and another has a purchase-and-sale agreement, which is good in the current market, Dohan said. The apartments at 50-64 Prichard St. will be available in September, Cook said.
Some of the improvements were funded by the Neighborhood Stabilization Program, a HUD program designed for areas with high foreclosure rates, Fields said.
Some of the NSP money came through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, she said.
The focus on the back half of Main Street is stabilizing the whole neighborhood, McNutt said.
The CDC lists community events and associations and 10 housing projects not including Fitchburg Place in the Elm Street neighborhood area.
“One investment doesn’t improve the whole street,” Dohan said.
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