Sudbury Housing Authority presents Pine Lakes redevelopment plan seeking CPA funds and state grant

The Sudbury Housing Authority on Wednesday presented a redevelopment plan for four single‑family houses in the Pine Lakes and other neighborhoods that would replace aging homes with energy‑efficient duplexes and rely on a mix of Community Preservation Act (CPA) funds and a state redevelopment grant.

The plan would use $650,000 in previously awarded CPA funds and asks the Housing Trust for an additional $450,000 to augment that sum. Sheila Cousolito, executive director of the Sudbury Housing Authority, said the authority also secured a state redevelopment grant of about $1,200,000 to support construction and to provide operating subsidies through rental vouchers.

The proposal calls for raising and redeveloping four existing single‑family homes (built between the early 1950s and early 1970s and purchased by the authority in the mid‑1970s through early 1980s) into two‑bedroom duplexes. Cousolito said earlier engineering and feasibility work, including a predevelopment study funded in 2019 and a technical assistance award through MassHousing/MassHousing Partnership, indicated duplexes are viable on the sites.

"These homes were built between the early fifties and the early seventies and purchased by the housing authorities between the mid seventies to the early eighties," Cousolito said. She also noted the portfolio currently includes multiple programs and that capital funding historically provided (about $100,000 annually) has not been sufficient to address the state‑portfolio capital needs.

Cousolito described the approved state grant as a key driver: "The grant was submitted by invitation in early 2024 and the funding was approved mid 2024. So it's 1,200,000.0 for this redevelopment to create the duplexes. And then for, for movable Massachusetts rental vouchers that will subsidize the operating costs of the program." She added that operating subsidy is necessary for viability of new affordable rental units.

The authority has selected an architect and plans a listening session for neighbors and tenants so the architect can gather community input on site layout and design; Cousolito said the session was tentatively planned for late March. She also said the authority is considering modular construction to control cost and speed, and stressed energy‑efficiency upgrades will be a major part of the work because the current homes use a mix of oil and gas heating systems "and those are no longer supported." Cousolito cited consistency with Sudbury’s housing production plan and master plan goals on housing diversity.

Board members asked about relocation and tenant impacts. Cousolito said two of the four homes are currently vacant or have been relocated already; the authority is required to prepare a relocation plan and intends to stagger construction so existing tenants can be accommodated into replacement units without losing tenancy. "Our responsibility would [be] to retain and maintain the tenancy so that there's no change for the existing tenant," she said, describing the authority's plan to preserve housing continuity.

The authority indicated it will continue community engagement and complete schematic design in time to seek Town Meeting funding if feasible; Cousolito said construction is hoped to begin in late 2025 but the timeline is not yet locked in.

If the Trust supports the CPA request, the project would combine prior CPA awards, the new CPA request, the state redevelopment grant and green energy rebates to fund site redevelopment and conversion to duplexes.