Valley CDC and The Community Builders propose 90-unit affordable project at 33 King Street

Valley Community Development Corporation (Valley CDC) and The Community Builders (TCB) told the Northampton Housing Partnership they have been selected as the city’s preferred developers for 33 King Street and proposed a two-building redevelopment that would create about 90 apartments and some ground-floor commercial space.

The developers said the plan would include two buildings — a rear building proposed by Valley CDC with roughly 42 units and a King Street-fronting building by TCB with about 48–50 units — and shared site infrastructure. "We are thrilled that the city has selected us as the preferred developer for 33 King Street," Jessica, development director at Valley CDC, told the partnership during a slide presentation.

The project team described a unit mix intended to be 100% income restricted: about 11 units at or below 30% area median income (AMI), 22 units at or below 60% AMI, and a workforce tier that the presenters said would range roughly from 80% to 100–120% AMI. The presenters noted a two-person household at 100% AMI in the relevant statistical area would be capped at about $95,200 annually under their calculations. Julia Scannell of The Community Builders said financing rules will shape the final unit mix and that some unit-size minimums are driven by state competitive funding guidelines.

Parking was a prominent topic. The developers proposed providing 22 tenant parking spaces on site, including six ADA-accessible spaces and four EV spaces, while noting that the zoning for the central business district does not require off-street parking. "We could build this and not provide any parking at all, but we've decided to provide at least 22 spaces for residents in this location," Jessica said. The team also described retained public parking along Merrick Lane and said tenant parking in the lot behind the buildings would be managed by the property manager.

Design details the presenters outlined included three resident entry points per building, interior bicycle storage, two elevators per building, a small number of public amenities and a potential connection to the nearby bike path. The front building will include commercial frontage and a centralized property management office; TCB said it will provide property management for both buildings.

On timing, the presenters said they are in a due-diligence phase, intend to apply for grant funding for infrastructure, aim to acquire the site jointly by June ("our hope is that by June, TCB and Valley jointly will be owning the property"), and anticipate Valley beginning construction once infrastructure work is complete with TCB aiming for building completion around 2029 if financing aligns.

Partnership members asked about bedroom sizes, family-sized units and the project’s ability to serve larger households; presenters said funding rules tend to favor a majority of two-bedroom units (about 65% of units two bedrooms or larger, with roughly 10 of those as three-bedroom units) and that including substantially more three-bedroom units would require stronger data or a referral partner to justify departures from typical funding preferences. The developers said tenant selection will include lotteries to meet fair-housing obligations and that some project-based vouchers or referrals (for example from the Department of Mental Health) could be part of the mix depending on final financing.

Partnership members and presenters also discussed commercial tenancy, rooftop uses (solar and possible limited rooftop amenities), passive-house design standards and tree/streetscape planning. The presenters said they intend robust community outreach to abutters and other stakeholders during permitting and zoning work.

The presentation closed with a request that the partnership stay engaged as the project advances; the developers said this will not be the last time they report back to the group.

Ending: The proposal is a preferred-developer concept and not a final approval. Developers said they will pursue permits, funding and site acquisition before construction; the partnership did not take formal action at the meeting because a quorum was not present.