Nantucket Trusts and nonprofit outline projects, $2M deed-restriction pilot and development pipeline

Town housing staff and nonprofit partners gave the advisory committee an overview of ongoing and planned efforts to preserve and create year-round housing and to stabilize the island's workforce.

Dylan Mechampl, deputy housing director, described the Affordable Housing Trust's role: a seven-member board that legally enables the town to use public funds for affordable housing and reviews projects. He said the Trust's recent funding streams include a $6.5 million town budget override approved at annual town meeting and $5 million from Community Preservation Act (CPA) funds.

Mechampl and Bridal "Sully" Sullivan, Trust chair and cofounder/principal broker at Fisher Real Estate, reviewed recent projects and award mechanisms. Highlights included Wiggles Way (22 mixed-income rentals restricted between 80% and 150% AMI), an accelerated Habitat-for-Humanity build on Wait Drive (six homeownership units), and the Richmond development where the Trust used buy-downs and covenants to increase permanently restricted year-round units.

Upcoming and in-process projects cited included Orange Street (32 rental units), Vesper Lane (17 age-restricted rental units, land purchased from UMass), Bartlett Road (12 units), Tacoma Green (64 rental units serving 30% to 120% AMI), New Downtown (32 rental units with eight at 80% AMI), and master planning for 55 Fairgrounds and 10 Parker Lane. Affirmative Investments was awarded a bundled RFP to deliver some of these projects, the presenters said.

Non-development tools highlighted: closing-cost assistance (forgivable loans up to $15,000), lease-to-locals incentives to convert short-term rentals to year-round units, sewer-connection-fee waivers (noted at roughly $5,000) and a year-round rental preservation study.

A new pilot: Mechampl announced a $2 million year-round deed-restriction pilot that will pay homeowners cash in exchange for perpetual deed restrictions to preserve units for year-round occupancy; awards were scheduled to be announced on Dec. 15. "The limit on the cash payment is 20 percent of the appraised value," Mechampl said. Presenters described the program as a way to create a bifurcated market (deed-restricted year-round homes vs open-market homes) without requiring new construction.

Housing Nantucket's director (recorded in the transcript as Anne Kussper and later as Anne Cuspa) described the nonprofit development model: RFP land provided by the town, construction loans and grants from the Trust, local bank financing, donor philanthropy (including a state community investment tax credit), then hiring a builder to construct and the nonprofit retaining and managing rentals. As a recent example, Wiggles Way was completed in July and is fully occupied.

Scale of need: Housing Nantucket summarized a recent housing needs assessment that estimates between roughly 590 and 1,000 units would be required to meaningfully ease cost burden and restore owner-occupancy parity with statewide levels, depending on the metric used.

No formal approvals of projects were taken at the advisory meeting; presenters encouraged committee members to act as advocates and to share information with their networks.