Affordable housing trust commits funds and housing authority secures state money for Everett Gardens sprinkler retrofit
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Summary
The Concord Municipal Affordable Housing Trust reported recent commitments totaling about $1.4 million for local housing projects, including a $300,000 fronting for Everett Gardens sprinkler upgrades; the state approved $750,000 toward that retrofit and the trust also moved to acquire surplus property for six affordable units pending environmental review.
The Concord Municipal Affordable Housing Trust has committed roughly $1.4 million in recent months to local affordable-housing efforts, and the Concord Housing Authority said the state has approved full funding for a major sprinkler retrofit at Everett Gardens.
Keith Bergman, chair of the Concord Municipal Affordable Housing Trust, said the trust has an uncommitted balance of about $1.4 million after recent approvals. "Recently, in recent months, we have committed $300,000 to the Concord Housing Authority for its project for putting sprinklers in at Everett Gardens," Bergman said. The trust also approved $56,000 to update the town's housing production plan (which expires in 2027), a $350,000 loan to the Concord Housing Development Corporation for a homeownership buy‑down program, and a $629,000 commitment to acquire 91 B Main Street, 1.45 acres intended for six affordable units; that acquisition is subject to an environmental assessment and subsequent select-board approval.
Stefan Bader, chair of the Concord Housing Authority, confirmed the state approved the full $750,000 the authority requested for the Everett Gardens sprinkler project and said having the trust money on hand made it possible to access additional state funding. "We received notification from the state that they have approved the full $750,000 that we requested," Bader said, adding that the retrofit project will proceed slowly and is expected to take a couple of years.
Julie McClure of the Western Housing Development Corporation said partner organizations continue to support housing projects and related volunteer opportunities, noting the Asabat River Homes project is under construction and students from Minuteman Technical High School will build a house as a vocational project.
The trust said the planned acquisition of 91 B Main Street would proceed to an RFP for development after environmental review and select-board authorization under the trust's bylaw. Bergman said the trust acted quickly in part so the Concord Housing Authority could leverage $750,000 in outside state funds that otherwise might have been lost if the authority had to wait for town-meeting appropriation timing.
Next steps: the environmental assessment for 91 B Main Street is underway; the trust will seek select-board approval to acquire the parcel and then run an RFP to identify a developer and project scope.