Select Board awards $25,000 predevelopment grant to Falmouth Housing Trust for five-home workforce project

The Falmouth Select Board on April 28 approved a $25,000 grant from the town’s Affordable Housing Fund to help the Falmouth Housing Trust finish predevelopment work for a five‑home workforce subdivision at 419 Quaker Highway.

Laura Moahan, executive director and in‑house counsel for the Falmouth Housing Trust, told the board the 3.8‑acre project (to be called Bigalow Landing Road) will produce five single‑family homes for sale, with two units deed‑restricted at 80% of area median income (AMI), one at 100% AMI and two at 120% AMI in perpetuity. The homes will be solar‑ and EV‑ready and include visitability features such as wider first‑floor doorways and first‑floor bathrooms.

The grant is aimed at covering predevelopment costs Moahan said totaled roughly $107,000 (engineering, survey, environmental testing and demolition). The full project budget is approaching $3.0 million for five homes; the trust and partners have identified other sources, including $650,000 previously approved from the town’s Affordable Housing Fund and a $125,000 donation from the 300 Committee toward advanced septic upgrades.

Kim Fish, the town housing coordinator, told the board the working group had examined the request case‑by‑case and concluded the project was far enough along and important enough to justify the $25,000 award. Fish noted the trust had already incurred substantial predevelopment expenses and that the requested funds would help bridge recent cost increases tied to higher construction bids and interest rates.

Board members pressed for clarity about long‑term homeowner costs. Moahan said the trust will create a homeowners association (HOA) to cover operations and maintenance for the Nitro advanced treatment septic systems; the trust will seed the HOA with an initial O&M fund (estimated $10,000–$15,000) and will pay the first several years of inspection costs so buyers are not saddled with early expenses.

Select Board members also discussed whether the town’s funds represent the best use of limited affordable housing dollars; Fish said the working group evaluated timing, readiness and community benefit and recommended the award. A motion to approve the $25,000 grant and authorize the town manager to execute award documents passed unanimously.

The trust said the homes will be offered at prices well below current median sales values in town and are intended for middle‑income households (roughly in the $90,000–$150,000 household income range under current underwriting assumptions). The project team is advancing site work and building permit applications; Clancy Construction is the proposed general contractor.