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Select Board tables $2.6M funding request for 545 Main Street senior housing to allow more outreach and financing work
Summary
Falmouth Housing Corporation and Affirmative Investments sought $2.6 million from the town affordable-housing fund to acquire 545 Main St for a 50-unit senior affordable housing project. The Select Board voted to table the request for two weeks and asked parties to explore alternative financing and age‑restriction options.
Falmouth Housing Corporation and Affirmative Investments presented plans July 13 to acquire 545 Main Street and build 50 one‑bedroom affordable units for seniors (one hundred percent affordable, with 8 units at 30% AMI and 42 at 60% AMI). Developers requested $2.6 million from the town’s Affordable Housing Fund to support acquisition, part of a larger capital stack they say will total roughly $44.5 million.
Developers said the existing round building is structurally and financially infeasible to renovate (asbestos, mold, lead, inefficient layout and ground‑floor flood history) and that senior-focused one‑bedroom unit mixes allow access to key state low-income housing tax-credit and other credits that make the project financially viable. "Only when you're doing age‑restricted housing can you build one‑bedroom units" that qualify for certain state resources, Tara Mizrahi of Affirmative Investments told the board.
Board members and residents debated tradeoffs: supporters and the Affordable Housing Committee cited long senior wait lists (developers reported hundreds of seniors on waiting lists, and the committee estimated over 900 seniors on its lists) and the project’s contribution to the town’s SHI; critics urged pursuing age‑unrestricted or workforce models and asked for further due diligence on alternatives and long‑term impacts on Main Street character. Members also discussed risk in committing acquisition funds at an early project stage.
After public comment from residents, housing advocates and project supporters, the board voted to table the funding request for two weeks (to the July 27 meeting) and asked developers and town staff to pursue additional financing options and to provide more information about alternatives (including whether state-senator assistance on workforce funding is viable). The board said it would use the two weeks for active outreach rather than passive delay.
What’s next: The board asked staff, the proponents and state contacts to explore alternatives and return July 27 with additional financing and feasibility information.
