City Shows Off Affordable Housing Efforts |
MetroWest Daily News MARLBOROUGH -- The four-story apartment house on Lincoln Street still has scaffolding, exposed walls and large machinery outside, but in the construction dust the city sees a gleaming example of its affordable housing efforts. Advocates Inc., a Framingham-based human services agency, is renovating the rundown building at 509 Lincoln St. into apartments for 22 people coping with disabilities and other troubles. On Tuesday, the organization's leaders and local politicians gathered for a groundbreaking ceremony; or rather, a celebration of work that has already begun. " The need for decent, affordable housing is an issue for everyone in this state, because of high real estate prices," said William Taylor, Advocates' president and CEO. "But for people with disabilities, who are the poorest of the poor, access to affordable housing is extremely difficult to come by." Advocates is the second organization in the past week to put its affordable housing project on display in Marlborough. The day before, Marlborough-based Employment Options Inc. held an open house for its subsidized apartment building on Mechanic Street. Those six apartments opened in September. The city has surpassed many of its neighbors in the amount of available lower-price housing, having reached the much sought-after 10 percent affordable housing benchmark. Communities want to attain that goal because it gives them greater ability to choose among housing projects, instead of being required to accept some of the larger, more densely packed and controversial housing projects proposed under the Chapter 40B affordable housing law. But instead of resting at the 10 percent point -- and risking a slip below that mark when a new count is done in a few years -- the city is now seeking ways to add to its supply. For instance, it is pursuing one plan that would offer landlords financial incentives to guarantee affordable rental units for at least 15 years. Residents and officials have questioned the affordability of many of the housing complexes built under Chapter 40B, places where rents can zoom well beyond the reach of average tenants. But the Advocates project, which helped the city reach the 10 percent affordable housing mark, promises the kind of below-market housing the city actually wants, some officials said. " We need more of these in the city," said James Natale, chairman of the Zoning Board of Appeals. His board has reviewed several large affordable housing projects, and he said this was a "no-brainer" to approve. "This is actually what we need. It actually does what it's supposed to do -- it provides affordable housing." The Framingham-based organization provides services to people with developmental disabilities, mental illness, chemical dependency and other problems. It also helps hundreds of its clients get affordable housing in MetroWest. Like the Employment Options house a few blocks away, the Lincoln Street s project has been in the works for several years, a sometimes frustrating journey for the people involved with the $3.6 million effort. "
This project has probably died a thousand deaths between the time we
started and today," Taylor said. The people gathered at the groundbreaking
ceremony -- including politicians, nonprofit workers and mental health
and affordable housing advocates -- had all given the project "life
support" at one time or another, he said. " The big challenge, with projects like this, is piecing together all of the financing," Grasberger said. He was also involved in Employment Options' Mechanic Street housing project, as the development director for that organization. City officials said the renovated house and landscaped grounds will be an asset to the French Hill neighborhood. Before Advocates bought the property, it had been run by landlords who didn't care about the neighborhood, and had been occupied by problem tenants, said City Planner Alfred Lima. " It really had a deteriorating impact on the neighborhood," Lima said. Just as in the Mechanic Street house, the people who will move into 509 Lincoln will pay 30 percent of their income toward rent. The four-story house will have 14 one-bedroom and four two-bedroom apartments. Barbara Fenby, who serves on the city's Planning Board and works for the state Department of Mental Health, said the house will provide permanent homes to many long-time Marlborough residents who need housing assistance. " This is a place of great hope, for all of us," Fenby said. |