At Village Hill Northampton, MassDevelopment Sells Final Residential Parcel to The Community Builders for 53-Unit Mixed-Income Housing Facility
November 5, 2020
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contacts:
Kelsey Schiller, MassDevelopment, 617-694-9695 (cell)
kschiller@massdevelopment.com
Stephanie Garrett-Stearns, 617-859-5857 (cell)
sgarrett-stearns@gmail.com
MassDevelopment has announced the sale of a 23.37-acre parcel at Lot 1, Olander Drive in Village Hill Northampton to North Commons at Village Hill, LLC, an affiliate of The Community Builders (TCB), which will build a 53-unit mixed-income multifamily housing facility on the parcel. Construction of the new facility, named North Commons, will begin fall 2020 and is expected to be complete in 2022. Lot 1, Olander Drive was the last available residential parcel at Village Hill Northampton; three commercial lots ranging between .6–1.5 acres remain for sale and are available at massdevelopment.com/available-properties.
North Commons will include 12 units that will be rented to households earning no more than 30 percent of area median income, 27 units that will be rented to households earning no more than 60 percent of area median income, and 14 units that will be rented to workforce households. The building will be constructed with energy efficiency standards, all of which will reduce the building’s external energy demand. In partnership with the Village Hill Northampton community, TCB plans to build a neighborhood recreation area at North Commons that will feature a playground, pavilion, picnic tables, and an open-grass lawn. TCB has also conveyed over 18 acres of the property, known as Mill River Greenway, to the City of Northampton as conservation land. North Commons is supported by loan financing from the Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation (CEDAC), Department of Housing and Community Development, MassHousing, Mass Save, Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, and Santander Bank, state and federal tax credits, state HOME funds, and local Community Preservation Act funds. The facility will be accessible by Olander Drive, an extension project the City of Northampton is currently completing using a $950,000 MassWorks Infrastructure Program grant.
“MassDevelopment is pleased to sell our last remaining residential parcel at Village Hill Northampton to The Community Builders for the development of a new state-of-the-art affordable and workforce housing facility,” said MassDevelopment President and CEO Lauren Liss. “North Commons will be a welcome addition to Village Hill, which under our leadership has transformed from a one-time hospital site to a burgeoning mixed-use community.”
Hospital Hill Development, LLC (HHD) was formed in 1999 to acquire and redevelop the former Northampton State Hospital site into a mixed-use village, now known as “Village Hill.” MassDevelopment is HHD’s managing partner, overseeing the development effort, while TCB serves as a long-standing HHD member, focusing on the development of mixed-income housing at the property. Village Hill Northampton is a 126-acre master-planned community based on New Urbanist principles. It combines commercial, R&D/light industrial, and residential uses with open space to support regional job creation, housing, business development, and recreation. When build-out is complete, the former state hospital site will feature up to 300,000 square feet of commercial space comprised of retail, office, and light industrial uses, over 300 residential units – including market-rate homes and affordable homes and rental units – and open space.
The Community Builders (TCB) is one of America's leading nonprofit housing organizations. The organization’s mission is to build and sustain strong communities where all people can thrive. Since 1964, the organization has constructed or preserved hundreds of affordable and mixed-income housing developments and pioneered the Community Life model for resident success. Today, anchored by offices in Boston, Chicago, Columbus, New York, and Washington, D.C., TCB owns or manages 13,000 apartment homes in more than 14 states. At Village Hill Northampton, TCB has also purchased 35 Village Hill Road, where construction of 12 residential housing units with 2,500 square feet of commercial space is underway and will be completed this fall 2020.
“We are proud to continue our partnership with MassDevelopment to expand access to affordable housing at Village Hill,” said The Community Builders Director of Real Estate Development for Western Massachusetts and Connecticut Rachana Crowley. “This newest phase will add quality rental homes, providing even more housing choices for all households at Village Hill, and making it an even better place to call home.”
MassDevelopment, the state’s finance and development agency, works with businesses, nonprofits, banks, and communities to stimulate economic growth across the Commonwealth. During FY2020, MassDevelopment financed or managed 341 projects generating investment of more than $2.69 billion in the Massachusetts economy. These projects are estimated to create or support 10,871 jobs and build or preserve 1,787 housing units.
