Christopher Heights Opens Affordable Assisted Living at Village Hill Northampton
February 24, 2016
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Kelsey Abbruzzese, MassDevelopment, 617-330-2086 & 617-448-9077 (cell)
kabbruzzese@massdevelopment.com
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| Christopher Heights of Northampton's first resident cuts the ribbon as Northampton Mayor David Narkewicz and Marty Jones of MassDevelopment watch. |
Grantham Group LLC and MassDevelopment today announced the opening of Christopher Heights of Northampton, an 83-unit assisted living facility at Village Hill Northampton. Forty-three of those units are designated for low-income seniors, and residents enjoy private apartments, prepared meals, social activities, personal care assistance, medication reminders, and a dedicated staff available at all hours. Christopher Heights also has locations in Worcester, Webster, Attleboro, and Marlborough; MassDevelopment had chosen Grantham Group to build the assisted living component in the Belchertown State School redevelopment.
“I congratulate Christopher Heights of Northampton on the completion and opening of this beautiful new senior assisted living facility in our community," said Northampton Mayor David J. Narkewicz. "Christopher Heights is a wonderful addition to the vibrant, mixed-use, mixed-income Village Hill development, and our city is especially pleased and supportive of the access to quality assisted living it will provide to low-income seniors.”
Upon completion, Village Hill Northampton will have transformed a former state hospital property into a community featuring office, R&D, retail, and manufacturing uses; market-rate and affordable homes and apartments; and a variety of open space and recreation areas for enhanced living. To date, the property has 177 housing units, include single-family and multifamily homes, townhouses, and duplexes, along with more than 400 employees in several businesses. Transformations, a Townsend-based housing developer that specializes in zero-net-energy homes, will begin construction on its 85-unit Summit Oaks residential development this spring. Northampton’s Planning Board will also review proposals for The Columns, a 25-unit condominium development in the former male attendants building; and The Pecoy Companies Northview development, 21 single-family homes on the last residential parcel for development at Village Hill Northampton.
“I applaud the Grantham Group for building Christopher Heights to fit so well into the character of Village Hill, while at the same time providing residential care that will help many families in the Pioneer Valley make sure they or their loved ones can access a wide range of assisted-care services,” said MassDevelopment President and CEO Marty Jones. “Christopher Heights also joins our valued employers in Northampton, with 40 jobs for caregivers, managers, and other employees of the new facility.”
“We are excited to bring our expertise in assisted living management to the Northampton State Hospital redevelopment known as Village Hill,” said Grantham Group Managing Director Walter Ohanian. “We are happy to have opened our doors as we have started serving the senior population who will benefit from the housing and services of an affordable assisted living community. Thank you to the City of Northampton for welcoming us and to the Department of Housing and Community Development, MassHousing and Northampton’s Community Preservation Committee for helping fund this Project. We also want to thank MassDevelopment, master developer for Village Hill, for choosing us as partners for this project.”
MassDevelopment, the state’s finance and development agency, works with businesses, nonprofits, financial institutions, and communities to stimulate economic growth across the Commonwealth. During FY2015, MassDevelopment financed or managed 294 projects generating investment of more than $2.5 billion in the Massachusetts economy. These projects are projected to create about 6,100 jobs and build or rehabilitate about 2,000 residential units.
