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Date: 11/27/2023
NORTHAMPTON — Valley CDC, otherwise known as Valley Community Development, recently received a little over $2 million in grant money for the Prospect Place project, which involves the redevelopment of the former nursing home at 737 Bridge Rd. for affordable housing units.
According to an announcement from the Healey-Driscoll administration, the grant money was administered by the Department of Energy under the state’s Affordable Housing Deep Energy Retrofit Program, which was a program created earlier this year.
A total of $27.35 million was awarded to seven organizations across the state for affordable housing projects, including Valley CDC. The grants will generally be used “to fund deep energy retrofits and energy efficiency upgrades, building system electrification, and onsite renewable energy generation in 10 affordable housing developments in communities across Massachusetts,” according to the announcement.
The $2.1 million Valley CDC received will specifically help the installation of a ground source heat pump system and the planned installation of a 300-kilowatt solar system for 60 affordable housing units at Prospect Place.
“We’re thrilled to receive this award from the Department of Energy to install geothermal heating and cooling at Prospect Place, a 60-unit affordable family housing development in Northampton,” said William Womeldorf, a real estate project manager at Valley CDC.
Womeldorf said that the grant will help Valley CDC convert from existing fossil fuel systems to all-electric systems primarily powered by alternative energy sources. He added that using alternative energy sources like geothermal is key to keeping rents affordable with rising energy costs.
“Geothermal is key to rising electricity costs and has untapped potential, we hope our project can catalyze new ways to look at decarbonization,” Womeldorf said.
Prospect Place background
Back in spring 2022, Valley CDC purchased the former Northampton Rehabilitation and Nursing Center on 737 Bridge Rd. for $2.6 million for the purpose of 60 units of affordable and workforce housing; using a mixture of one, two and three-bedroom apartments, as well as some studios.
“The current projected project cost is $25.3 million,” Valley CDC Executive Director Alexis Breiteneicher told Reminder Publishing back in April 2022. “This project will provide long-term affordable housing in Northampton and will help reduce the current shortfall of affordable places for people to live.”
The location, which has been vacant since 2011, was identified in the past as a viable place for the city to alleviate some of the barriers people face in Northampton with housing.
The former nursing home building, which was constructed in 1971, is 72,000 square feet.
During a spring 2022 City Council meeting, former Director of Planning and Sustainability Wayne Feiden said that, out of the $25 million project cost, Valley CDC is asking Northampton to contribute around $1 million of that split into three payments.
According to Breiteneicher, the proposed units would aim to bring in people with extremely low to medium incomes.
The projected rents will vary based on where someone falls within the area median income.
The housing is also projected to have preferences for people for people who are currently unhoused and/or have disabilities.
At the end of 2022, Valley CDC received an $830,000 grant from the state’s Underutilized Properties Program to fund asbestos abatement on the property so the site could be more easily developed and funded.
Update
Breiteneicher told Reminder Publishing that the asbestos was fully remediated thanks to the $830,000 grant and now Valley CDC is awaiting a funding decision from Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities.
If they are funded, Valley CDC will “move as quickly as possible to begin construction and create 60 more affordable units,” according to Breteneicher.