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Date: 11/9/2023
WESTFIELD — Ann Lentini of Domus Inc. took another step recently in her mission to transform Old Town Hall at 20 Broad St., Westfield, into housing for veterans. On Nov. 1, the Zoning Board of Appeals approved a waiver request to allow apartments on the first floor of the historical building.
Rob Levesque of R. Levesque Associates, who is preparing the site plan and permitting, said the project will have 18 units of veterans housing. He said the project needed a waiver because buildings in the Commercial Office Retail Enterprise district are supposed to have housing on the second floor and up, with retail or restaurant tenants on the first floor. But Levesque said the first floor of the Old Town Hall is above sidewalk grade by about 5 feet, and not conducive to retail.
“We’re not taking a viable retail or restaurant location away,” he said.
Lentini said the ZBA had no objections to the project. She said the residences on the first and second floors will be accessible from an elevator in the rear of the building, which residents will open using a key fob. Veterans services will use offices in the basement.
She said Domus Inc., a nonprofit organization that builds and operates affordable housing in Westfield, is still working on securing funding for the Old Town Hall renovation.
“We’re getting all of our funding pulled together,” she said, working with development consultant Michael Cucchiara of the Grantham Group in Boston.
She said Rob Levesque is working on getting the permits for the space and the building. She said he has worked with Domus, which is headquartered at 4 School St. in Westfield, on other projects. The architect for the Old Town Hall renovation will be Studio One in Westfield, which she has also used for several buildings.
Lentini said the housing in Old Town Hall will be 18 studio apartments, each with one bedroom, kitchen and bath, similar to the Sanford Apartments in terms of size.
“This building will only be for veterans, male and female,” Lentini said, and she will be working with Julie Barnes, director of Veterans Services.
She said there has been no public opposition to this project: “Any time I talk about it in various places, they are thrilled.”
Lentini said she has letters of support from the Fire Department, the First Congregational Church, which currently owns the Old Town Hall, and local veterans groups.
The church’s asking price for the building is $410,000, and Community Development Director Peter Miller has said there is funding for help with the purchase, according to Lentini.
Levesque agreed that there is a lot of support for this project, due to what he termed a long-term shortage in housing.
“In all of these efforts, Domus has been very successful,” he said, adding, “Ann is very good in moving these projects along. There is a huge need for housing, and she’s very good at what she does.”
“I think we have a good relationship with the state and the city, because we’ve done 11 projects here in town — they’re all historic buildings. It makes people happy campers, when you take a historic building and you renovate it for the next 100 years,” Lentini said.
Domus projects include the Reed House on Main Street, built in 1899 and renovated in 2000, home to nine formerly homeless individuals with disabilities. Tenants are supported by local social service agencies. Adjacent to the Reed House is The Annex, opened in 2010, with nine more enhanced single-occupancy apartments.
The Meadows on Meadow Street has been operating since 2003 and has 24 handicap-accessible units. The Meadows is also home to the Westfield Food Pantry and the local soup kitchen.
Our House on Broad Street opened in 2016 and serves homeless young adults. A resident manager and service coordinator oversee all group activities and services.
The 1897 Prospect Hill Apartments on Montgomery Road was redeveloped into 17 quality units for low- to moderate-income families. The 1884 Sandford Whip Factory on Elm Street was redeveloped into 21 studio and one-bedroom apartments.
The 1872 Loomis Building on Elm Street has five housing units and a female-owned business offering therapeutic massage. The 1880-1900 Rinnova Building on Elm Street, the former YMCA, has 11 housing units and a storefront occupied by Westfield on Weekends.
The Marcoullier Building on Elm Street, built in 1920, now has three commercial units and five apartments. The Homestead on State Street is now home to three developmentally disabled individuals. In Domus’ most recent project, Moseley Apartments on Dartmouth Street, a former school building was transformed into 23 one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments.
Lentini said that Old Town Hall will be Domus’ first veterans housing project, although veterans are eligible to live in all of the other buildings. Though not a veteran herself, Lentini has a son who is a captain in the Air Force.