Two major affordable housing projects on the Island cleared key hurdles this week when select boards in Edgartown and Oak Bluffs awarded separate bids to the nonprofit Island Housing Trust (IHT) and its Boston partner Affirmative Investments Inc. to build the developments.
Both projects are the culmination of years-long efforts, and both towns had recently issued requests for proposals (RFPs).
In Edgartown IHT and its investment partner were the sole bidders on a plan to develop 40 residential units on seven acres of town-owned land off Meshacket Road.
“This is a long time coming,” select board member Michael Donaroma said at a meeting Monday when the bid was awarded. “This is great news, things are moving forward.”
The cost of the project is pegged at $20 million, according to bid documents.
An affordable housing subcommittee did the first vetting of the project. IHT is the leading affordable housing developer on the Vineyard. Affirmative Investments is a Boston-based group which has helped develop over 6,000 units of affordable housing across the country, according to bid documents.
“The presentation was everything you could possibly hope for something that the town has been working towards for 15 years,” said select board member Arthur Smadbeck. Mr. Smadbeck sat on the subcommittee.
The current plan calls for building townhouses with space for 36 rental units and four owned units. Income eligibility requirements are specified, with rental units geared toward people earning 80 per cent of area median income and the owned units geared toward people with slightly higher incomes. Occupants will be chosen by lottery with preference given to Edgartown residents, who will be allowed to make up to 70 per cent of occupants.
The plan earned high praise from the subcommittee, town administrator James Hagerty recounted at the meeting. “The committee was specifically impressed with the affordability-mix, building design, attention to green space building practice, and financial preparedness. It is evident the development team paid special attention to environmental constraints at the site, and the resulting plan was approached with imagination and ingenuity,” Mr. Hagerty said, reading from a letter from the subcommittee.
The project next goes through an extended permitting and regulatory review process at the regional and local level. The projected completion date is 2025.
Meanwhile, in Oak Bluffs Tuesday the select board decided to enter contract negotiations with Island Housing Trust and Affirmative Investments for a 60-unit affordable housing development, setting in motion a long-awaited project at the 7.8-acre Southern Tier Housing property.
The board voted to accept a $31.6 million bid from IHT, over a second bid from Onyx Group of Boston. Affordable housing committee chairman Mark Leonard said the housing trust outperformed Onyx Group in seven of the 11 metrics the committee measured.
The recommendation to award the project to Island Housing Trust was unanimous, he said.
The board applauded the committee for its role in the decision-making process.
“It sounds like the group . . . you’ve had great interest in this,” board member Ryan Ruley said.
Board member Gail Barmakian lauded Dr. Leonard’s efforts specifically, noting he’s put a large amount of work into the project.
The board agreed, also voting to form a committee for the contract negotiations with Island Housing Trust that will include Ms. Barmakian and Dr. Leonard.
“In some ways, it’s the end of phase one and the start of a new phase,” Dr. Leonard said. “The work continues.”
