BEVERLY — A stalled affordable-housing project at a key downtown location will now go forward, as the governor's office yesterday announced $4.79 million in federal stimulus money for the development.
The money will be used to demolish the Mayflower Motel to make way for a new three-story building and to renovate an adjacent apartment building, creating a total of 43 single-room apartments for low-income people.
The rundown brick motel is on Cabot Street at the intersection with Elliott Street, which as Route 62 is a gateway to the city.
"You're taking down probably one of the ugliest buildings downtown and putting up a building designed by a local architect that picks up the streetscape," said Don Preston, president of the board of directors of the Beverly Affordable Housing Coalition. "It'll change that entry point into downtown Beverly so dramatically."
The project will mark the first time in more than 20 years that new rental housing has been built in the city, according to state Rep. Mary Grant, who serves on the board of directors of the Beverly Affordable Housing Coalition.
"It's a huge benefit for our city," Grant said. "You need options. Some people just prefer to rent, and it works better for them to rent."
The development is a joint venture between the coalition, which bought the Mayflower Motel for $2.3 million in 2006, and the YMCA of the North Shore, which will manage the new residence, to be called Cabot Street Homes.
Preston said the project has been ready to go for a year but stalled when the poor economy wiped out the tax credit market, a key component of financing for affordable housing.
The $4.79 million in stimulus money is the single biggest source of money for the development, which will cost $9 million overall. The Beverly Affordable Housing Coalition had already secured $4.28 million in funding from various state, federal, local and private sources, Executive Director Mickey Northcutt said.
"We're very thrilled to be able to move forward with the project," Northcutt said. "It's a great project that we've been working on going on four years. It's nice to know with some real surety we're going to be able to go ahead sooner rather than later."
The Mayflower Motel currently has 34 rooms for low-income residents. Preston said residents will be housed elsewhere during construction, including at the YMCA on Cabot Street, and will be given priority for rooms in the new building.
The 43 new rooms will rent for $625 to $700 per month for low-income people and $325 to $400 for very low-income people, Northcutt said. Eight rooms will be dedicated for residents referred from the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health.
Preston said the building will include an office where case management workers will offer services for residents.
The building will include "green" features such as solar collectors, high-efficiency heating and cooling systems, upgraded insulation, low-flow toilets, and rainwater harvesting cisterns. The building's community room will have a "green learning center" detailing those features, Northcutt said.
The Beverly development is one of eight affordable-housing projects in the state that will receive a total of $45.5 million in federal stimulus money, according to a press release from Gov. Deval Patrick's office.
All of the projects are "shovel ready" but have been delayed by the lack of money in the low-income housing tax credit market. To be eligible for stimulus money, the projects had to be ready to close on their financing within four months and start construction 45 days after closing.
Preston said construction could start in December or January and will take about one year.
Congressman John Tierney said in a statement that the Cabot Street Homes project "will not only provide badly needed housing but will restore vitality to the neighborhoods."
The North Shore YMCA and the Beverly Affordable Housing Coalition have a "laudable track record" of running such projects, Tierney said.
The two agencies are also teaming up on another, larger development, called Holfcroft Park Homes, in the Gloucester Crossing neighborhood. They bought 11 properties on Grant and Mill streets in 2007 and plan to build 65 affordable units in six new buildings.
Northcutt said the Coalition applied for funding in June for the first phase of that project.
Staff writer Paul Leighton can be reached at 978-338-2675 or by e-mail at pleighton@salemnews.com.
Cabot Street Homes project
Demolish Mayflower Motel
Build three-story building with 34 single-room apartments
Renovate adjacent apartment building with 11 rooms
Monthly rent from $325 to $700
Project cost: $9 million
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