By Emilia Cardona, Gardner News
TEMPLETON ― Developers and town officials are on the last step before being able to break ground on the Baldwinville School Apartments project.
In the past three years, town officials partnered with two Massachusetts based developers, MPZ Development, LLC and Capstone Communities, LLC, in efforts to meet the demand of affordable housing in the community.
In January, developers submitted a funding assistance application to Department of Housing and Community Development for $29 million to cover the entire cost of the construction project. They should hear back from DHCD with a decision in the early summer.
Jason Korb from Capstone Communities and Mathieu Zahler from MPZ Development are the head developers of the Baldwinville School Apartment project. Both developers have been working with town officials since late 2019 to bring this housing development into the community.
Apartments could open in 2025
Korb said if they are able to obtain funding by this summer then construction should start in spring 2024, and it will take 20 months to complete. He said they estimate that the apartment building will be open in late 2025 for residents to start moving in.
Templeton residents have been very supportive of the construction project. During an annual town meeting residents voted for the Community Preservation Committee to give $1.7 million to start construction preparations for the housing project.
Town Administrator Adam Lamontagne said most Templeton residents are in support of this project in hope that it will boost the local economy and bring more affordable housing for low-income families and individuals.
"I know the town has a history of not having affordable housing and rentable spaces," he said. "This project is going to be one of the first buildings with affordable rental housing in Templeton."
Project will include 54 apartments
The project renovates the existing 12 School St. and 16 School St. buildings, and a new addition will be constructed to make more available apartment spaces. The historic lawn will be restored and made into a community green space open to the public. An additional public lawn area with a playground will be built on the property.
The existing 12 School St. structure is planned to be the storage and maintenance building for the Baldwinville School apartment community. The construction plans show 76 parking spots, and each unit comes with a parking spot for the renter.
The project will have a total of 54 rental apartment units, of which 49 are affordable housing in perpetuity. There are five different unit sizes, studio or loft style, one-bedroom, two-bedroom, and three-bedroom size. 15 apartments are planned to be placed in the rehabilitated 16 School St. building and 39 units are going to be in the new addition. The whole project sits on approximately three acres of land.
The DHCD funding will also subsidize the rent making it affordable for all kinds of income levels. Rents are projected to be between 30% to 60% of the Templeton area median income. All units are pet friendly and utilities except for cable and internet service are included in the rent.
"Rehabilitating a 1920s school building to preserve its history but also give the community affordable housing gets expensive," Korb said. "But it's worth it because this project is going to serve not just the people living in it but the town's economy as well."
Going as green as possible
The developers said they plan to construct the new addition with high environmental and sustainable standards in order to get the building Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified by the U.S Green Building Council. The developers said the building will have strong insulation and several solar panels will be installed on the rooftop of the building. All the lights in the building are going to be LED to conserve electricity.
"In response to climate change, we want this project to be as sustainable as possible," Korb said. "To preserve the history of the old school building we can't do the LEED standards with it but the new addition will be at those high standards