NEWBURYPORT — One of Massachusetts’ top housing officials is expected to be in the city Thursday to visit three affordable housing-related sites as part of a statewide tour.
Secretary of Housing and Livable Communities Ed Augustus’ first stop is at 8 a.m. at the Newburyport Crossing apartment complex adjacent to the MBTA commuter rail station, where scores of apartments were built in the city’s first Smart Growth Overlay District.
The district is classified as 40R zoning by the state, which encourages communities to create dense residential or mixed-use smart growth zoning districts, including a high percentage of affordable housing units, to be located near transit stations.
Augustus will next visit the former Brown School on Milk Street at 8:30 a.m. followed by a tour of the Newburyport Housing Authority on Temple Street.
Mayor Sean Reardon, along with state Sen. Bruce Tarr, R-Gloucester; state Rep. Dawne Shand, D-Newburyport; and City Council President Ed Cameron are among the elected officials expected to be on hand for some or all of the visit.
“Housing is one of the biggest challenges facing our state, and it involves a host of issues for communities in our region,” said Tarr, the Senate minority leader. “It’s important for Secretary Augustus to visit and get a firsthand sense of the daily actions and thoughtful initiatives underway by local officials and organizations to meet this need in innovative and resourceful ways, and to explore opportunities for even greater partnership with state government.”
Reardon said the tour was organized by Shand following conversations he had with the state representative and Tarr.
“We have a few potential housing developments in the pipeline and the secretary has been getting out into cities to talk about our housing challenged and opportunities,” Reardon said in a statement.
A spokesperson for Augustus said the secretary has committed himself to visiting all 230 public housing authorities in the state. Augustus has so far visited 57 or 58, according to the spokesperson.
Cameron said Augustus knows how difficult it is to move the needle on housing and has a long track record of tackling the issue head on.
“I look forward to the opportunity to talk with the secretary about how the commonwealth and municipalities can work together to ease our housing challenges,” Cameron said in a statement.
City officials have long eyed the former Brown School for affordable senior housing and recently sent out a call for request for proposals from developers to make that happen. The now-dormant elementary school most recently housed what was then called Newburyport Youth Services before the building’s heating unit failed in fall 2021.
Reardon has long hoped to turn the former elementary school into affordable senior housing while keeping the gymnasium as a community resource. In June, the city issued requests for proposals from contractors to see what they might be able to do with the space and whether the market will support Reardon’s plan.
Any RFPs will need to be submitted to the city by Aug. 15.
The project may receive a big boost after Gov. Maura Healey signed the Affordable Homes Act last week. The act includes an amendment that would earmark $500,000 for the development of housing at the former Brown School.
The act also includes an amendment that would see a half million dollars for Housing Support Inc. in the city for the creation of housing to support low-income people, homeless people, those with disabilities, veterans and individuals in recovery in the Merrimack Valley.
Yet another amendment would bring $2 million for infrastructure improvement to facilitate housing production along the Route 1 corridor between Topsfield and Salisbury. The three amendments were among six added to the bill by Tarr, according to his office.
Ultimately, funding for the projects only happens if Healey decides to spend the funds authorized in the bond bill, a Tarr spokesperson added.
Daily News reporter Jim Sullivan contributed to this story.
Dave Rogers is the editor of the Daily News of Newburyport. Email him at: drogers@newburyportnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @drogers41008.