LAWRENCE — Four new homes for lower income, first-time homebuyers are being built on a previously blighted parcel at 15 Orchard St., leaders announced at a recent ground breaking event.
The four “new, highly green, energy-efficient townhouse style” homes are being built through $1 million in the Neighborhood Stabilization Program as part of the Orchard Street Green Homeownership, according to project information provided by MassHousing.
MassHousing provided $1 million through the NSP program to develop the Orchard Street Green Homeownership project, an innovative partnership between Lawrence Community Works, Mill Cities Community Investments, and Elvinson Corporan and Yamarco Guzman- two local developers/builders who grew up in the area and have been steadily building a portfolio of projects, according to MassHousing.
Other financing sources include a CharlesBank Home grant of $100,000 plus $111,500 in MassDevelopment Brownsfield funds.
The existing lot will be subdivided into four parcels, each having yard space front and back, as well as two parking spots at the rear. The homes will 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, and a full basement, with an expected completion date in fall 2024, according to the project specifications.
The project advances LCW’s longstanding work to address blighted conditions in Lawrence’s North Common neighborhood. Over the past two decades, LCW has developed 63 homeownership and rental units across more than 20 parcels in North Common, along with community facilities and parks serving the neighborhood.
This project was one of the first to use financing from the NSP, which is a new capital grant program that provides municipalities like Lawrence, and nonprofit developers such LCW, with funds to address blight, abandonment, and disinvestment in residential neighborhoods. It provides grants for the construction, reconstruction, renovation, or repair of substandard rental and homeownership properties, MassHousing said.
NSP provides deeper levels of construction subsidy than were previously available through state sources, allowing municipalities and their development partners to address the impacts of longstanding neglect.
The program prioritizes projects that have the greatest impact in weaker markets, including rural communities and communities disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The program also prioritizes projects that promote homeownership and that include diverse sponsors, according to information provided by MassHousing.
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