GREENFIELD — Close to three years after Clinical & Support Options (CSO) received Zoning Board of Appeals approval to construct its 60 Wells St. facility — a service center and 36-studio apartment complex to house chronically homeless individuals — the project is slated for completion this summer.
In April 2023, the ZBA voted unanimously to approve the project’s special permit, which was required because the plan exceeded the 24 units allowed in the Central Commercial District. Construction began in March 2025, after the relocation of shelter services to a temporary location at 1 Arch Place.
The nonprofit’s new center, which CSO’s Vice President of Marketing and Development Geoffrey Oldmixon said came with a roughly $27 million price tag, will combine CSO’s existing 30-bed shelter (that is operating in a temporary capacity at 1 Arch Place) on the ground floor of the new building, with 36 permanent housing units, on-site meals and case management on the facility’s second and third floors.
“This will be permanent supportive housing — studio units with kitchenettes and bathrooms built into each unit. They’re reserved for individuals who are considered chronically homeless by [the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s] definition, and they would be provided case support throughout their stay,” Oldmixon explained. “We’re eager to get those units online and get that campus going so that those who are experiencing housing insecurity in our region will have the ability to feel safe and secure and move forward.”
According to Jones Whitsett Architects, the project’s designer, the facility is expected to span across 34,965 square feet.
CSO Vice President of Housing & Homeless Services Jane Banks said the site’s first-floor shelter will contain a nursing station, office space, a leasing coordinator and housing staff. She said the site will also be equipped with a full commercial kitchen and dining room.
Banks explained that permanent supportive housing, which is funded in part by HUD, is also being constructed on Worthington Street in Springfield and is expected to offer long-term affordable housing to the most vulnerable sections of the homeless population.
“Both Springfield and Greenfield should be proud of the design, the work, the energy that is put into designing something where people who are homeless and need shelter have a beautiful place to stay,” Banks said. “If you are on the permanent supportive housing list, and you’re eligible for this housing, these units are stunning.”
Banks said the permanent housing will be made affordable through the state’s Section 8 system, explaining that while wages rise at a much slower rate than rental prices, many of the people CSO serves are employed, but cannot afford housing.
“A lot of people are working, they’re just working poor. People’s income is not keeping up with rent increases, so it makes it really hard for people to be able to move from homelessness into housing,” she said. “What CSO is doing in Greenfield … we have this site, which is really an incredible location to have shelter. We’re providing meals, we’ve got case management, we’ve got housing support services. We have this absolutely state-of-the-art building in Greenfield.”