ERVING — The mood at the Erving Senior & Community Center was jubilant on Thursday afternoon as Juana Matias, secretary of the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities, announced that $14.7 million in state and federal funding will go to Rural Development Inc. to support the Evergreen Circle housing development.
The gathering in Erving was part of a larger announcement by the Healey-Driscoll administration that nearly $278 million in state and federal financing will support 29 developments in 20 municipalities across Massachusetts. This includes state and federal low-income housing tax credits and subsidy financing from the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities.
Erving, in partnership with Rural Development Inc. (RDI), Berkshire Design Group and Austin Design Cooperative, will build 18 one-bedroom apartments for seniors ages 62 and older, and eight multigenerational units, each with two or three bedrooms, along an extension of Care Drive. This will bring senior housing to the community 24 years after the town first identified the need for senior housing in its June 2002 Master Plan.
Matias said the event in Erving was a “tremendous celebration” of the Healey-Driscoll administration’s commitment to building housing across the state.
“Here we are supporting 26 units of intergenerational living that the state has never done before in a community like Erving, and we’re interested in continuing to work with local partners, because it happens locally,” Matias said. “That’s where it first needs to happen.”
Gov. Maura Healey was expected to attend the celebration, but a personal matter prevented her from being there, Matias said. In a statement released prior to her scheduled tour in six communities that are benefiting from this funding, including Northampton in Hampshire County, Healey said the money will support the development of new housing, along with the preservation and rehabilitation of existing housing.
“This is about making sure that Massachusetts is a state where teachers, nurses, firefighters and young people can actually afford to live,” Healey said.
“Communities of every size are stepping up with smart, creative plans to build the homes their residents need,” Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll said in a statement. “These awards will turn underused properties into housing, modernize housing and preserve homes that residents already depend on.”
In Erving, RDI, a nonprofit created by the Franklin County Regional Housing & Redevelopment Authority, received a combined $10.8 million in state and federal low-income housing tax credit allocations, and $3.9 million in subsidy financing from the state Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities. When coupled with previous grants and loans, the latest awards bring RDI’s project budget to $17.4 million.
RDI Executive Director Gina Govoni and Real Estate Project Manager/Housing Development Director Alyssa Larose shared their excitement about the announcement and the visit from state officials. Govoni pointed out how Erving is unique for being a community that earned funding in its first round of applications.
“I think this award shows how well prepared and how well developed it is,” Govoni said, giving credit to her colleague Larose, who is the project lead for Evergreen Circle.
Govoni noted this funding from the state is exclusively for RDI and its role in constructing the housing, while the town of Erving is supporting the underground infrastructure development needed to support the housing. Larose said there is a funding gap of $650,000, and a Housing Choice Grant is being explored to complete the scope of work.
Erving has a $2.4 million grant from the HousingWorks Infrastructure Program for water and sewer infrastructure upgrades, along with an extension of Care Drive that the multigenerational townhouses and senior housing will abut.
Town Administrator Bryan Smith, who was hired in 2016, recalled how he was first introduced to the project while interviewing for his job. Ten years later, he said it “feels amazing” to be part of seeing the project get this far.
“To know that we are here 10 years later, and we’ve finally got all the pieces,” Smith said, citing the right organizing partners, permitting and funding, “we’re at the precipice of construction. This is amazing. It all feels like it’s all come to fruition.”
Before Smith’s tenure, other town officials and residents led the charge for senior housing, and they continue to be involved. Chair of the Senior Housing Committee and Selectboard member William Bembury, who sat on the 2002 Master Planning Committee, said he’s “ecstatic,” but he is also feeling some shock over the realization that, at long last, “this is going to happen.”
When asked how momentum for furthering the housing project has been maintained for more than two decades, Bembury credited the continued support of local and state organizations and their knowledge on how to proceed.
Admittedly, Bembury said he was sad that some seniors moved out of town because they could no longer afford to live in Erving due to the cost of homeownership. Then there’s those who have died before senior housing could become a reality. However, Bembury is looking to the future for those who can make it back to Erving.
“That’s the sad part, but there’s still some folks out there that have an opportunity to come back,” Bembury said about Evergreen Circle. “They’re still with us, and so I hope they take that opportunity on.”
