-
Gabriel Reyes and Migdalis Pedroza talk about moving into the 34-unit Amethyst Brook Apartments on Amherst Road in Pelham, the first affordable rental housing complex town. “This means everything,” Pedroza said. -
Gwendolyn D’Aguiar stands on the deck and talks about moving into the Amethyst Brook Apartments in Pelham. “My life was going along great and then the bottom fell out,” explained D’Aguiar about moving from Belchertown. “It does feel like home, usually it takes a while, but it feels like home.” -
Gwendolyn D’Aguiar talks about moving into the Amethyst Brook Apartments in Pelham. “My life was going along great and then the bottom feel out,” explained D’Aguiar about moving from Belchertown, “It does feel like home, usually it takes a while, but it feels like home.” The 32-unit complex, which opened this summer, is Pelham’s first affordable rental housing complex. -
Jennifer Brunette, senior property manager with Appleton Corporation, stands in a kitchen and living room area at the Amethyst Brook Apartments in Pelham. -
A kitchen and living room area at the Amethyst Brook Apartments in Pelham. -
Gabriel Reyes and Migdalis Pedroza talk about moving into the 32-unit Amethyst Brook Apartments on Amherst Road in Pelham, the first affordable rental housing complex town. “This means everything,” Pedroza said.
PELHAM — Left with limited housing options as the result of depleted Social Security benefits while battling ovarian cancer, Gwendolyn D’Aguiar says she is blessed to be among the initial residents at Amethyst Brook Apartments, the town’s first affordable rental housing development.
“This is life-changing for me,” says D’Aguiar, who arrived at the 20-22 Amherst Road site in June, after previously living in Belchertown. “I can afford to live here, and I’m excited to meet my new neighbors.”
“I feel so lucky to be here,” D’Aguiar added. “It does feel like home. It already feels like that.”
The 34-unit complex, which takes its name from the adjacent brook that once helped power factories, like a fish rod factory that was once on the site, officially opened in mid-June, and shortly after began welcoming residents. Families, couples and individuals are expected to continue to move in to the one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, some of which are fully accessible, throughout the summer. Eligible households can earn up to 60% of the area median income.
The site includes two new buildings. One is a six-unit, two-story walkup building close to the road and modeled after a demolished historic farmhouse. The second is a 28-unit, four-story building, set up against Amethyst Brook, that separates the property from the nearby woods, with a spacious community room, a laundry area and the main office.
On June 11, Massachusetts Housing Secretary Edward M. Augustus Jr. attended a ribbon cutting, joining elected and appointed Pelham and regional officials, funders and project partners to celebrate the completion of the development by the Springfield-based Home City Development Inc.
“It took eight years from concept to completion, but Amethyst Brook Apartments adds locational diversity to the supply of affordable rental housing in our region,” Thomas P. Kegelman, the nonprofit’s executive director, said in a statement.
The town’s Zoning Board of Appeals approved the comprehensive permit under the state’s Chapter 40B law in 2021, and Home City Development was awarded the majority of the project funding from the state’s Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities, as well as Community Preservation Act money from Pelham, and construction and permanent loans from Easthampton Savings Bank. Other funders include Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation, Massachusetts Housing Investment Corporation and Dorfman Capital.
Another couple who has moved into the apartments, Migdalis Pedroza and Gabriel Reyes, said they appreciate the opportunity.
“This means everything,” Pedroza said, noting the apartments have full kitchens.
“I love to cook,” Pedroza said. “Here it’s like a dream come true.”
She had been living in the Veterans Administration housing in Leeds as part of the Soldier On program, while Reyes had an apartment in Amherst.
“People are wonderful, the facilities are wonderful and the property manager is unique,” she said. “Here it is quiet and the views are wonderful.”
That property manager is Jen Brunette, from the Appleton Corp. of Holyoke, which is ensuring that everything is well taken care of and the last elements, such as a playground for children, are installed. She points to the banks of the brook, where those who grew up in Pelham recall people taking dips to cool off during the summer. A trail at the property provides access to a network of hiking trails on conservation land.
“People are coming for the location, and the affordable housing,” Brunette said.
The smallest, single-bedroom units are 600 to 643 square feet, with spacious closets in all apartments, and heat and air conditioning in all-electric buildings that are highly energy efficient. The smaller building is certified to Energy Star standards and a 28-unit building meets Passive House energy performance standards. The property contains charging stations for electric vehicles and roof-mounted solar panels.
Town officials have indicated the apartments will bolster the elementary school population. Brunette said about 10 children, many school age, already live on site and that one of the new tenants is a divorced father who wanted to remain in Pelham and keep his children in the school system.
In addition to being a short walk to the elementary school, Amethyst Brook Apartments residents are close to the Pelham Public Library and, with no car, Pedroza and Reyes said it has been easy for them to get to the PVTA bus stop and head to downtown Amherst for shopping and services.
D’Aguiar, too, said that even with the rural atmosphere, the homes are not too distant.
“It’s so close to everything, but feels like you are living in the woods,” D’Aguiar said.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
