HOLYOKE — Urbanist Development has secured $2 million through the state’s Housing Development Incentive Program (HDIP) for the construction of 19 new apartments on High Street. The Wrights Block development resides on one of the oldest contiguous blocks in Holyoke, and Urbanist Development partner Bill Womeldorf hopes that additional housing will restore the vibrancy of one of the city’s most historic areas. 

“This is really a pride and joy building,” Womeldorf said. “Everyone you talk to in the city is familiar with the block.”

Wrights Block was built by Stephen Wright in the early 1870s as the beginning of a planned urban hub for a new industrial center in Holyoke. 

Urbanist Development bought the property at 106-120 High Street five years ago, and rehabilitated the storefronts it contains as the project’s first phase in 2020. The new residential units will sit above an event ballroom, a brunch restaurant, and a shared community cooperative kitchen that operate in those spaces. 

“[The award] makes possible, really, the housing units above,” said Womeldorf. “It’s really crucially needed to retrofit the building.”

Womeldorf noted that many of the units above High Street storefronts currently sit empty, and hopes that bringing residents into the floors above these businesses will welcome back the bustling downtown feel the street once had. 

“I think having life in the upper floors is going to drastically reduce crime and increase the vitality of downtown businesses,” he said. 

Because of the historic nature of the four-building set, the Wrights Block project has depended largely upon historic tax credits and awards, including $250,000 from the Holyoke Community Preservation Act Committee in 2023, one of the largest grants the city has ever given for a historic preservation project. This funding was designated to rehabilitate the structure’s historic facade, put in historically consistent replacement windows, and add a new accessible ramp entrance.  

The project also is approved by the National Parks Department, and is set to meet historical preservation standards.

“It’s a great artifact of the birth of Holyoke at the turn of the century,” Womeldorf said of the block. 

The property is also located in proximity to downtown transit, offering opportunities not only to create more housing stock, but to allow the residents considerable connectivity to the broader community — a major goal in state and local efforts to create new housing. 

Though the HDIP program is focused on increasing market rate housing in Gateway Cities, Womeldorf said that the Wrights Block development will “voluntarily” include three affordable units. These units will be designated for Department of Mental Health clients at 30% of area median income. 

The 19 units will vary from studio apartments and one-bedrooms to family sized two- and three-bedroom apartments. Urbanist Development hopes to break ground on these new units next year. 

Wrights Block is one of 13 awardees in the largest HDIP award pool in the program’s history. Approximately $27 million has been awarded to housing projects across the state to create a total of 547 new units in 11 Gateway Cities. The goal of this funding is to help meet housing demand in Gateway Cities by expanding the diversity of housing stock , ultimately supporting local economic development. 

“We expanded the HDIP program in our tax cuts package because it has a proven track record of spurring housing development in Gateway Cities and lowering costs,” said Gov. Maura Healey in a statement. 

The High Street corridor where Wrights Block rests has been a major focus of Holyoke’s revitalization efforts, and the addition of the mixed-income residential units made possible by this funding marks another step toward the city’s housing goals. 

Alexa Lewis can be reached at alewis@gazettenet.com.