NORTHAMPTON — It’s the largest affordable housing project in the four-decade history of Way Finders — a Springfield nonprofit that until recently went by the name HAP Housing — and there’s a lot riding on its success.
If all goes how city officials hope it will, Live 155 and an accompanying Valley Community Development project still a few years off will herald a renaissance of sorts for Pleasant Street, one of the most important gateways into Paradise City.
The recent completion of Live 155, a mixed-use project in the old Northampton Lodging spot that includes 70 housing units alongside and atop 2,600 square feet of retail space, has already generated new energy along Pleasant Street. And that’s before the influx of new residents and several new businesses is even felt.
“There’s definitely a lot of interest in Pleasant Street right now,” Mayor David Narkewicz said.
Terry Masterson, the city’s economic development director, said that both Live 155 and the Valley CDC’s Lumber Yard affordable housing project just down the street near Pleasant’s intersection with Holyoke Street, are good examples of urban development. He said that a combined minimum of 130 new residents will be connected to the rail, the bus system and bike trails in a walkable area close to restaurants and retail businesses downtown.
This type of interaction is exactly what mixed-use developments are intended to do, with Masterson calling it a “self sustaining cycle.”
“The residential units support the businesses,” he said.
Mixed-use projects have been growing in popularity in downtown Amherst as well, with Boltwood Place opening in 2011, Kendrick Place opening in 2015 and One East Pleasant scheduled to come online later this year.
Amherst Planning Director Christine Brestrup said the projects can have no more than 40 percent of the gross area of the ground floor be associated with the apartments in the buildings. This, she said, is to encourage the buildings to fit in with the commercial surroundings.
“The idea is to have a lively streetscape on the ground floor,” Brestrup said.
Brestrup said the projects have shown a variety of business activity, with Boltwood having Judie’s Art Bar and Kendrick housing an office for the MassMutual data science center and storage for bicycles and ZipCars. Brestrup said she anticipates One East Pleasant’s developer, Archipelago Investments, will line up a retailer, restaurant or office for that commercial space, as well.
Similar to Amherst, Northampton’s zoning mandates that buildings in the central business district have commercial space on the first floor facing the street front to preserve the commercial character of the district. That’s happening with the main floor of Live 155, where Way Finders project manager Peter Serafino says the nonprofit is in talks with a renter seeking around 660 square feet of the commercial space, leaving close to 2,000 square feet still available. Serafino declined to name the prospective tenant.
Masterson expressed excitement about the size of the commercial space that Live 155 is offering. “It’s a good block of space,” he said, saying that it might attract a larger user.
Though there are four commercial vacancies listed with the city on Pleasant Street — all above Pearl Street — the mixed-use nature of both Lumber Yard and Live 155 will likely generate business and shoppers in the area, Masterson said. Narkewicz said that there has been serious interest in the empty storefronts on the street, including from marijuana businesses.
Both Narkewicz and Serafino noted the city’s investment on Pleasant Street, which sought to make it a more biker and pedestrian-friendly “complete street.” This private investment has followed public investment along Pleasant Street, with the mayor pointing out the renovation of Roberto’s Restaurant as one example.
Live 155 in detailWay Finders recently celebrated completion of the $12 million Live 155 building with a ribbon-cutting ceremony featuring state and city officials. All 70 of its studio and one-bedroom apartments are slated to be filled by tenants by the middle of June, representatives say.
Consisting of a mix of one-bedroom and studio apartments, which will be rented as a combination of affordable and market-rate units, the project also has 2,600 square feet of commercial space.
Faith Williams, senior vice president of property and asset management at Wayfinders, said that Live 155 is the biggest affordable housing project that the nonprofit, founded more than 40 year ago, has ever done.
“This was … a different kind of opportunity for us,” said Serafino. Wayfinders has three other properties in Northampton.
There are 47 affordable apartments at Live 155, which are divided into 20 being reserved for those at or under 30 percent of area median income, four units at or below 50 percent of area median income and 23 units at or below 60 percent of area median income. The facility also has 23 market-rate apartments.
Way Finders is able to offer the affordable units thanks to the federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program, with the 30 percent of area median income apartments having a subsidy attached to them through the Massachusetts Rental Voucher program, which means that tenants will have to pay only 40 percent of their gross income toward the rent, with the subsidy paying the difference. The rents for these apartments will be $701 and $844 respectively.
The market-rate studio apartments will rent for $900 a month, while the one-bedroom apartments will rent at $1,000 a month. The 50 percent area median income apartments will rent for $700 and $750 a month for studios and one bedrooms respectively, while the 60 percent area median income apartments will rent for $840 and $900 in each category.
The rent includes all utilities, and tenants have the option of purchasing Wi-Fi from Wayfinders for $30 a month.
All of the apartments in Live 155 are disability-accessible, with roll-in showers. Four of those apartments, however, one on each floor; are specifically designed for disabled tenants, with features like low sinks and stoves with no cabinets underneath. Five of the units in Live 155 are also set aside for clients of the Department of Mental Health.
Amanda Bubon, director of compliance at Way Finders, said that there are seven affordable apartments and seven market-rate apartments still available at Live 155, although she estimated that these apartments will be all be filled by the middle of next month.
Each floor has a common room, and the building features a conference room that can be reserved by the public at no cost.
Serafino said that the decision to build the facility with only studio and one-bedroom apartments was a conscious one. “This is a small site,” he said, also noting the need for space for one and two-person households downtown.
Williams said the high-demand for one bedrooms was conveyed to Way Finders by area landlords.
Northampton and the commonwealth contributed finances to the development of Live 155. “I really don’t know that this project could have happened in any other community that we work in currently,” said Williams, who said that all branches of city government have been helpful and supportive.
Narkewicz said that a commitment to affordable housing is part of the city’s ethos.
“I’m really continuing a commitment that other mayors have had before me,” he said.
The Way Finders building replaced Northampton Lodging. Before the area was redeveloped, the 43 people still living at Northampton Lodging were relocated to other housing. An estimated 10 of those tenants will return to live in Live 155, though all tenants in good standing had the option of returning. However, tenants aren’t going to be only reminder of Northampton Lodging, as a number of pictures from the old building and the people who lived there are displayed in Live 155.
In addition to commercial and retail space, there is also an artistic component to Live 155, with a sculpture, two murals and a mosaic set to be installed. These will be highlighted at Northampton’s Arts Night Out in July, where Live 155 residents will also have the opportunity to display there work.
“We want people to want to live here,” said Serafino.
The apartments themselves are also distinctively styled, with bright colors and rolling barn doors being some of the prominent components.
“Everyone deserves an awesome place to live,” said Bubon.
Gazette Reporter Scott Merzbach contributed to this story.
Bera Dunau can be reached at bdunau@gazettenet.com.