EASTHAMPTON — The committee tasked with ranking three proposals for the reuse of the city’s three former elementary schools heard detailed explanations from each the development teams this week.

With a $38.2 million proposal, New York City-based nonprofit The NHP Foundation is looking to transform the city’s three former elementary school buildings into 69 unique living spaces.

Established in 1989, the foundation is dedicated to creating multifamily housing for low- to moderate-income families and seniors. In considering the task of transforming three 100-year-old school buildings into homes, the foundation has assembled a team of partners with significant experience in adaptive reuse, historic preservation and affordable housing, according to Mecky Adnani, senior vice president of the nonprofit.

“We envision a new active family living environment here,” she said.

The development, tentatively named The School Yard Apartments, includes 28 one-bedroom units, 29 two-bedroom units and 12 three-bedroom units. All 69 apartments are proposed to be affordable to families with incomes between 30% and 80% of area median income.

“The schools really lend themselves to a variety of actually high-quality space for residential units. So we have tried to maximize the number of quality affordable housing we can provide,” she said.

The proposal includes 19 public parking spaces, two green spaces, a dog park, a playground and two community gardens.

It also includes the retention of Pepin Auditorium, which will be reimagined as a space for local community-based theater with the help of project partner Easthampton Theater Company, which was founded late last year and is led by Executive Director Michael O. Budnick. The auditorium will also serve as a community activity and meeting place.

Adnani also presented what other options would look like if Pepin Gymnasium were converted to residential units or retained as a public gymnasium.

“Our proposals submitted to you really sought to fully address the RFP (request for proposals) to the best that we could, but we are without a question open to discussions with the city and all community stakeholders. We have the flexibility to have these discussions and sort of tailor everything so that we can improve our proposal,” she said.

The foundation also committed to using the state’s Low-Income Energy Affordability Network (LEAN), the statewide network of local community action agencies that provide energy efficiency and other energy services at no cost to income-eligible clients, and will be applying for LEED certification. With that certification, the building design and construction is evaluated based on factors including water usage, energy efficiency and air quality.

With the amount of housing the project provides, the city would not only achieve the Housing Production Plan’s goal of 38 housing units per year, but will also bring the city closer to 10% statutory minimum for affordable housing stock.

Janis Mamayek, principal at Boston-based ICON Architecture, explained that the size of each apartment is determined by the size of each current classroom.

“This site offers many more larger units — two and three bedrooms — where large windows bathed the units in natural light. The historic millwork from window trim and sills are retained into the units and the quarters are pretty much as they are right now. Not to use a religious term but we call these the ‘sacred needs.’ They give that impression of the school still in session,” Mamayek said.

The organization has estimated that it will cost roughly $38.2 million to develop the sites into new housing. The total project cost includes the $500,000 purchase price from the city and $28.3 million in construction costs. The group anticipates using $1 million in Community Preservation Act funds, $11.4 million in federal historic tax credits, and $10.2 million in state low-income housing tax credits.

The preliminary timeline for construction is estimated to begin December 2024 and be completed by July 2026.

What’s next?

The Elementary School Evaluation Committee is expected to submit a recommendation of the highest ranked proposal to the City Council in the next 10 to 15 days.

From there, the council will review the proposal in the Property Subcommittee and make a final recommendation to the full council, which will hold a public hearing and decide whether to accept the proposal or not.

Public comments on these proposals should be submitted to the City Council.

Emily Thurlow can be reached at ethurlow@gazettenet.com.]]>