NORTHAMPTON — Pioneer Valley Habitat for Humanity’s wall-raising ceremony at an affordable housing development at 278 Burts Pit Road on Tuesday was nearly 30 years in the making.

Formerly part of the now-demolished Northampton State Hospital, the property was deeded to the Northampton Housing Authority in 1996, with the intention of developing it into affordable housing.

“That was the year I graduated from college,” joked Northampton Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra, who was on hand to attend the ceremony.

But the Housing Authority lacked the resources to develop the property at the time, and the project fell into limbo. In 2016, the property was relinquished back to the state, and legislation was filed to transfer ownership to the city, a feat that was not accomplished until 2020.

“Fast-forward three more years to this day, where after working with our planning office, Habitat for Humanity is ready to build three single-family homes on their site,” Sciarra said. “Now, we have neighbors to join the neighborhood and a great project that will bring housing to those who might otherwise not be able to afford to stay in Northampton.”

Megan McDonough, the executive director for Pioneer Valley Habitat for Humanity, said there were more than 60 applicants for the three homes being built on the property, and that the three future homeowners selected had been meeting with volunteer mentors and taking first-time homebuyer classes to prepare them for moving in.

“At Habitat, we talk about strength, stability and self-reliance,” McDonough said. “But self-reliance does not mean doing things all by yourself. There’s a whole community here of people who want to give these future homebuyers that strong foundation and strong walls to help build that future.”

The new homeowners — Giovanna Martinez, Greishka Brown and Sara Lamountain-Costigan with her husband, Tim — were all at the ceremony, each gifted a bouquet of flowers to commemorate the occasion.

“I’m very grateful that I was one of the families chosen,” said Brown, who attended the event with her children, Jayden and Devi. “I was very sad to leave Northampton, but very happy that we’re coming back.”

Sara Lamountain-Costigan said she got the call that she and her husband had been approved for housing not long after her mother had died.

“It was a very big moment for us,” she said. “It was a hard time, but a good time all at once.”

Also on hand was Northampton Director of Planning & Sustainability Carolyn Misch, and former planning director Wayne Feiden. Misch said her department was taking steps to ease the process of housing development, such as applying for Community Development Block grants and modifying the city’s zoning policy.

“It’s important from the city’s perspective and our office to help find ways to support development, and affordable housing in particular,” Misch said. “We’ll always be looking for new ways to provide opportunities for the development of housing.”

In keeping with both the city and Habitat for Humanity’s sustainability goals, the new homes will run solely on electricity, and will have solar panels thanks to a partnership with PV Squared, a Greenfield cooperative that designs and builds solar projects.

“We’re building these homes as energy-efficiently as we can,” McDonough said. “They’re all-electric homes, so they can be a part of decarbonizing our future. And part of that is, where we can, we’d like to see renewable energy generation.”

Funding for the project was supplied through Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School, Florence Bank, the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston and the city of Northampton through the Community Preservation Act.

Other projects Pioneer Valley Habitat for Humanity has worked on in the city have included the Broughton’s Meadow Homes project, also on Burts Pit Road, four homes on Glendale Road, and homes on Garfield Avenue in Florence.

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