affordable housing fund application 3.pdfAffordable Housing Fund 1
COMMUNITY PRESERVATION PROJECT APPLICATION COVER SHEET
I: Project Information
Project Title: Affordable Housing Fund
Project Summary: CPA Funding is sought for soft costs and purchase costs for the
purposes of creating new affordable housing.
Estimated start date: Immediately upon receipt of funds
CPA Program Area (check all that apply):
� Open Space � Historic Preservation
Community Housing � Recreation
II: Applicant/Developer Information
Contact Person and or/primary applicant: Carolyn Misch, Director
Property Owner (if applicable): Parcels owned by the City of Northampton
Organization (if applicable): Northampton Office of Planning and Sustainability
Mailing Address: 210 Main Street, Room 11
Daytime phone #: 413-587-1265 Fax #: 413-587-1264
E-mail address: cmisch@northamptonma.gov
III: Budget Summary
Total budget for project: $550,000
CPA funding request: $50,000
CPA request as percentage of total budget: 9%
Applicant’s Signature:
Date Submitted: September 12, 2022_______________________
Affordable Housing Fund 2
Narrative:
In Fall 2020 and again in Spring 2021, $50,000 was awarded to the Affordable Housing
Fund project to facilitate due diligence and soft costs for new affordable housing
opportunities. Thank you! The City has already begun to utilize those funds for survey
work and environmental due diligence. We are requesting a third round of CPA funding
to allow predevelopment to continue and facilitate affordable housing creation over the
coming year. These funds have been absolutely critical to allow the City to work with
our affordable housing development partners and proactively work to create housing in
the places it is needed the most.
Projects Status and Work Completed:
Project Anticipated
Units
Items Funded Amount
Expended
Through
September
2022
Project Status
Woodland
Drive
1
affordable
plus 1
market
Survey, Site
Plan, Permitting
$8,600 Community outreach
completed. Affordable
lot donated to Habitat
for Humanity. Market
rate lot sold and
proceeds used to
purchase land at 196
Cooke Avenue that will
provide for more
affordable housing
Laurel Street 22 Stormwater
Assessment,
Infrastructure
Engineering
$7,000 Community outreach
completed. Leveraged
$200,000 in state
funds and $100,000 in
city sewer funds to
develop the
infrastructure needed
to make the site work.
Property Option signed with Valley CDC, who
obtained all of the
necessary permits, and
will take title once they
get state funding.
278 Burts Pit 3 Environmental
Site Assessment,
Preliminary Site
Design,
$5,900 Community outreach
conmpleted. Building
demolished, Property
Transferred to Pioneer
Affordable Housing Fund 3
Permitting,
Building Demo
Bid
Valley Habitat for
Humanity
Downtown 24 Geotechnical
Borings and
Engineering,
Preliminary Site
Design,
Environmental
Site Assessment
$23,000 $921,300 State Grant
Received to Advance
Construction Design.
Dedicated outreach to
those with lived
experience planned.
Separate CPA
application submitted
Cooke
Avenue
3 Wetland
Delineation,
Building
Remediation
$2,800 Community outreach
conducted. Land
purchased with
proceeds from
Woodland Drive
market rate lot.
Building to be
demolished with CDBG
funding (2022), site
design continuing
Evergreen
Road
1 Survey and Site
Plan,
Environmental
Site Assessment
$6,400 Community outreach
completed. Separate
CPA application
submitted
Oak Street 4 Environmental
Site
Assessmemt,
Preliminary Site
Design
$10,300 Survey complete,
ready for site design
and community
outreach (initial
community outreach
done decades ago but
needs to be redone
once we have site
information). Junk cars
on site cleaned up.
Completing these sites for transfer to non-profit housing agencies will expend the
entirety of the $100,000 awarded so far. We are requesting more funds so that we can
move forward to additional sites and make them ready for affordable housing
developers. These CPA funds have already leveraged more than one million dollars in
funds from other sources that would have difficult or impossible to receive otherwise.
Affordable Housing Fund 4
The City will surplus all parcels to add to the City’s affordable housing stock, and will
place permanent affordable housing restrictions to make sure they remain affordable
moving forward, but will need to complete the pre-development due diligence and soft
costs. This could include Environmental Site Assessments, surveys, asbestos and lead
paint assessments, legal work, wetlands and environmental assessments, and
permitting to make the sites available to affordable housing developers.
The Massachusetts Housing Partnership recognizes the importance of predevelopment
activities and the use of CPA funds for predevelopment work:
CPA funding is an important resource to help jump start a development project. A
board, committee of the municipality, or the project sponsor may apply for CPA funds
to finance predevelopment activities. These activities may be needed to determine
project feasibility, plan for the number of housing units to be built or preserved, and/or
create preliminary site plans for the best use of a parcel. These preliminary
investigations can set up realistic expectations regarding a wide range of site
development issues and enable the community to assess what housing can be
accommodated on a particular parcel. Predevelopment analysis promotes better project
planning and helps municipalities set realistic expectations regarding the number of
units it can develop and the financial feasibility.
Predevelopment analysis can also provide valuable supportive documentation for RFPs.
Having experienced professionals undertake the analysis adds credibility and can help
the developer gain additional local approvals and funding necessary for the
development to proceed.
Preliminary environmental or financial feasibility studies
CPA funds can pay for tests to ensure that the site is suitable for housing development
and to determine where the development should be placed. Environmental tests can
include: Phase I environmental reports, test borings, and wetlands delineations
Site planning
CPA funds can be appropriated to pay consultants to prepare conceptual site plans that
can be used to inform the public. This information may be included in an RFP to solicit
interest from developers for affordable housing developments on public property.
The project meets several Community Preservation general criteria:
Contributes to the preservation of Northampton’s unique character, boosts the vitality of
the community, and enhances the quality of life for its residents
Providing a wide variety of quality affordable housing types to meet the
community’s needs is critical to the character and vitality of Northampton.
Addresses recommendations contained in the Sustainable Northampton comprehensive
plan and/or the Open Space, Recreation, and Mixed Use Trail Plan or is consistent with
Affordable Housing Fund 5
other city-wide planning efforts that have received broad-based scrutiny and input and
can demonstrate wide community support
This project will result in new affordable housing opportunities in Northampton,
meets the goals of the Housing Needs Assessment and Strategic Plan, and will
help to address impediments to fair housing identified in the Fair Housing
Assessment. It also meets the Sustainable Northampton goal of supporting a
wide variety of housing types that increase rental and homeownership units to
create and preserve a range of affordability and choice in housing options
Receives endorsement by community groups, municipal boards and/or departments
The application is presented by the Office of Planning and Sustainability in its
capacity as the lead office in promoting and planning for affordable housing
opportunities in Northampton, and is supported by the Housing Partnership.
Leverages additional public and/or private funds, or demonstrates that other funding
sources are not readily available or sufficient
Funding opportunities for the predevelopment work necessary to develop
affordable housing are extremely limited; there are no other funding sources
readily available for this type of work. CPA funding for predevelopment will allow
additional funds to be leveraged for the housing development itself from other
sources.
Can be implemented expeditiously and within budget
We will be able to continue contracting for additional predevelopment work as
soon as funding is available.
The Project Meets Many of the Community Housing Criteria
Create or preserve community housing – both rental and home ownership, with a focus
that matches community needs for households
Promote and encourage use by diverse populations
Provide housing that is harmonious in design and scale with the surrounding community
Intermingle affordable and market rate housing
Provide the City credit for units under M.G.L. Chapter 40B
Provide housing in locations that promote walking, biking, and use of public
transportation, and discourage single-occupancy vehicle trips
Provide housing for households with incomes below 80% of area median, and based on
community need give special consideration for funding to projects which restrict at least
some units to even lower income households including households with incomes below
50% or 30% of area median.
Project Budget:
Affordable Housing Fund 6
100% of the grant will go to soft-costs and due diligence, and with the city donating
staff time, legal time, in-direct, overhead, and the land to be used for affordable
housing (estimated $500,000 in land value, staff, and legal). Costs per project can vary
dramatically, but typically costs and budgets might include environmental site
assessment for $5,000, lead paint assessment if there is a building for $4,000, survey
costs for $4,000, and permitting for $15,000. The costs are higher for large projects
and projects requiring comprehensive permits (where architectural elevations are
required) and less for desirable lots where the affordable housing developer can pick-up
some of these costs.
ATTACHMENTS:
Support Letters to be provided as received