The barn at the former Great Elms is being carefully dismantled so it can be moved to its new home at the Stevenson’s home on South Shaker Road. (Courtesy photo)
One year into an ambitious plan to create affordable housing for Harvard, the Municipal Affordable Housing Trust has selected a developer for the nearly 30-acre Littleton Road property it purchased for $1.1 million last year. Metro West Collaborative Development, Inc., of Newton has been chosen—with contracts yet to be signed—to build between 30 and 36 units in 10 to 14 structures at the former McCurdy property. Metro West was one of several developers who responded to a request for proposals issued last summer by the trust, which had set parameters for the development. The trust met this week with Metro West’s senior housing project manager, Steve Laferriere, to plan for a public forum about the project. It has been scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 12, at the Congregational Church.
The trust is described by Town Counsel Mark Lanza as a “separate legal entity.” It is governed by open meeting and other governmental regulations in some areas but empowered by state law to act independently in others, such as in real estate transactions. (The purchase of the McCurdy land, through a mortgage, is an example of one such transaction.) Annual Town Meeting voted to form the trust, which was created in 2006.
A low-detail sketch from Metro West indicates that all buildings would be clustered on six or seven acres close to Pinnacle Road, leaving the remainder of the property as open space. The existing antique home, which once served as the town’s “Poor Farm,” would retain its current appearance but be converted into apartments. A pond and a snowmobile trail that cuts through the land would likely remain undisturbed; solar panels are planned for the new buildings but not for the existing house. Engineering studies done last year show the property is unusually (for Harvard) well suited for septic and water systems.
Laferriere said this week that his group planned to buy the land from the trust, retain ownership, and hire a third party to manage and maintain the apartments. The group’s construction projects have been concentrated in Watertown, but it has also provided planning and other services, most recently in Hudson.
Laferriere says the project will be built by comprehensive permit under the state’s 40B affordable housing law, so hearings—when they finally begin—will be held by Harvard’s Zoning Board of Appeals. Assuming that Harvard selectmen approve the idea, Laferriere says that Metro West will apply by the January deadline for “friendly 40B” status through the state’s Local Initiative Program. At their meeting this week, selectmen reacted favorably to that idea.
The amount of affordable housing in Harvard is 5.5 percent of its total stock. The state requires that 10 percent of a town’s housing be affordable.
