According to the lease, HAP has two years to secure the necessary permits for the project on Olympia Drive, Amherst town attorney Shirin Everett told the Select Board this week.
AMHERST – Town officials this week signed a land development agreement with HAP, the Springfield-based non-profit housing assistance agency, that will pave the way for construction of 42 affordable housing units on town-owned land.
Permits must still be obtained for the planned development.
According to the lease, HAP has two years to secure the necessary permits for the project on Olympia Drive, town attorney Shirin Everett told the Select Board this week. The board had to agree to the lease signing.
The town has agreed to make numerous improvements to the land to prepare it for development. HAP would then have three years to build the units, Everett said.
The town has received federal Community Development Block Grant funds to pay for some of the expenses. Town Meeting also approved spending Community Preservation Act funds for a total of about $1.3 million in contributions to the development plan.
The town took the land in the late 1980s by eminent domain and had planned to develop a project in conjunction with the University of Massachusetts, which owns land nearby. But the university decided not to proceed, so in 2004 the housing committee secured a $50,000 appropriation to prepare for the development.
HAP was the only non-profit agency to respond to a request for proposals for the project, said Roy Rosenblatt, former Community Development Department director and now a consultant. The agency will work with the Northampton-based Valley Community Development Corp., he said.
“This is a very symbiotic and cooperative relationship with the town and the developer,” Everett said. All parties, she said, want “to make this project a reality.”
“I would strongly recommend the board approve this agreement,” said town manager John P. Musante. He thanked Everett “for getting us to this stage,” adding, “This is very exciting.”
Everett spent nearly two months working on the agreement, according to Rosenblatt. “This is a critical step,” he said.
Besides the permits, HAP will also need to secure about $9 million in funding for the project, Everett said.
Residents, meanwhile, will have a voice in the project during the permitting process, she said.