HADLEY – Construction of a senior housing project has started on a 10-acre parcel near the intersection of Route 9 and East Street.
East Street Commons is being built by Amherst developer Barry Roberts at 54-56 East St., adjacent to the Norwottuck Rail Trail and across from the entrance to Burke Way.
Roberts said Thursday that he has begun clearing the property, including demolishing a single-family home on the site.
“We’ll be moving forward very rapidly now,” Robert said.
The project is the first condominium project for people 55 and over developed under the town’s overlay district that allows multiple units on one property for seniors, said Planning Board Clerk William Dwyer. Zoning in Hadley otherwise prohibits more than one dwelling on a property.
The Planning Board earlier this year approved special permits for the project, including a transfer of development rights that allows Roberts to do denser development, but requires him to make a financial contribution to a fund that protects open space in town.
Eight units will be part of the first of three phases of the 32-unit project. There are seven different two-bedroom models that can be used in construction, and Roberts said he will try to use each model at least once, though this will depend on interest from buyers.
The units will each sell for between $350,00 and $400,000.
“There’s a lot of demand – a couple have already sold,” Roberts said.
To meet the bylaw, 15 percent of the units, or one in each phase, will be set aside as affordable.
The first phase will also feature a 1½-acre common area. East Street Commons will have a private road and the condominium association will be responsible for all landscaping within the property.
The project is designed by Kuhn Riddle Architects of Amherst.
Roberts first proposed the senior housing in early 2009 after Hadley Town Meeting in 2008 adopted the senior housing overlay district that allows a greater density of housing than would ordinarily be allowed.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
