NORTHAMPTON — A Townsend developer has pulled the plug on a $30 million housing project slated to break ground at Village Hill this year, citing an inability to secure financing.
Transformations Inc. had planned to construct a total of 83 homes on a 35-acre site at the north end of the Village Hill campus before MassDevelopment, handling the sale of the former state hospital property, announced Monday the agency terminated its agreement with the developer.
“We’re seeking a new developer for the site and we’re planning to keep the community in the loop,” Kelsey Abbruzzese, a spokeswoman for MassDevelopment, said Tuesday.
Some prospective residents had even begun putting down deposits on units in the planned residential development, to be called Summit Oak Homes. In addition to 23 single-family homes and 15 duplexes, the project called for a a 30-unit cohousing community.
R. Carter Scott, president of Transformations and owner of the building company’s developing arm, Energy Positive Homes, said Tuesday financial issues had more to do with his business than with this particular project.
He said he had expected $30 million in sales from all of the units. As for the $15,000 that prospective residents each paid in deposits, Scott said he hopes the next developer will carry those over.
“Hopefully, the next developer will be able to work with them on their deposits,” he said, adding that he met with concerned residents on Sunday. “I think it’s a great project that will be very nice to see as it gets built — there’s a great community of people up there.”
Two of Village Hill’s major players over the years — Northampton developer Jonathan Wright and Realtor Patrick Goggins — said they were disappointed but not surprised by this week’s announcement.
“It’s disappointing for the city and all the people who had hoped to live there, and certainly for Transformations,” said Wright, of Wright Builders, who is in the final stages of an Upper Ridge residential project in the same neighborhood. “It’s not entirely a surprise because it’s a huge undertaking.”
Wright called the project “very ambitious and expensive,” adding that Wright Builders may consider collaborating with another agency to develop the land, but that it’s too large of a project for the company to take on single-handed.
“It’s a setback for the city, but I’m sure other options will come forward,” Wright said. “It’ll sort itself out eventually — it’s a great neighborhood in the making.”
MassDevelopment is looking for a company with similar goals to Transformations, which planned zero-energy homes for the project. A zero-energy home is designed to produce at least as much energy as it uses over the course of the year.
“In some ways I’m not surprised,” said Goggins, owner of Goggins Real Estate, adding that “signals” like the lack of activity raised questions about the project. “I think there was a lot of anticipation about it.”
One resident, John Brady, said though there are two other active construction projects underway, the neighborhood will be much quieter in the coming months than originally anticipated.
“There was lots of concern about it and now there’s concern about what will come next,” he said. “We know there will be something built there and we hope that it will be sustainable and attractive.”
Amanda Drane can be contacted at adrane@gazettenet.com.