NORTHAMPTON — Prospect Place, a planned affordable housing complex at a former nursing home at 737 Bridge Road, has begun accepting applicants to occupy its 60 housing units.
The project, which broke ground in September with numerous state and city officials present, is currently scheduled to open around October, according Valley CDC Executive Director Alexis Breiteneicher. Applications opened on June 15 and will continue until the end of August, Breiteneicher told the Gazette, with those interested able to apply on the website of HMR Properties, which will manage the complex when it opens.
“The application is really easy — it’s 1½ pages and it’s basically your name, address, household size and income, that’s it,” Breiteneicher said. “We’re trying to make it super simple for folks. There are studio, one-bedroom, two-bedroom and three-bedroom apartments available, and they’re open to people at a wide variety of income ranges.”
Qualification is based on the number of household members and on income related to the area median income or AMI. Income limits range from $25,110 to $83,700 for one person, to $41,640-$138,800 for six household members.
The project is notable for its planned usage of geothermal energy to provide power to the all-electric apartments. Officials including Secretary of Housing and Livable Communities Ed Augustus, Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Rebecca Tepper and Department of Energy Resources Commissioner Elizabeth Mahony attended the project’s groundbreaking, highlighting how the commonwealth sees the project as an answer to the dual crises of the cost of housing and the effects of climate change.
The project is expected to cost approximately $30 million, with Valley CDC receiving several state grants to fund the project. Once opened, the cost of utilities will be covered entirely by Valley CDC, meaning those renting the apartments would only need to budget for rent instead of shifting power bills.
The former Northampton Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, built in 1967, had been vacant for more than a decade. Its interior remains mostly barren, though plans call for refitting the building to suit housing needs rather than a complete rebuild.
In addition to the interiors being redone, the building’s exterior is also undergoing a makeover, with murals designed by local artists Kim Carlino of Northampton and Michael Crigler of Greenfield now adorning the building’s outer walls.
“For me, what was exciting about this project was, one, it’s real affordable housing, and two, that it was going to get real art,” Carlino said in an interview. “The actual canvas of the the building was like, oh wow, you could really do a lot of interesting things with it to create a sense of place and sense of community.”
Areas around the windows that were once simply brick exterior have been painted over with greens and blues, with other murals depicting unique geometric designs. Carlino said it was to help give the complex a more natural sense of a living space, away from the dreary design of a 1960s nursing home.
“We wanted to bring some organic elements that would kind of soften it, while bringing in a geometric element,” Carlino said. “We use colors in the landscape, like green and blue, and mimic elements of the mountain ridges.”
Within the building’s nine murals are depictions of a night sky, something Carlino said was meant to signify “connecting the terrestrial experience to the celestial.”
“We spend a lot of time looking down in our society, maybe because we’re often looking at our phones,” Carlino said. “The idea of the night sky is a portal of possibility … there’s going to be lots of kids and families that are there, so that was one element we were thinking a lot of.”
Applicants for the housing units will be chosen by a lottery system, with the drawing scheduled to take place Sept. 17 at the Northampton Center for the Arts, 33 Hawley St. An info session on the property is also scheduled to be held on July 30 at Forbes Library at 6 p.m.
Alexander MacDougall can be reached at amacdougall@gazettenet.com.
