The Municipal Affordable Housing Trust, which is charged with creating and preserving affordable homes in Harvard, voted last Monday to pursue a purchase-and-sale agreement with a community development group that is interested in building rental apartments at the corner of Littleton and Poor Farm roads. The vote will allow Town Counsel Mark Lanza to negotiate a “preliminary draft” of an agreement with Newton-based Metro West Collaborative Development.
The trust bought the property at 166 Littleton Road in August 2013 for $1.2 million and subsequently sought requests for proposals to build affordable homes at the site. The trust’s plan from the start has been to set parameters for the development but not to own or manage the property.
Metro West was the only developer to submit a proposal, though the trust said last month that it spoke to eight other developers who ultimately decided against bidding. Metro West’s proposal calls for a 100 percent affordable, non-age-restricted, rental project to be built on about 4 of the property’s nearly 30 acres. Between 30 and 36 units would likely be clustered in 10 to 14 traditional-style buildings to match the existing farmhouse, which would be preserved. The existing trails for walkers and snowmobilers on the property would also remain.
Density, water, and traffic concerns
The trust’s decision to pursue a purchase-and-sale agreement with the developer occurred at its first meeting since a contentious public forum on Nov. 12. At that gathering, neighbors objected to the number of units and to the traffic and water problems they believe the project would create.
Harvard’s 2011 Housing Plan identifies family-friendly (as opposed to over-55) rentals as a need in town; the plan also sets a yearly production goal of 11 affordable units.
At Monday’s meeting, trust member Barbara Brady noted that the Metro West project could ward off so-called unfriendly 40Bs for two years, under rules that allow a town to refuse such projects if its yearly production goals are met. Projects built under the state’s affordable housing law, 40B, are allowed to override local zoning laws if at least 25 percent of the homes built are affordable to those earning 80 percent of the regional median income, or less. Brady also noted that rentals provide a potential advantage to residents who might want to downsize: The state allows higher asset limits for renters than for owners of affordable homes.
