by John Osborn ·
Friday, August 21, 2026
A rendering of the Emerson Green apartment complex consists of two three-story buildings joined by a shared lobby. (Courtesy Elite Home Builders)
MassDevelopment announced last week that Elite Home Builders has secured the financing needed to build a 46-unit apartment building at Emerson Green, after NOW Communities, the community’s designated developer, transferred development rights for the site to an Elite affiliate.
The apartments will be located at 77 Grant Road in Devens, in the heart of the Emerson Green neighborhood, adjacent to a planned park and across the street from the village green at Bradley Circle. NOW Communities broke ground on the site years ago but the COVID-19 pandemic and rising costs blocked progress. A fence now surrounds the property. Construction is expected to begin within weeks, now that Elite has secured a $4 million loan from MassDevelopment and a $6.5 million construction loan from Florence Bank to buy the parcel and finance the project. Title to the property now sits with 77 Grant Rd LLC, the Elite affiliate that closed on the purchase last week.
NOW Communities, through Devens Village Green LLC, remains MassDevelopment’s designated developer for the rest of the Emerson Green neighborhood, including a planned third and final phase of 26 additional homeownership units and surrounding infrastructure, including Cummings Street and portions of Goddard, Marshall, and Powell Streets, as well as the adjacent park. Devens Village Green, LLC is the joint venture co-founded NOW Communities to acquire and develop the neighborhood.
Dan Gainsboro of NOW Communities said in an email to the Press that the company is comfortable stepping back from the apartment building. “We feel very good about 77 Grant Road, LLC/Elite as a counterparty,” Gainsboro said. “They share many of our core values [and] have embraced the design ethos and sustainability priorities.”
Harvard’s Municipal Affordable Housing Trust will contribute $1 million to the project, closing a chapter that began a decade ago. In 2015, the trust committed $140,000 to subsidize 10 affordable units in a then-planned 40-unit building. The project stalled repeatedly, including during the pandemic, when construction costs rose by more than 200% and interest rates climbed from 3% to 6%. When permits were reissued in 2022, the building grew to 46 units and Harvard increased its commitment to 12 units. Those units are now backed by a $1 million subsidy the trust approved in June.
Twenty-three (50%) of the 46 apartments will be permanently income-restricted, according to the MassDevelopment announcement. The 12 units subsidized by Harvard’s trust will be more affordable than the remaining 11, priced to ensure that a household earning up to 80% of the area’s median income (AMI) spends no more than 30% of their annual income on gross housing costs (rent plus utilities). The remaining units will be “workplace affordable,” for households earning up to 100% of AMI. The AMI used to determine affordability at Devens for a family of four is currently $164,600.
Under Massachusetts’ Subsidized Housing Inventory (SHI) rules, Harvard’s subsidy of those 12 units, roughly 26% of the building, is also expected to allow the town to count 100% of the building’s units (all 46 apartments) toward its official state affordable housing inventory goal, rather than just counting the 12 subsidized units.
Emerson Green Residences sits at the heart of the Emerson Green community, adjacent to a community park and across the street from the village green. Twenty-six housing units remain to be built on Goddard, Powell, and Cummings streets. (Courtesy Union Studio Architecture & Community Design)
Harvard has 126 units on its SHI list toward the 220 it needs to hit the state’s 10% affordability threshold; Arielle Jennings, chair of the Municipal Affordable Housing Trust, told the Select Board earlier this summer that the Emerson Green units would supply roughly 48% of the remaining 96 needed to close that gap.
Harvard Town Administrator Dawn Dunbar said the closing capped years of work by town officials. “This achievement reflects the dedication and collaboration of the Municipal Affordable Housing Trust, the Harvard Select Board, town staff, the developer, and many community partners—most notably MassDevelopment, who worked together to make this project a reality,” Dunbar said, calling the trust’s commitment a significant investment in Harvard’s future.
State Sen. Jamie Eldridge, who represents most of Devens, singled out Harvard’s contribution in a statement accompanying the announcement. “I want to express my gratitude to MassDevelopment for its support and financing of the Emerson Green apartment building, as well as to the Harvard Municipal Affordable Housing Trust for its $1 million contribution to ensure that more of the rental units are affordable,” Eldridge said.
Elite Home Builders will also complete necessary site work, including parking, landscaping, stormwater improvements, and utility installation, plus a stretchofMarshall Street between Grant Road and Marshall Lane, and a sidewalk along Grant Road. Elite Home Builders expects to complete construction in 2027.
Cohen Babcock of Elite Home Builders, which will own and operate the complex, said the company intends to deliver “a vibrant lifestyle rental community” featuring Class A amenities, while remaining an engaged Devens neighbor. Day-to-day property management will fall to Madison Management, according to 77 Grant Road LLC.