To the Editor,
On behalf of the Manchester Affordable Housing Trust (MAHT), I want to thank town residents for their support of Article 7 at the Town Meeting which included a Community Preservation Committee appropriation of $200,000 to the MAHT. Prior CPA funding, with a generous contribution from a town resident, has enabled MAHT to provide significant COVID-related rental and mortgage assistance to MBTS residents feeling economic hardship due to COVID. Furthermore, CPA funding has helped MAHT hire a development consultant to work with MAHT and the Manchester Housing Authority (MHA) to generate a proof-of-concept plan for the creation of new community affordable units and the renovation of units at the MHA sites at Newport Park, The Plains and Loading Place, and the Town owned site on Pleasant Street. Finally, CPA funding has enabled MAHT to advertise the availability of funds for residents and developers who are interested in creating community affordable housing.
The current CPC appropriation will be important supplemental funds that will help the MAHT to pursue community-supported affordable housing developments. As many are aware, MAHT’s key development priority has been our work with the MHA on its sites and the Town-owned site on Pleasant Street. We are grateful for town support received at the November 2021 Town Meeting involving the non-binding endorsement of the development plan and endorsement of forgoing some or all revenue from the possible sale or lease of the Pleasant Street site to a future developer. In pursuit of this development objective, MAHT and MHA are about to release a development Request for Proposals which will start the process of selecting an appropriate developer to advance the plan. The process will involve refinement of the development plan and more thorough predevelopment work to evaluate the sites and form a feasible development plan. MHA and MAHT continue to commit to engaging residents and town boards in the development process and we look forward to communicating with everyone when we have a better sense of development proposals.
Sincerely,
John Feuerbach, Chairperson, for the Manchester Affordable Housing Trust
