Affordable-Housing Project Completed --
CATCH's Latest Will House 20 Families
By Lisa Wangsness
Concord Monitor staff
Penacook, New Hampshire
October 4, 2003 -- As the sun set on a clear autumn day,
Denise Flanders stood in an airy living room, plotting out the
best place to put her couch.
She smiled, inhaling the strong scents of fresh paint and new
carpet.
"I can't wait to come here," she said.
This month, Flanders and her three teenagers will join 19 other
families in moving into the latest Concord Area Trust for Community
Housing project -- Willow Crossing, on Village Street next to
Thirty Pines in Penacook. Yesterday, the new tenants celebrated
the project's completion along with the housing advocates, politicians,
bankers and businesspeople who made the project happen.
Concord Mayor Mike Donovan said CATCH had made itself welcome
in neighborhoods around the city over the last 14 years by not
only building quality housing but by managing its properties well.
"You've earned the strong support that you have from us,"
he said.
Willows Crossing is CATCH's latest effort to ease the affordable
housing crunch that has plagued central New Hampshire for nearly
a decade.
Since 1996, less than 1 percent of all Concord rentals have been
on the market at any given time, said Amy Lockwood, the group's
executive director. Five percent is considered a healthy vacancy
rate, she said. Low supply and high demand has sent prices soaring.
The average rent for a two-bedroom apartment in the Concord area
is now $919 per month.
Willow Crossing's two-bedroom units will rent at $615 to $746
per month; three-bedroom units cost $708 to $859 per month. Residents
of the new apartments must earn under 60 percent of median income
in Merrimack County, or $37,980 for a four-person household. Lockwood
said the largest employer of CATCH tenants is the state government.
Willow Crossing and a four-unit building on Knoll Street in downtown
Concord are the first CATCH projects to boast energy-saving insulation
and appliances -- which means they're not only cheaper to heat
and power, but more environmentally friendly.
With a $41,000 grant from KeySpan, CATCH was for the first time
able to purchase and install energy-saving appliances, roof and
wall insulation, high-efficiency heating equipment and boiler
reset controls that will help reduce energy use dramatically over
time.
As with most affordable housing projects, the financing for Willow
Crossing and Knoll Street -- the 24 apartments cost $3.8 million
-- was cobbled together from a variety of private and public funding
sources. An IRS program provided $2.8 million in low-income housing
tax credit equity. The New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority
and the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation provided $400,000
in grants. The housing finance authority and Merrimack County
Savings Bank contributed $600,000 in long-term loans. A variety
of lending institutions, from Providian Financial to Fannie Mae
to Bow Mills Bank and Trust, were investors.
Flanders, an accountant at the state hospital who also works
part-time a gas station, will pay $50 more in monthly rent than
she does in the three-bedroom Penacook flat she's rented for the
last 10 years. But her new apartment includes heat and hot water,
which means she'll save hundreds each month in utility bills.
And on cold winter days in her current apartment, she and her
kids shiver even when the thermostat's cranked up as far as it
will go. Their pristine duplex has the latest in energy-efficient
utilities and insulation.
"It will help a lot," Flanders said.
Karen Beach, who works for the state Department of Transportation
and also holds a part-time job at J.C. Penney's, said she'll save
$200 a month in rent in her new duplex, which she'll share with
two daughters and a grandson. Other savings add up, too -- she'll
have a washer and dryer in her new home, which will cut down on
the $20 a week she now spends on laundry.
An enthusiastic baker and cook, she's really looking forward
to asking her extended family over for the holidays this year.
"It's very peaceful and very comfortable, and I'm really
looking forward to it," she said. "It's just very pleasant
out here."
Posted with permission from the © Concord Monitor and
New Hampshire Patriot, P.O. Box 1177, Concord NH 03302
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