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Building affordable housing is a slow, deliberate process and the Sudbury Housing Authority has been making measured but steady progress on its proposal to redevelop four of its oldest and largest single-family houses into eight smaller, more energy efficient, and more functional homes.
Why is the Housing Authority going through all this trouble to house more but smaller households? For several reasons. First, many of our tenants are aging and are in houses much larger than they need but are not eligible for senior housing, and most families on our waiting lists are getting smaller. This is reflected both in the demographics of our current residents and the very long waiting lists for affordable housing. We have a greater need for one- and two-bedroom homes than three- and four-bedroom homes. We are building for the families we have already living at the SHA and the future families we anticipate being able to house.
During the six years that the Housing Authority has been working on the redevelopment proposal, three of the four homes in question have become vacant. Why is that? One resident in a three-bedroom house became an empty nester when her children left home for college and she chose to move out. A second resident was also “overhoused” and wanted a smaller home. That person relocated to another SHA apartment. And one resident needed an accessible apartment as they could no longer manage the large house. Unfortunately, the Housing Authority does not currently have an appropriate accessible unit. Without other options, that resident had to leave Sudbury. It is anticipated that when the redevelopment is completed, the SHA will have a mix of one-, two- and three- bedroom units, at least one of which will be accessible. This is the size and type of households that the SHA is building for.
We are not proposing to redevelop the existing homes because they are uninhabitable or unable to be brought up to a desirable condition, but because they are not sustainable in the long term with the current funding sources from the State. The State’s regulations and the economics of public housing are also motivating this redevelopment proposal. The State awards the SHA a set amount of money every year for the maintenance of all 80 units of State subsidized housing which includes 64 apartments at Musketaquid Village and 16 family homes, including the four homes in question. The total amount for 80 units for FY28 is $126,932 or under $1600 per unit. Clearly, this is insufficient. The State recognized that insufficiency and created incentives for housing authorities to provide affordable housing by removing some units from the state’s inventory. To that end, the State awarded the SHA $1,200,000 to redevelop these properties as part of a competitive bidding process with other housing authorities across the State. SHA was one of only three winners of the grant.
When the project is completed, the eight homes will still be counted as affordable and owned and managed by the SHA, but they will be in a separate income producing program. The income comes from a different subsidy source which provides a guaranteed income that is sufficient to pay for long-term maintenance and improvements well into the future while keeping the homes deeply affordable for our residents. This subsidy is not available the current properties. The SHA did a similar conversion of four large single-family homes into duplexes in several locations around town in 2012. To date, that program has generated over $900,000 in reserves for future improvements and the long-term maintenance of those homes.
The SHA staff, Board of Commissioners, and the Pine Lakes and Pine Rest neighbors are all frustrated with the slow progress being made on the redevelopment. The SHA must follow multiple state laws which both increase the cost and delay the progress including the review of every document by our attorneys, the State’s EOHLC, and, when necessary, the contractor. However, the SHA has been proceeding methodically towards what it hopes will be a successful conclusion. We have recently received a proposal to build modular homes which will fit within our budget, result in less disturbance to the neighborhood and accomplish the goals set out above.
The SHA is optimistic that we will soon enter the design phase and look forward to engaging the community with that exciting development.