City Council will get its first look Tuesday at a request for a special permit to construct 25 apartments at 108 Harrison St., the site of the former St. James Elementary School (pictured), also known as St. Gregory School.
Click image for Haverhill City Council agenda.
The developer, Common Ground Development, is asking to build workforce rental units, which are targeted to adults who earn a certain percentage of the average median income for the region.
City Council meets at 7 p.m. in the Theodore A. Pelosi Jr. City Council Chambers on the second floor of Haverhill City Hall. The meeting is open to the public.
The owner of 108 Harrison St., Stephen J. Lagasse, has used the property for his business since 1970, and stores dumpsters connected to Lagasse Removal on the premises.
The school building, which measures 86 by 70 feet, contains classrooms on three stories with 12-foot-wide hallways and sits on a lot that is six-tenths of an acre.
According to attorney Michael J. Migliori, who represents the developer, the school building would be redeveloped with 13 apartment units, and a second, new building would hold another 12.
The building is on the market for $700,000, according to online real estate listings.
Migliori’s application asks the council to forward the permit request to the Planning Board for its review. The council’s public hearing on the special permit application is scheduled for Oct. 31.
Construction and rehabilitation of workforce housing is supported by a $100 million fund administered by MassHousing to create rental housing that is affordable for working families whose income is too high for subsidized housing but not adequate to pay market-rate rents.
Workforce housing is targeted to families and individuals who earn between 61 and 120 percent of the area’s median income, which in Haverhill is $60,888. Eligible renters would earn between $36,500 and $73,000.
Young contestants climb out of a foam-filled inflatable pool at the 5K Foam Fest held recently in Quebec.
The council will also consider a special permit for an event called Foam Fest, scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 16, at Kimball Farm.
Owner Tyler Kimball said the East Broadway farm will host the only Boston-area event in a series of obstacle-style races that feature mud pools, climbing walls, an over-sized slide and a number of obstacles filled with soap bubble-style foam. Other locations have included Quebec, Toronto, and Ottawa in Canada, and Frederickville, Md., Nashville, Tenn., and Sherwood, Ore., in the U.S.
Kimball said he expects 1,000 people to attend, including contestants, observers and race personnel.
I’m pleased to see that there is FINALLY a project targeteted at working people. What happened at Harbor Place as a shame they just made it a nice looking ghetto at White’s corner.