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The first 20 tenants have moved
into the new Morgan Woods affordable housing development
off South 12th Street in Edgartown, less than one year
after construction started on the 60-unit complex.
Certificates of occupancy were granted for 22 units on
May 25 and tenants began moving in about a week later,
said Nancy Salvia, regional director of property
management for The Community Builders, the general
contractor and management company for Morgan Woods. The
next round of tenants are expected to start moving into
20 more apartments by the end of the month, she said
Monday, and the last 18 should be occupied by the end of
July.
"We should be fully occupied by August," Ms. Salvia
said. The 60-unit, $15.7 million complex is looking more
finished now with new bushes in the front of all the
apartments, and small trees lining the paved streets.
Grass will be planted soon.
"It really is a stunning place," Ms. Salvia said. "We're
really pleased how it's turning out."
To the doubters that the project would ever come to
fruition after nine years of planning, Ms. Salvia said
she hopes they will now welcome it. "We're very happy to
be there," she said.
The Community Builders has hired a site manager, Jessica
Burgoyne, a graduate of Martha's Vineyard Regional High
School who previously worked for local law firms. She
and her husband, Josh, a teacher at the high school,
live on the property with their 8-month-old son.
"People know Jessie is right there; they know where to
find her," Ms. Salvia said. "She is well liked." An
on-site maintenance supervisor for the property also has
been selected to start work soon.
Found unpacking her new office Tuesday, Ms. Burgoyne
expressed her enthusiasm for Morgan Woods. "Everyone is
really excited," she said. "This is a great project. I
can't wait to get all the families in here."
She said the tenants are very pleased with their new
homes and townspeople have been very supportive, even
donating good furnishings to tenants who needed it.
"It's great to see the Island come together and support
the community," she said.
The tenants represent a broad range of Island residents,
almost all from Edgartown, including individuals and
families of all ages, Ms. Burgoyne said. "It's really
going to be a big melting pot."
Alan Gowell, chairman of the Edgartown affordable
housing committee that implemented the project, said the
committee also is pleased with the results of its
efforts. "Right now we're very happy to see the tenants
are satisfied and so happy with their units," he said,
"and so appreciative that they'll get housing they're
able to stay in."
The housing committee has surpassed its goal that at
least 70 percent of the tenants live or work in
Edgartown, he said, and a majority of the rest are
already Island residents. "The number of people applying
to be in the initial lottery as well as all of the
people who have continued to inquire about availability
demonstrates the need for a development like Morgan
Woods and clearly demonstrates how great the need is for
affordable housing," Mr. Gowell said.
"People who have moved in are as happy as can be," Mr.
Gowell said. On a recent visit in the evening, he said
the new residents were sitting on their porches and
meeting their neighbors, which was one of the reasons
for the development's design. The 21 attractive modular
buildings with one, two- and three-bedroom apartments in
varying combinations are arranged in three clusters with
a commons at the center of each, similar to a
traditional New England village.
Mr. Gowell also gave much credit to Jerry Dineen, the
construction superintendent, for getting the project
done so quickly and efficiently, and transforming 14
woodland acres to 60 apartments in less than 12 months.
"It's a remarkable achievement for The Community
Builders, Williams Building Company and Edgartown," he
said.
Tenants of Morgan Woods were selected through a lottery
drawing at the end of February when 230 names were
drawn. Each person or family was given a number, which
determined priority for the different "pools" based on
income levels, residency status and bedrooms per unit.
However, not everyone who got a priority number in the
lottery chose to move into Morgan Woods. Ms. Salvia said
some prospective tenants were surprised that the rents
were higher than what they thought they would be, even
though they were published before the lottery.
"Some declined (the units) because they didn't want to
pay the rent," she said.
The units are allocated in four income tiers according
to federal Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
guidelines, which the project must follow because of
federal funding. The tiers include six units for those
with incomes less than 30 percent of the county 2006
median income of $68,300, 30 units for 31 to 60 percent
of the median, nine units for 110 percent of the median
and 15 units for 140 percent of the median income. The
rents range from about $299 for two bedrooms for the
lowest tier to about $1,893 for three bedrooms at the
highest tier. The rents may fluctuate based on the area
median income each year.
Morgan Woods has taken nine years to become a reality.
It is the Vineyard's first significant, municipally
developed affordable rental housing for low- and
moderate-income residents. The affordable housing
committee saw the project to completion.
The complex was named earlier this year for Fred B.
(Ted) Morgan, former Edgartown selectman and school
building committee chairman, who pushed the town in 1998
to purchase by eminent domain the 175-acre wooded
municipal parcel between Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road
and West Tisbury Road. The new development occupies 12
acres of that original parcel.
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