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State and local officials,
professional developers, financers, and the volunteer residents who were
responsible for the creation and completion of Martha's Vineyard's
largest affordable housing development were on hand Friday for the
official opening of Morgan Woods in Edgartown, a 60-unit, $15.7-million
complex.
Alan Gowell, chairman of the town affordable housing committee that
worked on the municipally developed project for eight years, noted that
just 15 months ago the 12-acre parcel was all woodland. "It's been a
long slog for us," he said.
Mr. Gowell recalled the anxiety of some of the 4,000 Edgartown voters in
supporting the large project, but he said they cast almost overwhelming
votes approving all phases at five town meeting votes. "It was clearly,
as we all know, in everyone's interest," he said |
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Morgan Woods is now an
attractive rental community of two- and three-family landscaped homes
situated in three clusters around a central commons, and connected by
wide paved streets ending on cul-de-sacs. It is accessible on a newly
paved South 10th Street off Edgartown Road, and a new bike path to the
complex.
Some of the units have been occupied since June, and already show
evidence of settled tenants, with flowers, pumpkins, and lawn chairs on
the front porches and back patios. Two young mothers strolled over with
their children for the noontime ceremony and luncheon, and expressed
satisfaction with their new homes.
Salissa King said the opportunity to move into the complex couldn't have
come at a better time for her. Recently separated, she was living in
temporary quarters with her two children and expecting a third child,
but had no place to go in July when she got the call on May 31 that she
qualified for a Morgan Woods unit. She said she had been afraid she was
going to have to move off-Island. |
Edgartown selectman Arthur
Smadbeck, Morgan Woods project manager Beverly Gallo, and Sharon Purdy
of the Edgartown affordable housing committee take a tour of the new
60-unit housing complex after an official opening ceremony Friday.
Photo by Susan Vaughn
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Ms. King said
she loves the wooded setting, the fact that her children
can ride their bikes without worrying about traffic, and
that she can have her dog. "It's a great place to bring
up kids," she said. She and her neighbors have
established friendships, organized a neighborhood
potluck on Thursday nights, and share carpooling for
their schoolchildren. Her neighbor, Tia MacLeod, who
also came to the opening with her baby, has started an
art group for neighborhood children.
Ms. MacLeod, who grew up on the Vineyard, said she and
her partner are in a higher income bracket, and the
$1,500 a month rent for a two-bedroom apartment is still
a stretch for them, but they are looking at the benefits
of living in Morgan Woods. She likes the people, the
location, and the fact that everything is new.
"The neighbors are terrific," Ms. MacLeod said. "It's
nice to have a new house with no mold or things falling
apart." She mentioned some problems, such as road
drainage, but she said she realizes that because the
project is new there are still things to work out. The
two women commended the on-site manager and maintenance
supervisor for their quick response to problems.
Priscilla Sinatra, who lives on nearby Jernegan Avenue,
attended the opening and said she was in total support
of the complex.
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Fred B. "Ted" Morgan and
Alan Gowell enjoy lunch Friday after the official opening of Morgan
Woods affordable housing complex in Edgartown. Mr. Morgan is the
former chairman of the town's affordable housing committee and Mr.
Gowell is the current chairman.
Photo by Susan Vaughn
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Morgan Woods has attracted many
young, local working families, and has 52 children under 18, said
Jessica Burgoyne, the on-site property manager. All the residents are
from the Island, belying some townspeople's fears that the project would
draw many off-Islanders or seasonal workers, she said while conducting
visitors on a tour of the complex. Seventy percent of the units were
allotted to people who live or work in Edgartown.
The March 1 lottery for placement in the new housing drew 238
applicants. The apartments are allocated to people in four income tiers
from less than 30 percent of Dukes County's 2006 median income of
$68,300 to 140 percent of the median, an income range from $15,050 for
one person to $110,900 for a family of six. Thirty-six units are
reserved for individuals or families who earn less than 60 percent of
the median income, nine are for those who do not exceed 100 percent of
the median, and 15 are reserved for those not exceeding 140 percent of
the median.
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The rents at Morgan Woods range
from $299 for a two-bedroom apartment in the lowest income tier to
$1,893 for a three-bedroom unit in the highest tier.
Ms. Burgoyne said all the three-bedroom units are rented, but there are
several vacant two-bedroom units and one one-bedroom unit, so she has
been advertising those in the local newspapers. Those units rent at the
market rate, and are still too expensive for some people who could
qualify, she said. There is still a long waiting list for people in the
lower income tiers.
The need for the affordable housing was noted many times during a short
noontime program on the first section's common area. Felicia Jacques,
director of development for the northeast region of The Community
Builders (TCB) of Boston, the nonprofit general contractor, 99-year
lease holder, and management company of Morgan Woods, said that in the
early '90s Edgartown recognized that Martha's Vineyard was losing its
affordability, and the Island had become more than tourist destination.
"The reverse commute had become an unexpected byproduct of its success,"
she said. Morgan Woods is providing affordable homes to a wide array of
professional people who work on the Island, she said.
Willie Jones, TCB senior vice president, commented that of all of the
company's projects in 13 states, he couldn't think of one that turned
out better than Morgan Woods. "Once in a while you hit a home run," he
said. "This is a heck of a home run. This is incredibly beautiful out
here."
"We want to put housing in neighborhoods that neighborhoods actually
want," Mr. Jones said. He commended the leadership of Edgartown people
on the project, saying their efforts will help spawn similar communities
on the Cape and the Vineyard. "We don't think this will be the last
place on the Island," he added.
Janet Billane of MassHousing, which provided $8.2 million in permanent
and bridge financing, and helped get $2.8 million in funding from the
Affordable Housing Trust Fund, said Morgan Woods is already attracting
national attention for its design and responsiveness to the community.
State Rep. Eric Turkington (D-Cape and Islands) told the gathering
bluntly, "Some towns avoid affordable housing like the plague. Edgartown
is rare. It not only recognized the need, but also did something about
it.
"If there is going to be a future in Edgartown, it's because there are
kids in Edgartown, and kids need a place to grow up," Mr. Turkington
said. "We want kids here, and that's rare."
Many speakers bestowed thanks on those involved in the project, and
particularly the town's affordable housing committee, and Fred "Ted"
Morgan, the former committee chairman who spearheaded the project and
for whom it was named. At the opening Friday, Mr. Morgan thanked the
committee, and Mr. Gowell in particular, TCB and its building
superintendent Jerry Dineen, the Williams Building Co., manufacturer of
the modular units, and others. "This was a team effort of a lot of
people and a lot of cooperation," he said.
Mr. Gowell also identified project manager Beverly Gallo "as the face of
TCB," and thanked her for her "unbelievable patience." He also admitted
that when the housing committee put out the requests for proposal on the
project, it fudged a bit by saying the road, water, and wastewater were
in place when they weren't. He thanked the town departments for getting
those projects done after TCB accepted the project.
The town's only cost connected with the project was $400,000 to build or
add on to the streets connecting to the site, and to install town water
mains and wastewater connections.
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