Brewster Woods soon to open affordable apartments that are also energy efficient

BREWSTER — Tucked off Route 6A, Brewster Woods is putting nature to work.

An energy-recovery unit funnels fresh, outside air in and recycles heat from stale indoor air. The housing development is cloaked — inside, outside, underground, and on top — with thick insulation to seal in heat during the winter and keep it out during the summer.

The windows, imported from Poland, are five time thicker than building code requirements. With soon-to-be installed solar panels, the town's newest site for affordable housing will create more energy than it uses from utilities.

“That's the resource we have most abundantly: the sun,” said Corey Heaslip, vice president of the project's construction company, Delphi Construction Inc.

Active on passive design

Brewster Woods, which will include 30 one-, two-, and three-bedroom affordable apartments, is expected to welcome tenants this September. Town officials hope the project, along with more than two dozen units in the 55-plus Serenity Apartments, will chip away at the town's housing crunch.

Developed on town-owned land by the Housing Assistance Corp. and the Preservation of Affordable Housing, Brewster Woods could be home to 60 to 65 people. The project includes eight one-bedroom units, 19 two-bedroom units and three three-bedroom units.

But its "passive design" makes Brewster Woods a rarity on the Cape, said Heaslip. In such an airtight envelope, temperature stays consistent, energy use is minimal and noise is quieted.

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"There's a whole lot of good that can happen out of these types of projects," Heaslip said. "You're adding housing that's in demand, you're creating job opportunities and careers, you're being responsible to the environment. You're keeping Cape dollars on the Cape."

Brewster Woods benefited from a $1.68 million state MassWorks grant for site clearing and infrastructure; a $2.4 million loan from the Massachusetts Housing Partnership; $1 million in Affordable Housing Trust Funds from MassHousing; $450,000 from Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation.

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But that's not all. It also received $550,000 in Brewster Community Preservation Act money and $800,000 in local and state HOME funding - $250,000 in Barnstable County HOME funds and $550,000 in Department of Housing and Community Development funds.

55-plus senior housing

Meanwhile, at Serenity Apartments on Harwich Road, residents are expected to begin moving into 27 studio and 1-bedroom units set aside for affordable housing as soon as August.

Elevation Financial Group converted the former Wingate Residences assisted living and nursing facility into 132 apartments for those 55 and older. The town negotiated with developers to set aside those 27 spots in the development.

Construction workers are clearing out punch lists of final touches such as glue clamp on bathroom door, cut base cove in kitchen or adjust closet door to close.

Property manager Leland Powell said the project meets the demand for seniors who are not only looking to be independent but want to downsize. Many seniors on the Cape are staying in their single-family homes because their housing options are other single-family homes that do not meet their needs, according to a new report by Providence architecture firm Union Studios.

“That’s the thing 90% of them share,” said Powell, on the desire to downsize.

Tough competition in affordable housing lotteries

Competition to win a spot will be fierce. Lotteries for both housing options closed on July 1, with at least 100 people applying to live at Brewster Woods.

For Brewster Woods, eight of the units are attached to federal Section 8 vouchers and not part of the regular lottery.

"The number of calls we are taking in the housing program for people who are just absolutely desperate for any kind of housing – it's overwhelming, it really truly is," Assistant Town Administrator Donna Kalinick said.

The slots in Brewster Woods are open for those making 30% to 60% of the area median income. Depending on household size that ranges between $23,340 for a family of 2 at 30% to $58,320 for a family of 4 at 60% AMI.

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Monthly rent for a one-bedroom unit will be $1,094 and $1,312 for a two-bedroom unit. The units are for people earning 30% to 60% of the AMI. And depending on household size that ranges between $23,340 for a family of two at 30% to $58,320 for a family of four at 60% AMI.

To live at Serenity Apartments, residents must earn at or below 80% of Barnstable County’s AMI. With utilities, the rents for the 15 studios are $1,261, two studio deluxe $1,311, 9 one-bedroom units at $1,336, and a lone one-bedroom deluxe unit at $1,361.

Solving the housing crisis

The average price of a home in Brewster is $700,000, Kalinick said.

Meanwhile, year-round homes that workers could afford are being transformed into expensive second-homes and short-term vacation rentals, according to Housing Assistance, which estimates that the region needs 4,500 more year-round rentals. Rental vacancy is less than 1% when 7% is considered healthy, according to local housing experts.

State requirements dictate that each city and town have at least 10% of its housing stock deemed affordable.

In Brewster, 5.58% of its year-round housing inventory is deemed affordable with the state. That figure does not reflect the affordable housing units in the two newest developments.

Once the new units are included, Kalinick said she hopes to nudge that number above 6%.

Cape Cod won’t be able to build itself out of the housing crisis overnight. More housing should have been built 10 years ago and any housing program should be holistic, she said.

“But we can’t give up hope,” Kalinick said. “Every day, even when you take these calls and it is so heart-wrenching what some folks are going through, you just have to say to yourself: ‘Every day, I have to keep working.’”

Zane Razzaq writes about housing and real estate. Reach her at zrazzaq@wickedlocal.com. Follow her on Twitter @zanerazz.

This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Brewster affordable housing project received dozens of applications