Three proposals For Former Marceline Property

HARWICH – The affordable housing trust received three proposals this week for the development of six acres of the former Marceline property at 456 Queen Anne Rd. The specifications for the project call for 90 bedrooms in a mix of residential buildings.

The proposals were opened on June 5. The three developers are Mid-Cape Church Homes, Inc; Pennrose, LLC; and Planning Office of Urban Affairs, Inc., Archdiocese of Boston.

“We were pleasantly surprised and we are very excited,” said trust chair Larry Ballantine. He said the proposals were taken by the town’s procurement staff, Town Administrator Joseph Powers and Assistant Town Administrator Meggan Eldredge, to conduct technical reviews to assure the filing procedures were met.

“We weren’t allowed to look at them,” he said, adding that he was hoping to have a response from the procurement staff by the trust’s next meeting so a review committee can be established.

The three respondents have strong backgrounds in developing low-income and affordable housing. Mid-Cape Church Homes was started at the First Congregational Church in Harwich in 1975 to provide housing for low-income seniors and people with disabilities.

The nonprofit built 60 apartments in Pine Oaks Village I and II on 23 acres off Bank Street, Pine Oaks Village III added another 65 units on 12 acres off of Oak Street in 2003. Now known as Pine Oaks Village Homes, it has shifted the focus to affordable housing. The nonprofit has approximately 30 acres of land in the vicinity of Queen Anne Road and Main Street in North Harwich and is shaping a plan to develop approximately 280 units over three phases at the site.

Pennrose is a national organization that has built 27,000 rental units in more than 300 developments in 19 states and Washington, D.C. since 1971. Pennrose has been focusing on affordable housing developments on the Cape in recent years. The company built the 65-unit Nauset Green Development in North Eastham and is in the process of redeveloping the former Cape Cod Five headquarters property on West Road in Orleans into a 62-unit facility. Pennrose has also submitted proposals for two affordable housing projects in Chatham and recently withdrew from the planned redevelopment of the Gov. Prence property in Orleans (see separate stories).

The Planning Office of Urban Affairs Archdiocese of Boston has been busy building permanent homes for seniors, families, the special needs population, the working poor and the homeless since 1969. It is a nonprofit social justice ministry that has 39 developments throughout greater Boston.

The former Marceline property consists of 13.2 acres. The trust is seeking to develop only six acres at this time. The specifications call for the developer to enter into a 99-year lease on the property. The trust is seeking designs for a variety of households for individuals of all ages, families with children, persons with disabilities that reflect a mix of affordability levels.

A conceptual plan for the development provided by the trust projected 49 units with the architecture reflecting existing styles in the Harwich community.