Housing Trust Withholds Decision On Marceline Property

HARWICH – Members of the affordable housing trust met with Town Administrator Joseph Powers in executive session Tuesday evening. While they discussed which of the three respondents to a proposal to develop six acres of the former Marceline property located at 456 Queen Anne Rd. is best suited to build 90 bedrooms of mixed residential affordable housing, no decision was announced.

The trust received proposals from Mid-Cape Church Homes, Inc.; Pennrose, LLC; and the Planning Office of Urban Affairs, Inc. Archdiocese of Boston. A town-appointed design review committee was established to review the proposals, and Powers, the town’s chief procurement officer, made a specific recommendation to the trust based on the review committee’s assessment.

Affordable Housing Trust Chair Larry Ballantine said earlier in the week that he expected trust members would come out of the executive session and vote publicly to award a contract, but that did not happen.

Powers told the trust in its July 9 meeting that he and Assistant Town Administrator Meggan Eldredge did a regulatory review of the proposals and that a design selection review committee concluded a review that morning and reached a unanimous decision.

The Chronicle learned from a source close to the proceedings that Pennrose received the top number of points among the three respondents.

After 35 minutes of discussion in executive session Tuesday during which no votes were taken, Ballantine announced that the trust would take a formal vote at its monthly meeting Aug. 13.

“I thought we were going to be ready to vote, but we determined we weren’t,” Ballantine said after the meeting.

Ballantine said that Powers wanted to review financial aspects relating to the recommended respondent, as well as work on legal language relating to the lease of the property.

The proposal specifications call for a 99-year lease and construction of no more than 90 bedrooms of affordable rental housing. The development is to serve a variety of households for individuals of all ages, including families with children and persons with disabilities while providing a mix of affordability levels.

The trust developed a conceptual plan with 49 units incorporating the 90 bedrooms. The design included two three-story buildings and three townhouses, each containing three units.

Ballantine said trust members want to make a couple of site visits to projects by the developers. When asked whether trust members would be visiting sites developed by each of the three respondents, Ballantine said they haven’t determined that yet.

Once the trust votes to award the project, it will have 90 days to finalize the contract, Ballantine said.