Loading...
From Housing To A New Nauset Campus, Development Took Center Stage In 2024
Lt. Governor Kim Driscoll was on hand for a ceremony celebrating the passage of the Affordable Homes Act at the Governor Prence Inn in Orleans in August. FILE PHOTO
Baskin’s ACE Hardware began operating around the corner at the site of the former Christmas Tree Shop in April. FILE PHOTO
Hadley Luddy will begin work as the new state representative for the Fourth Barnstable District this month. She replaces longtime representative Sarah Peake, who did not seek reelection in November. FILE PHOTO
Students at Nauset Regional High School returned to new campus buildings in September, part of the ongoing campus renovation that will continue into the fall. FILE PHOTO
ORLEANS – How do you sum up a year? In Orleans, 2024 boiled down to one word: Development.
Amidst all of the budget discussions, town meetings and other business that routinely defines municipal government from year to year, development proved central to much of what we saw in town over the past 12 months. From continued discussions about the need for a new fire station and elementary school to advancements of projects planned for West Road, Main Street and the Governor Prence Inn property, 2024 was a groundbreaking year in Orleans in more ways than one.
At Rock Harbor, work is underway on a new commercial wharf. Next door in Eastham, new buildings are up and running as part of the long-awaited Nauset Regional High School campus renovation. And in many ways, those projects are just the beginning. What will happen with the former Underground Mall, and what will the Governor Prence Inn property ultimately look like? What can residents expect from a proposed town campus? While there’s still plenty more to be done, the past year has given hope to many that talk of development, while sometimes extensive, can ultimately bear exciting results.
Will New Housing Bill Be A Boon For Local Development?
Ongoing efforts to create more affordable and workforce housing locally and across the state got a major boost in August, when Gov. Maura Healey signed the Affordable Homes Act into law. The bill will make $5.1 billion available over the next five years for the creation of new housing units and the preservation of existing housing.
Local and state officials including Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll were on hand at the Governor Prence Inn in August for a ceremony commemorating the bill’s passage. The bill includes more than 50 different initiatives geared toward spurring housing on an assortment of fronts, including affordable housing, accessory dwelling units, commercial conversions, green housing and housing for local veterans. There’s also a commitment to reinvest in state-run public housing across the Commonwealth.
“Through no one’s fault here individually, we’ve made housing really hard here in Massachusetts,” Driscoll said at the August event. “There are lots of really hard problems in government, intractable and difficult problems to solve. Housing isn’t one of them. We know how to build housing, and we need to build more of it.” The bill includes a seasonal communities designation for towns where second homes account for more than 35 percent of the local housing stock. Designated communities can create local trusts to generate revenue for the creation of missing middle housing. They also would be required to adopt bylaws allowing for tiny homes and the merger of lots to further expand local housing options. Orleans received one of the first seasonal designations in November.
Orleans has a number of shovel-ready housing projects underway, including two that have been in the pipeline for years. Ground has broken on a 62-unit development at the site of the former Cape Cod 5 headquarters on West Road, as well as a new 14-unit affordable housing development at the site of the former Masonic lodge at 107 Main St.
Meanwhile, a developer has been selected to turn the former 5.5-acre Prence property into affordable and workforce housing. The town awarded a contract to a joint proposal submitted by Preservation of Affordable Housing, Housing Assistance Corporation and Habitat for Humanity Cape Cod in June.
East Orleans Sewering Vexes Local Businesses
The year got off to a troubling start for some local merchants with sewer construction along East Main Street.
Construction related to the second phase of town sewering in the area of Meetinghouse Pond got underway in late 2023, and work along East Main Street was initially slated to start in December of last year. But concerns over how the work would detour people away from businesses along the stretch during the busy holiday season prompted Orleans officials to delay the start of work until after Jan. 1.
But that still proved problematic for some business owners. Peter Gori, owner of Nauset Farms, told the select board in January that the loss of business due to the closure of East Main Street to sewering forced him to lay off 22 of his employees and reduce his hours of business. Additional concerns were raised about how closures and detours would continue to impact businesses when work resumed at the end of East Main Street in the fall.
Gori said equally troublesome was what he saw as the lack of communication with local businesses and the Orleans Chamber of Commerce from the town about how sewering would proceed.
“If they had simply told me, I could have adjusted my business,” he told the select board.
The pushback over the East Main sewer planning prompted an effort by the town to increase communication with businesses and the public about detours, road closures and how work would proceed. That included the utilization of additional signage to alert people to ongoing work. Monthly meetings continue to be held between town officials, the chamber, business owners and the project contractor, CC Construction.
Baskin’s Finds A New Home
The news last year that the Christmas Tree Shop on South Orleans Rd. would shutter its doors after 41 years was met with a great sense of loss from many Orleans residents and visitors. To many, the iconic store was an integral, irreplaceable part of the local landscape.
But after a brief flirtation with a few major chains, the Bilezikian family, which owns the franchise, entered into a 10-year lease with Baskin’s ACE Hardware to occupy the space. The lease has an option for an extension of up to 30 years.
For the Baskins, who had been operating out of a much smaller storefront around the corner at 28 Orleans Rd. since 1977, the move represented a pivotal opportunity to grow the long-running family business. The family officially opened its doors at the new spot in April, and celebrated the occasion with a ribbon cutting event with employees, family, friends, town officials and members of the local business community.
The move has been positively met by many in the community who feared that the location would be occupied by a big box store or chain with the closure of the Christmas Tree Shop.
“It’s better,” Baskin’s co-owner Lynn Colangione said of the move in April. “It’s even better than we thought. The response from the people and the community has been awesome.”
Ready To Represent
The announcement in January that Sarah Peake would not seek reelection to a ninth term as state representative of the Fourth Barnstable District left big shoes to fill for her eventual successor. But Hadley Luddy is ready to jump in with both feet.
Luddy, an Orleans resident and CEO of the Homeless Prevention Council, was elected in November to assume the seat, which includes the towns of Chatham, Eastham, Harwich, Orleans, Provincetown, Truro and Wellfleet. She was unopposed at the Nov. 5 general election.
Orleans select board member Michael Herman also took out papers with the intention of running for the seat, but ended his run in May.
Luddy, an Amherst native who has lived on the Cape since 1996, will be sworn in this month along with her fellow freshmen legislators. Among her top priorities are keeping the district and the Cape on the path toward environmental protection and working toward the creation of more housing.
“I really think at this time in our country, Massachusetts without a doubt really leads in so many areas, and we can do even better and keep our work going, and I look forward to being part of that next chapter,” she said in an interview in November.
The timing was right for her to seek the seat, Luddy said. But her new role as state representative won’t come at the expense of her work with HPC. She plans to continue her work as CEO while serving the Fourth Barnstable District.
Town Campus Talks Gather Momentum
With the town’s growing infrastructure needs, discussion took off this year about the possible design and construction of a town campus.
Town Manager Kim Newman introduced the idea of a campus at the beginning of the year in an effort to address a number of the town’s needs in one project. Those include a new fire station, a new or renovated Orleans Elementary School and possibly a new community center.
The town’s fire station opened its doors in 1987, but the fire department’s operations have outgrown the station’s small space. The original portion of the elementary school, meanwhile, dates back to 1956.
With available town land on which to build in short supply, officials are looking at options for siting a new fire station and possibly a combined elementary school and community building in the area of the existing station and school on Eldredge Park Way. In May, voters approved appropriating $150,000 in free cash for a feasibility study. Galante Architecture Studio of Cambridge was selected to lead the study and prepare design options for a campus.
Assistant Town Manager Mark Reil told the select board in November that Galante would present anywhere from three to seven options for a campus by April 1. Those could include designs featuring a fire station and a combined elementary school and community center or ones featuring three standalone facilities. The firm’s report will also include “real cost estimates” for each option, he said.
Based on the results of the study, an article could go before voters at the annual town meeting in May seeking funding for a campus design.
Gov. Prence Plans Advance Amidst Controversy
Two firms placed bids earlier this year to redevelop the former Gov. Prence Inn into housing, but the process of awarding a contract for the project was not without controversy.
In June Town Manager Kim Newman awarded the project to Preservation of Affordable Housing, Housing Assistance Corporation and Habitat for Humanity Cape Cod, which submitted a joint proposal for developing the 5.5-acre parcel on Route 6A. The award came after Pennrose withdrew its proposal for the property from consideration.
Prior to the award, allegations surfaced that Alan McClennen, then chair of the town’s affordable housing trust fund board, was working to help steer the town toward the Pennrose proposal. McClennen also sat on the committee charged with reviewing the two bids for the project.
In June, Orleans resident Neal Ahern presented email communications between McClennen and Pennrose officials to the select board that took place after both project bids had been submitted. In one email, McClennen sought information regarding how developer fees submitted as part of the POAH/HAC/Habitat proposal compared to those for the Pennrose project. Ahern obtained approximately 1,800 emails through a Freedom of Information Act request that he filed in May.
On June 5, the select board conducted an executive session with McClennen. At the board’s next meeting on June 11, McClennen resigned from his seats on the affordable housing trust fund board, the board of water and sewer commissioners and the town’s long range capital planning committee. He also stepped down from his role as the water and sewer commissioners’ representative to the town’s wastewater management advisory committee.
McClennen apologized to the board June 11 for what he called “a procedural error” in communicating with Pennrose officials. He said his inquiries and communication should have instead gone through the town’s licensing and procurement coordinator.
Newman said the town will rethink its policies and procedures regarding how requests for proposals are prepared for future projects, and promised a smoother and more efficient process moving forward.
“I appreciate the patience with this,” she said. “It has taken too long. It shouldn’t have taken this long, and it won’t take this long again in the future.”
A New Era at Nauset High
After years of planning and discussion, staff and students at Nauset Regional High School got their first taste of life on the new school campus in September.
Ground broke in 2023 on the first phase of work on the Eastham campus, which is being renovated at a cost of $169.9 million. In September, students and staff returned to four brand new interconnected buildings housing classrooms as well as a new art wing, cafeteria, gymnasium and auditorium.
The new construction also includes new administration and counseling offices.
The new construction represents approximately 40 percent of the campus renovation. Still ongoing are renovations to existing high school buildings, which are expected to be done by the start of the 2025-2026 school year. That will be followed by final project work, including landscaping.
“We have the ethos already established,” Ho Yin Yuen, one of the high school’s assistant vice principals, said in the fall. “We have great kids, great teachers, a fantastic curriculum. I think just that structural piece kind of springboards us into the future.
Rock Harbor Reformation
Imagine a Rock Harbor with a new commercial bulkhead and docking system, a public viewing area and improved infrastructure for the safe offloading of catch.
Come spring, there won’t be any need to use your imagination. It will be reality.
Work on a new commercial bulkhead at the harbor is underway and is due to be completed by April or May. The project is being funded through a $9 million Proposition 2½ override authorized by voters at the annual town meeting and town election in May.
The existing bulkhead has fallen into disrepair in recent years, making it particularly unsafe and problematic for the 12 to 15 commercial fishing vessels that utilize it. The new structure will include a steel sheet pile bulkhead that will be set an additional 20 feet back from the existing wall, thereby creating an additional 3,400 square feet of space for boats to navigate. Other features include a new 5,420-square-foot commercial dock for offloading catch, a new public viewing area and the construction of two commercial floats with pier and gangway access that will allow for end-in berthing.
The town recently secured a $1 million grant from the state Seaport Economic Council to help offset the overall project cost. Another grant the town has applied for through the state Office of Coastal Zone Management could reduce the cost even further if awarded.
Amidst all of the budget discussions, town meetings and other business that routinely defines municipal government from year to year, development proved central to much of what we saw in town over the past 12 months. From continued discussions about the need for a new fire station and elementary school to advancements of projects planned for West Road, Main Street and the Governor Prence Inn property, 2024 was a groundbreaking year in Orleans in more ways than one.
At Rock Harbor, work is underway on a new commercial wharf. Next door in Eastham, new buildings are up and running as part of the long-awaited Nauset Regional High School campus renovation. And in many ways, those projects are just the beginning. What will happen with the former Underground Mall, and what will the Governor Prence Inn property ultimately look like? What can residents expect from a proposed town campus? While there’s still plenty more to be done, the past year has given hope to many that talk of development, while sometimes extensive, can ultimately bear exciting results.
Will New Housing Bill Be A Boon For Local Development?
Ongoing efforts to create more affordable and workforce housing locally and across the state got a major boost in August, when Gov. Maura Healey signed the Affordable Homes Act into law. The bill will make $5.1 billion available over the next five years for the creation of new housing units and the preservation of existing housing.
Local and state officials including Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll were on hand at the Governor Prence Inn in August for a ceremony commemorating the bill’s passage. The bill includes more than 50 different initiatives geared toward spurring housing on an assortment of fronts, including affordable housing, accessory dwelling units, commercial conversions, green housing and housing for local veterans. There’s also a commitment to reinvest in state-run public housing across the Commonwealth.
“Through no one’s fault here individually, we’ve made housing really hard here in Massachusetts,” Driscoll said at the August event. “There are lots of really hard problems in government, intractable and difficult problems to solve. Housing isn’t one of them. We know how to build housing, and we need to build more of it.” The bill includes a seasonal communities designation for towns where second homes account for more than 35 percent of the local housing stock. Designated communities can create local trusts to generate revenue for the creation of missing middle housing. They also would be required to adopt bylaws allowing for tiny homes and the merger of lots to further expand local housing options. Orleans received one of the first seasonal designations in November.
Orleans has a number of shovel-ready housing projects underway, including two that have been in the pipeline for years. Ground has broken on a 62-unit development at the site of the former Cape Cod 5 headquarters on West Road, as well as a new 14-unit affordable housing development at the site of the former Masonic lodge at 107 Main St.
Meanwhile, a developer has been selected to turn the former 5.5-acre Prence property into affordable and workforce housing. The town awarded a contract to a joint proposal submitted by Preservation of Affordable Housing, Housing Assistance Corporation and Habitat for Humanity Cape Cod in June.
East Orleans Sewering Vexes Local Businesses
The year got off to a troubling start for some local merchants with sewer construction along East Main Street.
Construction related to the second phase of town sewering in the area of Meetinghouse Pond got underway in late 2023, and work along East Main Street was initially slated to start in December of last year. But concerns over how the work would detour people away from businesses along the stretch during the busy holiday season prompted Orleans officials to delay the start of work until after Jan. 1.
But that still proved problematic for some business owners. Peter Gori, owner of Nauset Farms, told the select board in January that the loss of business due to the closure of East Main Street to sewering forced him to lay off 22 of his employees and reduce his hours of business. Additional concerns were raised about how closures and detours would continue to impact businesses when work resumed at the end of East Main Street in the fall.
Gori said equally troublesome was what he saw as the lack of communication with local businesses and the Orleans Chamber of Commerce from the town about how sewering would proceed.
“If they had simply told me, I could have adjusted my business,” he told the select board.
The pushback over the East Main sewer planning prompted an effort by the town to increase communication with businesses and the public about detours, road closures and how work would proceed. That included the utilization of additional signage to alert people to ongoing work. Monthly meetings continue to be held between town officials, the chamber, business owners and the project contractor, CC Construction.
Baskin’s Finds A New Home
The news last year that the Christmas Tree Shop on South Orleans Rd. would shutter its doors after 41 years was met with a great sense of loss from many Orleans residents and visitors. To many, the iconic store was an integral, irreplaceable part of the local landscape.
But after a brief flirtation with a few major chains, the Bilezikian family, which owns the franchise, entered into a 10-year lease with Baskin’s ACE Hardware to occupy the space. The lease has an option for an extension of up to 30 years.
For the Baskins, who had been operating out of a much smaller storefront around the corner at 28 Orleans Rd. since 1977, the move represented a pivotal opportunity to grow the long-running family business. The family officially opened its doors at the new spot in April, and celebrated the occasion with a ribbon cutting event with employees, family, friends, town officials and members of the local business community.
The move has been positively met by many in the community who feared that the location would be occupied by a big box store or chain with the closure of the Christmas Tree Shop.
“It’s better,” Baskin’s co-owner Lynn Colangione said of the move in April. “It’s even better than we thought. The response from the people and the community has been awesome.”
Ready To Represent
The announcement in January that Sarah Peake would not seek reelection to a ninth term as state representative of the Fourth Barnstable District left big shoes to fill for her eventual successor. But Hadley Luddy is ready to jump in with both feet.
Luddy, an Orleans resident and CEO of the Homeless Prevention Council, was elected in November to assume the seat, which includes the towns of Chatham, Eastham, Harwich, Orleans, Provincetown, Truro and Wellfleet. She was unopposed at the Nov. 5 general election.
Orleans select board member Michael Herman also took out papers with the intention of running for the seat, but ended his run in May.
Luddy, an Amherst native who has lived on the Cape since 1996, will be sworn in this month along with her fellow freshmen legislators. Among her top priorities are keeping the district and the Cape on the path toward environmental protection and working toward the creation of more housing.
“I really think at this time in our country, Massachusetts without a doubt really leads in so many areas, and we can do even better and keep our work going, and I look forward to being part of that next chapter,” she said in an interview in November.
The timing was right for her to seek the seat, Luddy said. But her new role as state representative won’t come at the expense of her work with HPC. She plans to continue her work as CEO while serving the Fourth Barnstable District.
Town Campus Talks Gather Momentum
With the town’s growing infrastructure needs, discussion took off this year about the possible design and construction of a town campus.
Town Manager Kim Newman introduced the idea of a campus at the beginning of the year in an effort to address a number of the town’s needs in one project. Those include a new fire station, a new or renovated Orleans Elementary School and possibly a new community center.
The town’s fire station opened its doors in 1987, but the fire department’s operations have outgrown the station’s small space. The original portion of the elementary school, meanwhile, dates back to 1956.
With available town land on which to build in short supply, officials are looking at options for siting a new fire station and possibly a combined elementary school and community building in the area of the existing station and school on Eldredge Park Way. In May, voters approved appropriating $150,000 in free cash for a feasibility study. Galante Architecture Studio of Cambridge was selected to lead the study and prepare design options for a campus.
Assistant Town Manager Mark Reil told the select board in November that Galante would present anywhere from three to seven options for a campus by April 1. Those could include designs featuring a fire station and a combined elementary school and community center or ones featuring three standalone facilities. The firm’s report will also include “real cost estimates” for each option, he said.
Based on the results of the study, an article could go before voters at the annual town meeting in May seeking funding for a campus design.
Gov. Prence Plans Advance Amidst Controversy
Two firms placed bids earlier this year to redevelop the former Gov. Prence Inn into housing, but the process of awarding a contract for the project was not without controversy.
In June Town Manager Kim Newman awarded the project to Preservation of Affordable Housing, Housing Assistance Corporation and Habitat for Humanity Cape Cod, which submitted a joint proposal for developing the 5.5-acre parcel on Route 6A. The award came after Pennrose withdrew its proposal for the property from consideration.
Prior to the award, allegations surfaced that Alan McClennen, then chair of the town’s affordable housing trust fund board, was working to help steer the town toward the Pennrose proposal. McClennen also sat on the committee charged with reviewing the two bids for the project.
In June, Orleans resident Neal Ahern presented email communications between McClennen and Pennrose officials to the select board that took place after both project bids had been submitted. In one email, McClennen sought information regarding how developer fees submitted as part of the POAH/HAC/Habitat proposal compared to those for the Pennrose project. Ahern obtained approximately 1,800 emails through a Freedom of Information Act request that he filed in May.
On June 5, the select board conducted an executive session with McClennen. At the board’s next meeting on June 11, McClennen resigned from his seats on the affordable housing trust fund board, the board of water and sewer commissioners and the town’s long range capital planning committee. He also stepped down from his role as the water and sewer commissioners’ representative to the town’s wastewater management advisory committee.
McClennen apologized to the board June 11 for what he called “a procedural error” in communicating with Pennrose officials. He said his inquiries and communication should have instead gone through the town’s licensing and procurement coordinator.
Newman said the town will rethink its policies and procedures regarding how requests for proposals are prepared for future projects, and promised a smoother and more efficient process moving forward.
“I appreciate the patience with this,” she said. “It has taken too long. It shouldn’t have taken this long, and it won’t take this long again in the future.”
A New Era at Nauset High
After years of planning and discussion, staff and students at Nauset Regional High School got their first taste of life on the new school campus in September.
Ground broke in 2023 on the first phase of work on the Eastham campus, which is being renovated at a cost of $169.9 million. In September, students and staff returned to four brand new interconnected buildings housing classrooms as well as a new art wing, cafeteria, gymnasium and auditorium.
The new construction also includes new administration and counseling offices.
The new construction represents approximately 40 percent of the campus renovation. Still ongoing are renovations to existing high school buildings, which are expected to be done by the start of the 2025-2026 school year. That will be followed by final project work, including landscaping.
“We have the ethos already established,” Ho Yin Yuen, one of the high school’s assistant vice principals, said in the fall. “We have great kids, great teachers, a fantastic curriculum. I think just that structural piece kind of springboards us into the future.
Rock Harbor Reformation
Imagine a Rock Harbor with a new commercial bulkhead and docking system, a public viewing area and improved infrastructure for the safe offloading of catch.
Come spring, there won’t be any need to use your imagination. It will be reality.
Work on a new commercial bulkhead at the harbor is underway and is due to be completed by April or May. The project is being funded through a $9 million Proposition 2½ override authorized by voters at the annual town meeting and town election in May.
The existing bulkhead has fallen into disrepair in recent years, making it particularly unsafe and problematic for the 12 to 15 commercial fishing vessels that utilize it. The new structure will include a steel sheet pile bulkhead that will be set an additional 20 feet back from the existing wall, thereby creating an additional 3,400 square feet of space for boats to navigate. Other features include a new 5,420-square-foot commercial dock for offloading catch, a new public viewing area and the construction of two commercial floats with pier and gangway access that will allow for end-in berthing.
The town recently secured a $1 million grant from the state Seaport Economic Council to help offset the overall project cost. Another grant the town has applied for through the state Office of Coastal Zone Management could reduce the cost even further if awarded.
A healthy Barnstable County requires great community news.
Please support The Cape Cod Chronicle by subscribing today!
Please support The Cape Cod Chronicle by subscribing today!
You may also like:
