It’s Official: Spring Rock Village Is Underway In Brewster

BREWSTER – Ground was broken earlier this summer, the foundations are in, but the official groundbreaking for Spring Rock Village in Brewster took place on a bright Tuesday morning under sunny skies.

“We’ve been working on this project for 10 years,” said Alisa Magnotta, chief executive officer of the Housing Assistance Corporation, adding that during that decade the number of year-round rentals in Brewster declined from 20 to 12 percent.

“We’re losing ground to short-term rentals and second homeowners,” Magnotta said. “We have to have more projects like these in every town.” 

The development will provide 45 units of affordable housing on 16.8 acres of town-owned land at 572 Millstone Rd. It will feature seven buildings, including a maintenance shed, around a green. The developed portion of the property will cover a little more than five acres out of the 16.

The Housing Assistance Corporation partnered with Preservation of Affordable Housing to create the project.

“Their staff was amazing to work with,” Magnotta said of POAH.

“Alisa is the champion of affordable housing on the Cape and she fights every day for it,” POAH CEO Aaron Gornstein said. “This is POAH’s 17th development on Cape and our eighth collaboration with Housing Assistance.”

There will be 15 one-bedroom apartments, 25 two-bedroom apartments and five three-bedroom apartments in five buildings. The central management building will contain a community room, laundry and other amenities. The development will also have a small wastewater facility and 81 parking spaces.

Ninth District Congressman William Keating, D-Bourne, was also on hand to champion affordable housing and this project in particular.

“Ten years is a long time,” he said. “One thing we can do is maybe find a way to accelerate that. These things are so intricate. If people knew going in what they’d have to do, people would walk away. But [this shows] it can be done successfully.”

Keating pointed out that the median home price in Barnstable County is now $765,000, about $100,000 more than the rest of the state.

“The three pillars of this development are the Housing Assistance Corporation, Preservation of Affordable Housing and the town of Brewster,” he said. “They really deserve great credit.”

He added that in Barnstable County housing expenses have risen to 35 percent of the total income of residents. Couple that with other rising expenses and it is becoming increasingly difficult to own a home. Some might scoff at the benefit of adding 45 units over 10 years, he said.

“If we’re ever going to deal with the housing situation it will be one step at a time,” Keating declared. ”So each one of these is a step forward. We have to look at these things as an investment, one dollar in and one dollar back. People are moving in and they’re being productive and adding themselves to the economy. They are going to make us stronger and better going forward.” 

The project was originally set to be complete by this summer. The work schedule now anticipates finishing during the summer of 2027. The initial leases will include 55 percent local preference (24 units) and 15 percent regional (seven units). The project's projected cost was $27.6 million. 

Brewster designated the site for affordable housing in 2018. 

“We would invest in projects like this every day because it is pure value,” said Dana LaWinter of the Massachusetts Housing Partnership. “We have supported the creation of over 500 homes with POAH over 23 years. Our priority is providing permanent financing to take the project to reality.”

The project is designed to accommodate residents earning from 30 to 60 percent of the Barnstable County area median income, which is around $29,000 to $79,000 for individuals. Residents will be chosen through a lottery.

No one can accuse Brewster select board Chair Amanda Bebrin of being a NIMBY on affordable housing. She is an abutter to Spring Rock.

“From where we began in 2017, this is an incredible example of what community based-housing can be,” she said. “We delivered what we promised. Everybody was engaged and shaped the final design.They preferred energy efficiency and preserving as much of the site as possible.”

She noted there has been opposition to affordable housing construction on Cape, but proponents are managing to convince many of the need.

“I’m so excited to have 45 homes full of new neighbors,” Bebrin said. “It is a value to us to have people who know how special Brewster is to be able to build their lives here.”