Standing in front of a newly framed red house on Central Street, on Monday Springfield Mayor Dominic J. Sarno, city officials and project partners announced that applications for a new home lottery are officially open.
The Maple-High Six Corners neighborhood home lottery includes four new, affordable homes on Central and Pine streets. While the initiative to transform the Central Street corridor existed before an EF3 tornado hit Springfield and various other cities and towns in western Massachusetts in 2011, the project marks concrete progress in the continued effort to rebuild the area and provide affordable housing opportunities after the damage that devastated homes in the neighborhood.
“To get people in their own home, to have a roof over their head, be able to provide for their families and be a positive asset to the neighborhood, but also to build equity, financial strength – you can’t put a price tag on that,” Sarno said at the announcement.
City councilor and Maple-High Six Corners Neighborhood Council President Melvin Edwards said the neighborhood was in need of homeownership before the tornado struck, and was even more so greatly affected from the storm’s damage.
“This is transformative, and this is one of the foundational pieces that has actually helped this neighborhood recover from the impact of the tornado,” Edwards said, citing nearby homes that were damaged by the tornado and counted as a total loss.
The initiative follows the 2021 North End neighborhood lottery which put two new homes on the market for applicants. This year, the four homes will sell for approximately $190,000 each, for the three bedroom and two-and-a-half bath properties. A city subsidy covers the difference between the cost to build and the $190,000 price.
The project is a public and private collaboration with developers C&C Homes and the North End Housing Initiative, funded in part by the Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery Fund and the Office of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The project also partnered with NAI Plotkin and Youth Build, a program that teaches carpentry to youth through on-site work – allowing 11 aspiring carpenters to join the crew in building the new homes.
Jose Claudio, with the North End Housing Initiative, emphasized the financial benefits that the affordable homes will reap for families who can build equity for years to come. He said the efforts help make the “American Dream become a reality” for low-income families.
“This is about neighborhood stabilization and neighborhood transformation,” City of Springfield Director of Housing Gerry McCafferty said.
Applicants must be current Springfield residents, household income-qualified and pre-qualified for a mortgage. After the prospective homeowners are picked, the city hopes that residents can close on their homes in the fall.
