‘Waterhouse’ to benefit from grant awards

Housing project 1 of 27 in state to get mix of tax credits, other subsidies

By Michael McHugh

» Staff Writer

DANVERS — Gov. Maura Healey arrived at the New England Homes for the Deaf Thursday to announce grant awards for 27 different projects in 18 communities across the state, including “The Waterhouse” apartments to be built on 6 acres of undeveloped land behind the facility off Water Street.

The project will create 116 units of senior housing with 100% preference for the deaf, deafblind, and hard of hearing community. Ninety- three of the units will be designated as affordable, including 17 units below 30% of the area median income.

The exact amount of the grant award for the project was not immediately available. In total, $227 million in state and federal tax credits and subsidies will support the creation or preservation of about 1,900 rental units, according to the state.

“Housing is more than a roof over one’s head,” Healey said. “It’s a place of belonging and a place of security. and as governor, I don’t want anyone in our state to live with the fear of housing insecurity.”

Ninety-two percent of the units funded by these awards will be made affordable for middle-income households; 480 units will also be reserved for extremely low-income individuals and families, state officials said.

“We need housing for all incomes and all stages of life,” Secretary of Housing and Livable Communities Edward Augustus said. “We need a variety of homes for our students, families, and for our residents living with disabilities.

“Everywhere I visit, I hear that the cost of housing is too high, and the availability is too low, and this is a serious economic threat to our state. It makes it more difficult to retain our talented workforce, including our college graduates, who see their paychecks go further somewhere else.”

Danvers Town Manager Steve Bartha said the town “has done more than most communities to stimulate affordable housing development that meets the needs of its residents, but whether these efforts are enough to make housing security a reality for all members of our community remains an open, and vexing, question.”

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He said local officials “are lucky” to have Healey and her administration as a partner, prioritizing housing development.

For nearly 30 years, New England Homes for the Deaf board members have been working to identify a use for the 6 acres of undeveloped land behind their building. Originally, the board considered options such as single- family homes, a solar field, and finally condos, which led to the current project with Winn Development LLC, which is designing The Waterhouse.

Similar to all the announced projects, The Waterhouse will be designed to passive home standards, meaning that it will not require any heating system other than post air heating, significantly reducing the home’s carbon and energy use to be as low as practically achievable.

The development will also provide supportive services and enhanced accessibility by incorporating technology specific to the deaf community such as open view corridors, extra wide and rounded hallways, flexible furniture layouts, soft colors, and natural lighting to allow residents to focus on communication through sign language, body language, and facial expressions.

With the priority of communication access at the forefront, New England Homes for the Deaf will be offering American Sign Language classes and lessons on deaf culture, enabling communication and community between hearing and hard of hearing residents.

“The Waterhouse is really a first of its kind project and accomplishes three key objectives,” said Adam Stein, WinnCompanies executive vice president. “It fulfills NEHD’s 100-year mission to serve and expand much needed housing for the deaf community. It advances WinnCompanies’ unwavering commitment to create and care for mixed income housing and its residents.

“And for the commonwealth, it ensures that the state will expand housing production in a way that benefits all its residents who desperately need quality, affordable housing.”

“For those of you who may not know, Helen Keller was instrumental in helping NEHD acquire this property. We would not be here if not for her, so I think this is a lovely way to go ahead and honor her legacy,” facility spokesperson Thomas Boudrow said.

“ She obviously had many, many quotes, but one I would like to share with you is when she said, ‘While they were saying among themselves it cannot be done, it was done.’ and that, to me, is really the definition of what’s happening here today.”

Michael McHugh can be contacted at mmchugh@northofboston.com or at 781-799-5202

Gov. Maura Healey visited the New England Home for the Deaf to announce grant awards for 27 different projects across Massachusetts MICHAEL MCHUGH/ Staff photos

Thomas Boudrow, NEHD’s director of communications, business development and outreach speaks on the need for “The Waterhouse” development.