AMHERST — As the Select Board considers acting on a request to offer tax breaks to a mixed-use project that would bring 26 affordable apartments to North Amherst, some residents are making the case for examining other costs of the development, including to the schools and public safety departments.
The board Monday received a formal request from Beacon Communities LLC of Boston to use the town’s affordable housing property tax incentive program so that it can move forward with the $47.5 million North Square at the Mill District project.
Plans call for 130 apartments, of which 20 percent, or 26 dwellings, will be set aside for people who qualify at or under 50 percent of the area median income. The project also includes 22,000 square feet of commercial space.
The Select Board is expected to decide at its Feb. 6 meeting whether the project, which is continuing to be reviewed by the Zoning Board of Appeals under the state’s Chapter 40B affordable housing law, is an appropriate investment in affordable housing.
Offering tax breaks as an incentive is allowed after a special act was adopted by annual Town Meeting in 2015 and then passed by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Charlie Baker.
“This is the first opportunity for us to use this tool to create affordable housing,” Town Manager Paul Bockelman said.
Beacon Development Director Darcy Jameson said the residential components of the project, with the reduced taxes, would still generate $1.6 million in tax revenue over the first 10 years, and $12.8 million over the following 20 years.
Jameson said the tax incentive is a key component of the project that is being financed through various sources, with about half coming through the first mortgage debt financing under the MassHousing Partnership.
Beacon President Dara Kovel said the tax incentive is “right sized” for the project and that Beacon is not asking for more than it needs to make it financially feasible.
“This is a powerful tool you’ve created, and we’re definitely excited to take advantage of it,” Kovel said.
There would be no similar tax relief for the commercial portion of the property, which is expected to generate about $2.8 million in new tax revenue over 30 years.
The current undeveloped 5.3-acre parcel generates about $10,000 in tax revenues annually.
But James Perot, a Precinct 1 Town Meeting member, said there will be a cost to the town, from educating children who will live at the complex to the demands on public safety.
Before the Select Board makes a decision, Vincent O’Connor, also a Precinct 1 Town Meeting member, said residents should get to see a calculation of the financial burden the project will impose on the town.
Janet Keller of Precinct 1 said she would like to see project downsized so that its impact on the neighborhood and the town as a whole is minimized. This was echoed in a letter from Maurianne Adams of Precinct 10.
“It is a negotiating tool that can ‘balance’ Beacon’s claims to be made whole in this project and Amherst’s needs to balance the creation of affordable units without sacrificing a historical residential neighborhood to the excessive density and size of Beacon’s overreach,” Adams wrote.
For Thomas Kegelman, chairman of the town’s Affordable Housing Trust, the project will benefit the tax base, affordable housing and commercial activity.
“The return in the investment is going to be substantial to the town,” Kegelman said.
Amherst Business Improvement District Executive Director Sarah la Cour said she is thrilled to see the tax incentive pay off. “This project represents how best it can be used,” la Cour said.
Support also the came from both the Amherst Chamber of Commerce and Amherst Survival Center in separate letters to the Select Board.
“We urge you to make this happen,” wrote Tim O’Brien, the chamber’s executive director. “The North Square at the Mill District project is a strong investment in Amherst’s economic future.”
“As we support the use of public funds to assist our neighbors with the distribution of food, we also support its use to assist our neighbors to secure affordable housing in our community,” wrote Mindy Domb, executive director of the survival center.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
