In the late 1970s, Amherst adopted a master plan to guide future growth. One of the principal tenets of that plan was to designate several village centers, distinct from the historic town center, where investment in multipurpose housing, as well as commercial, professional, and even technology enterprises could be concentrated.

We now, finally, have the opportunity to realize this goal with the North Square project currently proposed by Beacon Communities in North Amherst.

In the intervening years since the master plan was adopted, major investments have occurred in all the designated village centers with that conspicuous exception of North Amherst. The core of the North Amherst village center, the triangle bounded by Montague Road (Route 63), Sunderland Road and Cowls Road has only in the last two years seen substantial investment in the Atkins Farms Market and the one building across Cowls Road from the market which houses Bread & Butter and The Lift Salon.

The Amherst Zoning Board of Appeals now has before it the proposed North Square project to build 130 units of mixed-use housing, all one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments, including 26 affordable housing units, and with general commercial services occupying the first floor of each of the buildings in the complex.

Carefully planned and landscaped open space and plenty of free parking are included. All of this on a roughly 5-acre plot in the northeast corner of the North Amherst village center that was once a thriving lumber mill now abandoned.

The total investment involved is more than $40 million. The site is the nearest thing to blight which cannot be found in any of the other village centers in Amherst.

The developer, Beacon Communities, is based in Boston. It has a stellar reputation for development and management of rental housing. They own and manage more than 12,000 units, more than 80 percent of which are in some 60 projects in Massachusetts communities.

Beacon Communities plans carefully, listens carefully to input from communities they choose to serve, incorporates much of those inputs into the final plans, and, most importantly, produce what it has agreed to do.

As nearby examples, in Greenfield, Beacon Communities has done a beautiful 100-plus-unit, adaptive-reuse, renovation of an old manufacturing mill on Wells Street.

In Easthampton, Beacon Communities developed the Tree House project which is a community of single-family homes designed for the needs of elders and for families who provide a home for or adopt children in the state’s foster care programs. This is an exemplary, innovative project.

And right here in Amherst, Beacon Communities three years ago bought Rolling Green with its over 200 mixed-income apartments and assured the continuance of those units designated as affordable in perpetuity. This was so important for Amherst that Amherst committed $1,250,000 from the Community Preservation Act account for the purchase and preservation of the affordable units. Since the purchase, Beacon Communities has invested approximate $4.5 million to complete extensive renovations.

Amherst cannot afford to lose this opportunity to provide both the housing and the commercial development that is sorely needed in town, especially in the North Amherst village center. We should support Beacon Communities expanding into our community since it is exactly the type of developer and property owner we want building here.

I believe the North Square will serve as a catalyst for additional needed investments in North Amherst center. I am confident that, when completed, Amherst will have good reason to be proud of the product.

John W. Olver, of Amherst, is a former U.S. congressman and state legislator.