Springfield’s affordable Merrick Park apartments project expands
SPRINGFIELD — The developer selected to transform the long-closed school administration building into apartments has expanded the project to include a vacant historic building nearby.
First Resource Development Company announced plans to renovate 19-25 Maple St., into apartments as part of its Merrick Park project that began in 2021 when the city selected the business as preferred developer for the long-closed school administration building at 195 State St.
The company, which is working on the project with partner WNC & Associates, purchased the Maple Street building about 18 months ago for $2.4 million from a New York company that owned it under the name Temple Property Group LLC. The building, which is located on the corner of Temple Street, has been vacant for at least seven years, records show.
"We bought it to make the project larger and better," said Jennifer Egan, assistant developer for First Resource.
The original plan called for a 41-apartment renovation of 195 State St. With the new building that will grow to 62 units divided into eight studios, 43 one-bedroom units, 10 two-bedroom units and one three-bedroom apartment, Egan said.
All the apartments will be affordable and rented to people who earn between 30% and 60% of the area median income. Eight of the two-bedroom units will be reserved for families using Section 8 assistance, company officials said.
After years of work to secure financing for the project, construction is expected to begin Sept. 1 and the company is hoping to see the first tenants move in around February 2027, Egan said.
The $40 million renovation will receive funding boosts of $1.4 million from the federal Housing and Urban Development administered through the state Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities . Springfield has also granted the developers $400,000 in HOME funds for the project, said Geraldine McCafferty, director of housing for the city.
With a serious shortage of housing, especially for units deemed affordable, the announcement that Merrick Park Apartments will be larger is welcome news, she said.
Gordon Pulsifer, president of First Resource, has started with a single building project and added others onto it to make a larger project in the past. Most notable is his purchase and conversion of the derelict Knox Automobile building after finishing the 199-apartment Indian Motorcycle complex across Wilbraham Road.
The two projects created a total of 295 affordable apartments and redeveloped that entire area.
"They are really skilled at the historic building renovation," McCafferty said. "They have a passion for preserving historic components of a building."
The company is also known as a high-quality developer and manager which has stabilized neighborhoods, she said.
As part of the project, First Resource is also planning to take over the management of the small Merrick Park which is located across from 195 State St. building at the corner of Chestnut and State streets, Egan said.
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