CPA Collaboration in Billerica Allows for an Affordable Housing “Triple Win”

Written by Chase Mack

As is common throughout many suburban communities in the Commonwealth, the town of Billerica faces a huge task when it comes to the creation of new affordable housing. According to a recent survey conducted by Community Teamwork, housing was identified as the #1 need in Billerica. Thankfully, after the town adopted the Community Preservation Act in 2016, local housing advocates have had access to the flexibility and adaptability that CPA funding offers. In 2021, the Billerica Housing Authority (BHA) worked alongside the Billerica Affordable Housing Trust (BAHT) and the town’s Community Preservation Committee (CPC) in order to purchase a duplex and rehabilitate it into new affordable units. And if this collaboration wasn’t exciting enough, the town’s Housing Authority has now returned to the CPC with another application to take advantage of their newly acquired property—there are now plans in place to utilize CPA funding once again in order to build a brand new three-bedroom affordable home on the same property.

In recent years, many municipalities have been exploring their options for creating an Affordable Housing Trust, and as Billerica and many other towns have discovered, the Community Preservation Act provides the means to proactively support their local Housing Trust with consistent and dedicated funding grants. In 2021, the BHA had the perfect opportunity to collaborate with their newly-created Housing Trust after a duplex-style, two-family home went on the market. And because Billerica residents had approved a total of $450,000 in CPA funds for the Housing Trust since 2018, this meant that the BHA could act quickly in order to purchase the property and rehabilitate it into two units of affordable housing. According to a representative from the BHA, this duplex now houses two families with Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers.

“Providing safe, appropriate, affordable housing is our core mission,” said Martin Conway, Chair of the Billerica Housing Authority. “And the Community Preservation Act provides us critical funding in support of that mission.”

During the process of purchasing the property, it was discovered that along with the duplex building, there was also a 4800 sq. ft. parcel containing a dilapidated and structurally unsound garage—and they also discovered that this parcel had previously been registered as a private lot. The BHA immediately saw the potential to transform this unused plot of land into another housing win for the town. Working with their local Zoning Board of Appeals, they succeeded in splitting the lot into two separate parcels once again and establishing a zoning variance to construct a single-family home in place of the rundown garage. But the next step for transforming a neighborhood eyesore into new affordable housing meant that they would need the assistance of CPA once again.

In 2022, the Billerica Housing Authority applied for CPA funding directly this time, submitting a formal application to their local Community Preservation Committee. Requesting a total of $272,613 in CPA Housing funds, the BHA’s application sought to enable the construction of a new three-bedroom home for a low-income family. And in the true spirit of CPA, the BHA’s plans to accomplish this feat involved plenty of community support: several local builders offered direct assistance with the project, engineering and surveying components were offered pro-bono, and most exciting of all, the local Shawsheen Regional Technical School agreed to adopt the construction of the home as a school project beginning in the fall of 2023. Robert M. Correnti, the Executive Director for the Billerica Housing Authority, succinctly describes what this project means to the town:

“This community project, made possible through CPA funding, is truly a 'win' for the neighborhood by improving the property, a 'win' for the Shawsheen Vocational School by having a home-building project for the 2023-2024 school year, and a 'win' for a family needing three-bedroom affordable housing.”

It goes without saying that the creation of new affordable housing can be a complicated and difficult task, but suburban communities like Billerica are acknowledging that it’s a key priority for their residents. And because towns like Billerica have adopted the Community Preservation Act, vital CPA funding is readily available for the local Housing Trust, which then goes on to facilitate the local Housing Authority’s work.  When municipalities have a persistent funding source like CPA, it allows for creative new opportunities like Billerica’s “triple win.” Martin Conway from the BHA put it best when summarizing how successful this community collaboration has been for Billerica:

“The BHA and BAHT have demonstrated that even small steps towards meeting the challenges of today’s critical need for affordable housing can be addressed by community leadership using funding sources such as the CPA.”