Island Housing Trust application - 50 Bellevue Avenue Veterans Supportive Housing

Veteran’s Supportive Housing at 50 Bellevue Avenue, Oak Bluffs
Island Housing Trust (IHT) Philippe Jordi, CEO
P.O. Box 779 West Tisbury, MA 02575
info@ihtmv.org
(508) 693-1117

Project Category: The 50 Bellevue project will fall under the Community Housing category. IHT is requesting $53,000 in Chilmark CPA funding as part of a total request of $1 million to all 6 island towns, to help pay for the construction of 12 rental apartments serving the island veterans. In exchange for the grant funding, preference to one Chilmark veteran will be given for one of the 12 apartments. IHT and CIVOC are proposing to build 12 rental apartments, approximately 700 square foot each, located within three 2-story buildings for island veterans on land ground-leased by the Town of Oak Bluffs. IHT and CIVOC are currently in the planning and design process with an architectural and engineering team to build a neighborhood of 12 one-bedroom apartments and a shared community room. This neighborhood will provide livable, energy efficient, and accessible rental housing for island veterans earning 30%, 50%, 60%, and 80% or less of the area median income. Once constructed, CIVOC will provide rental and property management services and wraparound support services to the veterans. The 3.4-acre project site is located at 50 Bellevue Avenue in Oak Bluffs off of County Road with year-round Vineyard Transit Authority (VTA) bus service. The site will be served by town water and sewer. A 50-foot forested buffer will be retained around the building site providing privacy for residents and Page 2 of 4 50 Bellevue Ave. Veterans Supportive Housing October 24, 2023 abutters to the east, west and south with setback relief being sought for the north side facing the capped town landfill. Buildings will be designed to be energy efficient, sustainable, all-electric and oriented to maximize solar generation. All building entries and ground floor apartments will be located along visitable paths. The buildings face towards a small common green with a centrally located patio space. One of the 6 ground floor homes will be fully accessible, and the other 5 will be constructed as adaptable units. All apartments will include universal design features to best accommodate the ages and abilities of the residents. Each unit will have laundry and storage. One building proposes a walkout basement, utilizing the existing site grading along the eastern side for a shared indoor common space. CIVOC will provide wraparound supportive services to the veterans based upon each individual’s needs and personal plan. The services may include referrals to educational programs, employment assistance, financial literacy training and savings plans, transportation service to doctors’ appointments (for example), or meeting with CIVOC’s in-house counselors for personal needs. No group service
programming will occur on-site but rather residents will be referred to off-site regional providers. 
Funding Scope: The total project budget is $5,285,230 with construction of the housing at $4,426,316. The project will be financed through a combination of grant funding from the State Executive Office of
Housing and Livable Communities. The project will request a total of $1,000,000 in Municipal Affordable Housing Trust and Community Preservation Act grant funding from the Town of Oak Bluffs and the five
other municipalities on the Island of Martha’s Vineyard. IHT/CIVOC will raise an additional $900,000 in private donors and grants.
Sources of private and public funds are:
• $88,350 from the Town of Tisbury CPC
• $15,200 from the Town of Aquinnah CPC
• $53,000 from the Town of Chilmark CPC
• $70,680 from the West Tisbury CPC
• $607,200 from the Oak Bluffs CPC
• $165,650 from the Town of Edgartown CPC
• $785,230 in mortgage financing
• $900,000 in IHT/CIVOC grant
• $1,900,000 in State EOHLC HSF/HIF grants
• $500,000 in FHLB Boston grants
• $200,000 in CLC Energy Rebates
The CPA funds will be used for hard construction costs. Please see attached, the developer proforma, showing sources and uses of funding and operating income of the affordable units. Please see attached a
construction estimate. 
Goals: The goal of the project is to develop new supportive rental housing for veterans in Oak Bluffs that will provide stable, quality, affordable year-round housing to those who have served our country and are in need. The 50 Bellevue Avenue project achieves this goal by designing and building 12 rental apartments and a shared community room within 3 buildings. The success of this project will be evident when the apartments at 50 Bellevue Avenue are owned and operated by CIVOC to provide affordable supportive housing and services for island veteran residents.
Community Need and Support: Today, veterans comprise nearly 10%, or over 19,000, of the total population on the Cape and Islands. This is nearly twice the State average of 5.8%. 4.4% of this population, over 850 individuals, live below the poverty line, and over 70% of Cape veterans are above age 65. In addition, over 470 suffer from a traumatic brain injury (TBI) and post-traumatic stress (PST), and at any given point in time, there are at least 39 to 45 homeless veterans in the area. When you count those near homelessness the number approaches nearly 150 on any given night. Over 1,000 year-round residents and their families are waiting for affordable rental housing on Martha’s Vineyard, including 310 children. Rents on the island are 30% above the state-wide median while wages are 27% below the state-wide median. Only 38% of the housing stock on the entire island is available for year-round occupancy and 21% of year-round residents pay more than half of their income on housing costs. This proposed project will provide permanent affordable homes to between 12 and 24 individuals who have so generously and bravely served our nation, veterans of our armed services. The development creates 12 one-bedroom apartments for veterans with rents set commensurate with incomes at or below 30%, 50%, 60% and 80% or less of area median income for Dukes County. In exchange for the grant funding, preference for one rental apartment will be given to a veteran living and/or working in Chilmark.   The project is a joint venture of CIVOC and IHT with wide island support. There has been no opposition to this project. IHT has begun the 40 B permitting process. IHT has been providing outreach to neighbors to include abutters in the conceptual design process for the project to ensure compatibility with the neighborhood and the island’s vernacular architecture. Affordable Housing Committees island-wide are in support of the project (please see the attached support letters from the AHC’s).
Timing: The Town of Oak Bluffs issued an RFP for the town owned 50 Bellevue property specifically to build affordable housing for island veterans. IHT and CIVOC responded and were awarded the project and
Page 4 of 4 50 Bellevue Ave. Veterans Supportive Housing October 24, 2023 will enter into a ground lease with the town upon closing. IHT hired an architectural and engineering team to start conceptual design. Permitting will take place in the fall of 2023 with permits secured by the spring of 2024, including a 40B Comprehensive Permit from the Oak Bluffs ZBA and a DRI from the MVC. Design Development and Construction Documents are currently being started with completion in the winter of 2024. Contractor bidding will occur in the spring/summer of 2024, with construction starting in the Spring of 2025 and construction completion by the Spring of 2026.