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Photo Vincent Guadazno
Architects Derek and Jessica Snare measure the Gull’s Nest Inn on frigid Tuesday morning. |
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Photo Vincent Guadazno
Jerry Anathan in front of the motel she hopes to turn into affordable housing. |
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Old motel may get new, affordable lease on life
By Evan Mowery
Banner Correspondent
PROVINCETOWN — A new proposal aims to add 12 units to the town’s affordable housing roster, and it took one giant step toward reality Monday.
The community preservation committee voted unanimously Monday to collaborate with Town Manager Keith Bergman to draft a proposed article for the April 4 Town Meeting warrant requesting $732,000 in Community Preservation Act funds for a proposed affordable housing project on Sandy Hill Lane.
The project, as proposed by Geraldine “Jerry” Anathan, owner of the Provincetown Realty Group, would transform the existing Gull’s Nest Inn at 6 Sandy Hill Lane into a development of 12 units, nine of which would be one-bedroom apartments, and the remaining three would contain two bedrooms. The project would expand the existing 3,300 sq. ft. area by 2,200 feet, while maintaining the current footprint.
As planned now, the units would range between 435 and 600 sq. ft.
Approval of the $732,000 by Town Meeting voters would mean that all the units can be sold at affordable rates.
“We are required to do 33 percent and we are doing 100 percent,” said Anathan.
Anathan added they must seek “some relief from zoning for the 12th unit.”
Anathan is partnering with Cassandra Benson to develop the project. The property currently is owned by Maria Kuliopulos, and Anathan and Benson are in negotiations with her to buy the property. The lottery for the units will be conducted by community housing developer Ted Malone.
“Both Ted Malone and Pam Parmakian from Community Housing Resource have been so generous in their support and guidance with this project,” said Anathan. “We could never have pulled together the fine details in such a short timeframe without them.”
CPC chair Elaine Anderson Tuesday said, “We think this is a wonderful opportunity. It’s the first of the private projects coming through [for CPA funds].”
The project is due to come back before the CPC on March 27, she said.
“We want to see that some of the documentation is moving forward, to see that they do have bank funding commitment and board permitting is on track,” she said.
“We hope that our commitment will show the bank that this is a valuable project,” she added.
Although the 15-unit septic system has not failed, Anderson said that possibly in the future the project might be eligible for a sewer connection.
And in its recommendation, the CPC included $70,000 toward a possible upgrade to the septic. That amount could conceivably be put in escrow by Town Meeting voters, Anderson said.
The total project price tag of $2.5 million includes acquisition of the property and total construction costs, including a necessary gutting of the motel. It also includes implementation of environmentally sound, or “green” building techniques, with help from the Cape Light Compact, and the exploration of a partnership with the Massachusetts Technical Corporation to incorporate solar power.
A stipulation of the proposal was the receipt of letters of support from residents of the town, which Anathan said she has collected personally.
“We received lots of letters,” she said, adding that positive response by residents is a driving force in the project.
“Community support will help push us through other hurdles such as zoning and planning.”
If voted favorably upon by the town, construction would begin on the project by the beginning of May of this year, with the anticipated date of completion set for the beginning of October.
At that time the units would be distributed to eligible recipients who have qualified for a lottery conducted by the Community Housing Resource Committee in the late spring or early summer.
Town Manager Keith Bergman spoke positively of the proposal.
"It's great to see a project like this come forward. The need for affordable housing in this community is real, and real solutions are sorely needed,” he stated in an emailed response to the Banner. He added that he hoped Provincetown would see “many more such initiatives” with the help of the Housing Office the town is proposing to establish at Town Meeting.
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Mar 8th, 2007