Adams Housing Authority Gives Property To Habitat for Humanity
 A structure at 221 East Road will be demolished to make way for a net-zero energy two-unit home being built by Habitat for Humanity. |
ADAMS, Mass. — The Adams Housing Authority will give one of its properties to Northern Berkshire Habitat for Humanity so it can build a zero-net energy home.
The Housing Authority at a special meeting Tuesday approved the sale of the vacant 221 East Road property to Habitat for Humanity for $1.
Chairman Mark Covert said the home has been vacant since 2002 and the Housing Authority has been struggling to dispose of it.
"It has a myriad of problems. Essentially it is falling down, it is very old, and we have been trying to dispose of the property for a long time," Covert said. "This has been a thorn in the Housing Authority’s side because we had to take care of the maintenance."
He said this will be the first Habitat for Humanity home in Adams.
The Housing Authority's executive director, Richard Hamblin, said specific legislation had to be created in the fall 2013 to allow for the board to put out an request for proposals to dispose of the property.
"Basically it was couched in terms if you can get an entity that wants to take the property and make it available for affordable housing you can take that into consideration when you offer the property," Hamblin said.
Covert said, in the past, if they wanted to sell or dispose of any property they had to replace it.
"If we took out two family units we would have to replace them with like units and we don’t have the capital to do that," he said. "In Adams, it is hard to do that."
Habitat for Humanity plans to remove the current structure and build a two-story townhouse with two 535 square foot apartments. The estimated total cost for the project is $243,880.
Hamblin said Habitat wants to focus on building a zero-net energy home that has the ability to generate as much power as the occupants consume. If funding is available or grants become available, the group would like to furnish the home with energy-efficient appliances, and efficient hot water heater and pump, and solar panels. Occupants will be educated on how to operate the house at peak efficiency.
"In 2015, that's what you should be doing," he said. "It makes sense because if this building is going to be in place of 40 to 60 years, in 40 to 60 years people are still going to want to be able to live there."
Covert said it is a "win-win situation" because it will only make the home more affordable.
"When they move in and turn on their light switch they should not be worried about turning on their light switch and not being able to afford to pay the electrical bill," Covert said.
Demolition is proposed to start this summer and construction to be complete in the summer 2017.
Tags: habitat for humanity, Housing Authority,
