Pittsfield Housing Trust Looks to Involvement with CPA Process

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Affordable Housing Trust will offer its expertise for Community Preservation Act applications related to housing.

The panel agreed at its December meeting that it would make recommendations or designate CPA funds for these types of projects.  For fiscal 2024, there are three community housing applications including the trust's request for $150,000.

When the AHT was created, this was thought to be one of its functions.

"The [CPA] committee kind of struggled with what's the value of an affordable housing unit and how much money should CPA be awarding and just without having a really concrete background in sort of housing development and housing issues," Director of Community Development Justine Dodds explained.

"That's one of the reasons why we set up this board in addition to all the others."

In FY24, two large-scale housing projects are seeking more than $300,000 in CPA funds.

Allegrone Companies has applied for $350,000 in CPA funds to support a more than $17.9 million project to "transform the downtown city block between Summer Street and Columbus Avenue by way of adaptive reuse" of the historic building and new construction at the former Jim's House of Shoes.

The application is submitted under historic preservation and community housing, as 35 mixed-income residential units are included in the plan.

Chair Betsy Sherman was not at the meeting but had formerly stated that she agreed this falls under thier purview.

The involvement could look like CPA funds that are allocated for housing being turned over to the trust for distribution or the trust making funding recommendations to the Community Preservation Committee.

The AHT was established last year with $500,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funds and received $150,000 in CPA funds last year.

This year, the total CPA ask for open space and recreation, community housing, and historic preservation is about $1.7 million and the city has around $966,000 to disperse.  At at least 10% of annual CPA revenues must be set aside in reserve accounts or spent in the categories.

Berkshire Delegation Details Efforts to Help Berkshires

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
12:20PM / Tuesday, April 07, 2026

BCAC Executive Director Deborah Leonczyk opens the conversation. 

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Legislators say they are advocating for programs and services that Berkshire County residents need the most, amidst federal funding cuts. 

 

State Sen. Paul Mark said state lawmakers are trying to ensure programs that are important to this region are funded well, have resources, and work in rural communities. 

 

When it comes to policy, he said, they are trying to make decisions that better reflect the things people need to get out of economically challenging times. For example, the Legislature recently provided $35 million for fuel assistance in the current fiscal year.

 

The senator said he understood how some are struggling, recalling how when he was young, his father lost his job and his family "fell on some really hard times that lasted for a really long time."

 

"Whenever I talk about going through those hard times, I always like to point out that most of the time, my father still worked, and it didn't matter. We still needed food stamps. We still lost our house repeatedly. We still had to move around. I went to four different elementary schools because we were challenged through no fault of our own," Mark said. 

 

"And so whenever I have a chance to talk, I tell that story, some version of it, because it's important to also remember there's a stigma, and that stigma doesn't need to be there. It shouldn't be there." 

 

His comments came during Berkshire Community Action Council's March 27 community conversation on poverty featuring professionals in mental health care, housing, food, transportation, child care, financial literacy, and education.