Mayor Domenic J. Sarno, Congressman Richard Neal, Governor Maura Healey, City and State Officials joined with First Resource Development Company led by Gordon Pulsifer and NEI General Contracting under Josef Rettman for a special Ribbon Cutting/Grand Opening Ceremony at two new workforce housing developments in the city: the Residences at The Vault & Merrick Park Apartments.
“A total of 122 total apartments will be available for tenants to move in next month at Merrick Park Apartments and The Residences at the Vault,” stated Mayor Sarno. “First Resource, led by Gordon Pulsifer, have done great work. They are a community-minded developer that care about providing quality housing and uplifting neighborhoods. I am proud of my administration’ support of these much-needed housing development projects. I appreciate my city team, all our state and federal partners, as well as First Resources’ continued belief and investment in our Springfield.”
Secretary of Housing and Livable Communities Juana Matias, Springfield Housing Director Geraldine McCafferty, State Representative Bud Williams, State Representative Carlos Gonzalez, State Senator Adam Gomez, Health and Human Services Commissioner Helen Caulton Harris, Police Superintendent Larry Akers and the brave and dedicated women and men of the Springfield Police Department, Deputy Economic Development Director Brian Connors, City Councilors Kateri Walsh, Melvin Edwards, Tracye Whitfield, and Zaida Govan, Springfield Redevelopment Authority Commissioner Asiala Rivera, Building Commissioner Steve Desilets, Deputy Director of Code Enforcement Keith O’Connor, and Deputy Building Commissioner Mark Hebert were all in attendance.
“These two major workforce housing development projects, which have taken derelict buildings and transformed them into beautiful living spaces, represent an $80 million total investment,” explained Mayor Sarno. “Under my Administration, through the City, we were proud to be able to contribute $1.4 million through a combination of ARPA and HOME funds. This is a worthwhile investment to help cover the delta developers face in these situations with buildings that have long been left in disrepair. Revitalizing an old building not only provides us with much needed additional housing units, it uplifts an entire street and even neighborhood. These are the kinds of investments we will look to continue to do – whether with major sites like we did with 31 Elm, these two on State Street, or even on a smaller scale, one house at a time, with our single-family home redevelopment partners and housing lotteries.”
Mayor Sarno continued, “For the Merrick Park/The Vault, the developers were able to take advantage of Historic and other Tax credit programs, which were pivotal for this major project. I can’t say enough about Congressmen Neal coming through once again and helping close the funding gap to see that this dilapidated building was restored and this housing project got done. In addition, Governor Maura Healey’s historic housing bill has been an incredible boost to help build more affordable housing. I also deeply appreciate the collaboration from the Springfield Redevelopment Authority and my colleagues on the City Council toward the zone change which enabled the project to move forward. A big shout out to our city team with CDO Tim Sheehan, Housing Director Gerry McCafferty, Building Commissioner Steve Desilets – we have five to six hundred more units in the pipeline and more to go!”
“We toured the completely transformed Residences at the Vault yesterday and they are simply stunning,” shared the Mayor. “Gordon Pulsifer and the First Resource team, who are known to be a responsible landlord that always follows through, did a tremendous job renovating this historic building that once served at the Federal Land Bank of Springfield. They were able to keep many historic elements too, like the phone booths which we had some fun with, and some of the bank vaults – I did double check, there was no money left.”
1) the Residences at the Vault on State Street
Construction is complete at the "Residences at The Vault" located at 300-310 State Street. The building was constructed in 1924 as the Federal Land Bank of Springfield and is being redeveloped into at least 50 affordable workforce housing apartments by First Resource Development. This building has some truly stunning architectural details and the former bank vaults within the building inspired the project name.
The project was supported by a combination of funding from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the City of Springfield and the U.S. Department of Housing Development, which includes historic and Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, as well as HOME Investment Partnership funding. Creating more affordable housing units in Springfield would not be possible without the federal funding that supports these types of public-private partnerships.
2) Merrick Park Apartments on State Street
The Merrick Park Apartments, nearly complete are located across from the Springfield Central Library – a renowned Andrew Carnegie Library, and Museums/Quadrangle, near the corner of State and Maple Streets in Springfield. It’s the site of the old School Department offices. First Resource Development is redeveloping the properties at 195 State Street and 19-25 Maple Street into more affordable housing units.
With the high demand for housing here in Springfield, and nationwide, it is no surprise that both apartment complexes are already full. Tenants are expected to move in this September.
