Home City Development gets OK for 34-unit rental apartment complex in Pelham

SPRINGFIELD — Home City Development Inc., a Springfield-based affordable housing developer, recently received approval for a 34-unit mixed-income apartment complex in the town of Pelham.

The company, in a news release, announced the approval of the comprehensive permit from the Pelham Zoning Board of Appeals.

The two-building housing complex is planned at 20-22 Amherst Road, and is the first affordable housing development in the Hampshire County town, Home City Development said. It will be known as Amethyst Brook Apartments.

“We at Home City Development are humbled by the confidence placed in us by the Town of Pelham,” said Tom Kegelman, executive director. “We will do our best to return that confidence with a beautiful and sustainable project, providing affordable housing for those least able to find it in today’s housing market.”

The complex will be designed to “passive house” energy efficiency standards, Home City Development said. The complex will include a stormwater management system and electric vehicle charging stations.

The company needs to finalize project financing, and the start date is not yet determined. Once started, the project is expected to be completed within 12 to 14 months.

Home City Development’s other projects in the region include ongoing construction of a $20 million, 42-unit affordable housing project at the former Elias Brookings School on Hancock Street in Springfield, which was seriously damaged by a tornado in 2011.

Home City Development is a nonprofit developer of multifamily and mixed-use properties in Western Massachusetts. It was founded as Better Homes Inc. in 1968 by the Springfield Chamber of Commerce.

The design team for the Pelham project is led by Architecture Environment Life of East Longmeadow. Berkshire Design Group of Northampton will be doing civil engineering and landscape design.