Island Housing Trust celebrates Lake Street groundbreaking

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From left, Farley Pedler, David Vigneault, Fielding Moore, Abbe Burt, Dan Seidman, Richard Leonard, Paul Moreau, Tristan Israel, Mary Brissette, and Philippe Jordi, — Photo courtesy of Philippe Jordi

The Island Housing Trust (IHT) held a ground-breaking ceremony for the second phase of construction at 129 Lake Street in Vineyard Haven last Wednesday, October 17.

The Wentworth Way project is a public/private partnership. The Tisbury Affordable Housing Committee secured a “friendly” 40B comprehensive permit to build six townhouses in three duplex buildings from the Tisbury Zoning Board of Appeals and the state Department of Housing and Community Development. The nonprofit IHT then purchased a 1.38-acre parcel of land for the project from Tisbury in March 2009 for $14,700, which covered costs the town had spent on permitting and surveying.

Two duplexes with four townhouses were built during the first phase of construction and sold to income qualified applicants.

At last week’s ceremony IHT thanked all of the partners in the project, including Tisbury’s Affordable Housing Committee for its leadership, Tisbury’s Community Preservation Committee for funding, Edgartown National Bank for construction financing, and the Dukes County Regional Housing Authority for homebuyer services, IHT executive director Philippe Jordi said in an email to The Times.

IHT also introduced general contractor Farley Pedler of DrewsCove Builders from Chilmark. He was selected through a competitive process by IHT to build two EnergyStar certified townhouses.

“We are fortunate to be able to work with knowledgable and experienced Island builders, like DrewsCove Builders, who have a commitment to high performance, energy efficient homes that are truly affordable forever, and who reinvest in our island’s economy by using local subcontractors and material suppliers,” Mr. Jordi said.