During a joint meeting with the Oak Bluffs affordable housing committee, the Oak Bluffs Select Board unanimously voted to provide $100,000 to support the Southern Tier affordable housing project.
According to committee chair Mark Leonard, this request came from Island Housing Trust and Affirmative Investments, which are building Southern Tier.
Southern Tier is an affordable housing project with an aim of providing 60 affordable housing units. Apartments will be available to renters with incomes between 30 percent and 110 percent of area median income. For Dukes County in 2023, this is a range of $27,350 to $100,320 for a single-person household, and a range of $39,050 to $143,250 for a family of four, according to the Dukes County Housing Authority.
The project received approval from the select board in June 2021, and cleared the Martha’s Vineyard Commission’s approval process earlier this year. The affordable housing community is being built on 85 Edgartown–Vineyard Haven Road, and the first phase of the project will bring in up to 48 affordable housing units.
Leonard said there were 45 units already in the subsidized housing inventory, and upgrades to the wastewater system would slate 60 units as possible.
“This is additional funds to help them … start that part of the process,” he said, referring to the upgrades.
The funding would come out of the town’s Municipal Housing Trust. Last year, the town granted $250,000 from the trust toward the project, and $200,000 from the Community Preservation committee, Leonard said.
IHT CEO Philippe Jordi said the $100,000 will also help in acquiring additional funding from the state, since it shows local support.
After some discussion, the board approved granting the funding.
