Updated March 31
New residents won’t begin to move into a 60-unit affordable housing project planned in Oak Bluffs until after Jan. 2027, two years later than initially announced.
Tackenash Knoll, formerly called Southern Tier, is an affordable housing project being developed in Oak Bluffs next to the MV Ice Arena by the local nonprofit Island Housing Trust and Boston-based real estate consultants Affirmative Investments.
Philippe Jordi, Island Housing Trust CEO, said the late construction start was caused by a delay in gathering $45 million in state funding from the Executive Office of Housing and Liveable Communities — covering most of the $49 million project. Jordi is hopeful the nonprofit will close on the subsidy next month.
“Allocation of state and federal tax credits that make up the largest portion of the project funding was delayed due to a backup caused by COVID,” Jordi told the Times. Also, he said a groundbreaking is planned shortly after the state funding is acquired.
Under the original timeline, residents would have started moving into the new units by this summer. Instead, construction for the project isn’t expected to start by June.
Jordi pointed out that the original timeline reflected plans when Tackenash Knoll was going to be built in two phases rather than one.
“At one time the project was broken out into two phases, but since securing sewer flows from the town’s [upgraded] sewer system, we will complete the entire project in a single phase,” Jordi said in an email.
Tackenash Knoll isn’t the only Island Housing Trust project that has a delayed completion date. Meshacket Commons, a project under construction in Edgartown, has a completion date six months later than initially planned. Still, Jordi said the funding backlog was specifically for state and federal low income housing tax credits, which the nonprofit is using only for Meshacket Commons and Tackenash Knoll. Other IHT projects, like the veterans housing planned in Oak Bluffs, won’t be affected.
There are still some other steps remaining for Tackenash. Attorneys of Affirmative Investments and Island Housing Trust are negotiating with Oak Bluffs’ town counsel about potentially amending the lease terms to allow for some of the affordable housing units to be set at the market rate if the developer defaults; any changes would have to be approved by the town.
Jordi, whose nonprofit is involved as the local agent, said during a Tuesday joint meeting of the Oak Bluffs select board and affordable housing committee that while this scenario describes a “worst case scenario,” it can also increase the income brackets that may be served by the project. He reassured town officials that the Trust will work through until the end of the project.
Deborah Potter, Oak Bluffs town administrator, pushed back on the proposal, saying it was not what was approved by the town and the Martha’s Vineyard Commission.
In the meantime, the Oak Bluffs select board unanimously approved an amendment to the Tackenash Knoll land development agreement stating the terms and provisions of the ground lease will need to be satisfactory and approved by both the town and developers. The affordable housing committee voted 2-1 to approve the agreement, with Jim Bishop being the sole dissenting vote.
On March 20, The Martha’s Vineyard Commission had also voted to extend its 2023 approval of the project by two years.
Updated with clarifications from Philippe Jordi.
