“Affordable” housing means different things to different people. There’s the official designation, which can be a hot button when it’s proposed for a neighborhood. There’s the mortgage lender’s definition when they’re considering your application. Then there’s the very specific definition when you sit down and crunch your numbers.
Vose Farm Residences, an affordable workforce housing community developed by Catholic Charities NH, officially opened on Thursday, January 15, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Applications are now being accepted, with the first tenants expected to move in February.
A majority of New Hampshire voters think their community needs more affordable housing, and are in favor of changing land use regulations to do it, according to a new survey.
The plan to turn the long-vacant Hallsville School building on Jewett Street into 36 apartments cleared another hurdle toward development last week, a win for affordable housing in the constant push and pull between the need to address the housing crisis and neighborhoods that want housing built, but somewhere else.
There seems to be a pattern to just say “Yes” to a developer that comes before the city to one of the Boards and asks for a tax credit or a variance that will produce more money for the developer. Part of this pattern is that the city does not ask the developer to add affordable units to their proposed rental properties.
Creating more affordable housing in New Hampshire was already a challenge, but big question marks related to proposed state budget cuts, massive federal policy and funding changes, and continuing supply-chain slowdowns and price hikes may make it hard to find any positives on the horizon.
It became clear to me then that Jon Kiper, the only one of them to speak up on behalf of the people, is the kind of governor we deserve—one who respects everyone’s dignity and individual freedom enough to act with his feet and speak to our face.
The proposal now includes replacing the existing parking lot with up to 150 residential apartments in a 5-story structure, twelve (12) 3-story townhouses, and 296 parking spaces in a two-level parking deck.
Six months on the job as mayor, Ruais says there’s progress – last Tuesday the Board of Aldermen banned camping in the city and transferred half a million dollars to the police department to provide “hot spot patrols” in problem areas. Those two things will begin to move the needle, says Ruais.
The company maintains the tenant association’s view represents a small minority and that nearly 75% of the original residents of Devenscrest Village “chose to renew their leases at substantially below fair market rates, upgrade to a renovated apartment at a discounted rate or successfully relocate with our financial assistance. It is incredibly unfortunate that the Tenant Association, which does not speak for the majority of residents at Devenscrest Village, seeks to tarnish such a vibrant community of hard-working individuals and families.”
Once the majority of the construction materials are removed, demolition will begin on the lower levels of the old police station.
Construction of a large building with affordable housing at 351 Chestnut Street should begin later this year and is tentatively scheduled to be completed in 2026.
More than $30 million in federal funding is coming to New Hampshire from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to help address the state’s housing affordability crisis.
The mayor on Tuesday announced the receipt to two significant grants from the State of New Hampshire, aimed at supporting the development of affordable housing in the city of Manchester.
In total there are approximately 2,288 housing units accounted for in the data – some already completed and occupied and others in process, or on hold.
Addressing Gov. Chris Sununu’s budget director, officials with DHHS argued that the state had been underfunding the shelters in the state for years. Currently, the state allocates just under $5 million in state funds per year; the department asked Sununu to fund them at $12 million per year in his next proposed budget.
Addressing lawmakers at his State of the State address in February, Gov. Chris Sununu pointed to one of the most pressing issues in the state: workforce housing. Then he presented a plan.
“We’re enthusiastic at the level of investment,” said Elissa Margolin, director of Housing Action New Hampshire, an advocacy group. “And, obviously, we recognize this huge opportunity: really once-in-a-generation federal investments coming to this state.”
Although it will not eliminate the great need that currently exists, it is a step in the right direction according to the city’s Director of Homeless Initiatives Schonna Green. The amount of footwork involved in such forward motion requires a lot of attention to detail. It is work mostly done behind the scenes, and often involves delicate negotiations that can easily be derailed.
In just a little over four months since Schonna Green moved to Manchester from Florida and took over as the city’s first ever Director of Homeless Initiatives she has put together a roughly 20-page plan with three phases and multiple recommendations, many of which are already being undertaken.
