By Patrick Adrian
[email protected]
CLAREMONT — After three years of vacancy, the Goddard Block apartment building has partially reopened to tenants.
New England Family Housing, which invested $11 million to rehabilitate the once-condemned building, has announced an official ribbon cutting ceremony on Friday, March 20, at 10 a.m., to celebrate the completion of the Goddard renovation project.
“We’re excited to be nearing the end and to bring these units back onto the market,” said Kevin Lacasse, CEO of New England Family Housing.
Apartment units went on the market in January and some units are now ready to be occupied. Lacasse said he believed the first tenants were moving into the building yesterday.
Lacasse acquired the Goddard building in 2017, shortly after the city condemned the building due to a number of serious code violations. The 24 families living in the building at the time had to be relocated.
Lacasse funded the building’s $11 million rehabilitation by working with various state and federal funding programs, to build a mix of 36 market-rate and affordable apartments and street-level commercial spaces.
Nine of the 36 apartments are market-rate. Of the remaining units, three are for tenants earning up to 80% of the area median income; 16 units for tenants earning up to 60% of the median income; two units for tenants earning up to 50% of the median income; and six units for tenants earning up to 30% of the median income. The median family income in Sullivan County is $73,600.
There is also total room for up to three street-level commercial spaces, plus an additional small commercial office space for lease in the back of the building.
“We are currently working with a couple of commercial entities [in regards to commercial spaces], but nothing has been leased yet,” Lacasse said.
Claremont Mayor Charlene Lovett said yesterday that she is looking forward to attending the ribbon cutting ceremony.
“This [renovation project], coupled with other ongoing projects in the historic district, brings us closer to achieving our goal of revitalizing the city center,” Lovett said. “This particular project provides new, mixed income housing at a time when housing is in critical shortage across the state, and demonstrates that people recognize the value of investing in Claremont.”
The number of apartment units already leased was not attained in time for publication, but Lacasse said that several units are still available, including one-bedroom, two-bedroom and studio apartments. Some are market-rate and others are income-based.
To inquire into leasing an apartment, please contact Alliance Asset Management in Concord at (603) 715-8331.
To inquire into leasing a commercial space, contact New England Family Housing at (603) 744-3551.
The ribbon cutting event is free and open to the public. To attend, RSVP to Erin at (603) 715-8330 or by email at [email protected]. The event will include light refreshments and building tours.
As your daily newspaper, we are committed to providing you with important local news coverage for Sullivan County and the surrounding areas.