Allegrone Co. Celebrates Completion of Agawam's First Affordable Housing Since the 80's
October 25, 2024
This week, Allegrone joined Way Finders to celebrate the completion of Rosewood Way, which provides 62 units of affordable housing to the town of Agawam, MA.
It was 2016 when Way Finders, then known as HAP Housing, acquired acres of vacant farm land off of MillStreet, down the road from the high school and in Agawam’s Feeding Hills section.
A pandemic, ballooning costs and a lengthy approval process later, officials marked its completion Friday, including Keith Fairey, president and CEO of Way Finders.
(Photo courtesy of WMAC)
“We are in the midst of a big housing challenge here, not only in the Commonwealth, but in our country, and projects like this, Rosewood Way, and many others across the region and across the Commonwealth and across the country, are part of the solution,” he said. “In fact, they are the solution.”
It also comes at a time when the state continues to deal with a housing shortage, making projects and collaborations like Rosewood essential, according to Hampden and Hampshire state Senator John Velis.
“[Rosewood] is the first affordable housing project in Agawam since Pheasant Hill in Feeding Hills, which I think was built in the 80s,” Agawam City Councilor Thomas Hendrickson told WAMC, something Mayor Christopher Johnson also pointed out during Friday’s ceremony. “I think it's been about 30 or 40 years since we've done one of these things.”
“It's very important for our community that we provide people with affordable places to live,” he added. “Last I heard, I think it was about 700 households in Agawam that are considered ‘at-risk,’ in terms of their housing, that spend more than half their household income on housing. And so, we've got hundreds of families here in Agawam that are in need of an affordable place to live.”
Fairey, with Way Finders, tells WAMC move-ins are expected to begin “within the month,” with a number of apartment applications accepted and leases being signed.