The Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) recently released the recipients of the FY23 round of Community One Stop for Growth grant awards, with 12 of the Merrimack Valley’s 15 municipalities receiving funding resulting in a total of $8,192,017 coming into the region. Valley recipients included Amesbury, Boxford, Groveland, Haverhill, Lawrence, Merrimac, Methuen, Newburyport, North Andover, Rowley, Salisbury, and West Newbury, as well as MVPC itself, with the highest concentration of awards coming from the Housing Choice Grant Program (5 out of 18 total projects). A special shoutout to the City of Haverhill for being granted the largest award in the state through the MassWorks Infrastructure Program, receiving $6,500,000 to support the redevelopment of the Urban Renewal District as well as the Goecke Municipal Parking Deck in downtown Haverhill.
MVPC extends massive thanks to DHCD and the grant review committee for investing in the impactful, transformative work underway across our Merrimack Valley communities, and congratulations to each of our awarded municipalities. For a summary of awarded projects by community and grant program, please see the table below:
| Community: | Program: | Award: | Project: |
| Amesbury | Housing Choice | $80,000 | The town will engage a consultant to guide the community through the Housing Element of the Master Plan “I AMesbury 2030”, update the town’s affordable housing ordinance to be inclusive and effective, and create an Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) ordinance to diversify housing stock. |
| Boxford | Real Estate Services Technical Assistance | $25,000 | Develop a plan for the re-use of the former Senior Community Center at 4 Middleton Road, focused on the feasibility of affordable housing at the property. |
| Groveland | Site Readiness Program | $191,150 | The Town of Groveland will use funds for a feasibility study, planning, civil engineering, market analysis, and master plan for a 62-acre parcel of commercial and industrial-zoned town-owned land. |
| Haverhill | MassWorks Infrastructure Program | $6,500,000 | Redevelopment of the Urban Renewal District and Goecke Municipal Parking Deck. Upgrades will include new water/sewer lines, drainage, pedestrian plazas, sidewalks, and repaved roads to support 300-plus housing units and 51,000 square feet of new business space. |
| Haverhill | Site Readiness Program | $300,000 | Development of a new 65-acre business park with the potential for 800,000 square feet of industrial/commercial space. Activities include site survey, environmental review, wetlands delineation, traffic impact study, and natural resource evaluation. |
| Haverhill (MVPC) | Community Planning Grant Program | $150,000 | Merrimack Valley Housing Production Plan Update Project |
| Lawrence | Urban Agenda Grant Program | $100,000 | This grant will be used to support the local educator workforce, improving job skills and career paths for low-income Latinx residents in Lawrence with a strong focus on working parents. |
| Lawrence | Urban Agenda Grant Program | $50,000 | Expand the PowerUp Latinx Business Initiative to the City of Lawrence. |
| Lawrence | Collaborative Workspace Program | $25,000 | Development of a beauty and personal care business incubator, TLE Beauty, which will function in part as studio space for beauty and personal care entrepreneurs in TLE’s |
| Lawrence | Collaborative Workspace Program | $100,000 | The award funds will be used for new lighting systems during the renovation of the interior spaces. |
| Merrimac | Brownfields Redevelopment Fund | $250,000 | Test remaining foundation and soils for contamination and provide funds to remove the foundation and impacted soils. |
| Methuen | Housing Choice Grant Program | $50,000 | The City of Methuen will create plans to meet Section 3A of MGL Chapter 40A, the Multifamily Zoning Requirement for MBTA Communities. |
| Methuen | Collaborative Workspace Program | $26,807 | The award funds will be used to add two bathrooms in the collaborative workspace section of the building to allow the use of the entire building as a collaborative workspace to meet building code. |
| North Andover | Housing Choice Grant Program | $66,560 | The Town of North Andover will examine the town’s soon-to-be vacant 8,700-square-foot senior center, located at 120 Main St. and attached to town hall, to better understand how the building should be utilized going forward and provide cost estimates for options. |
| Rowley | Real Estate Services Technical Assistance | $30,000 | Develop an RFP for identifying and selecting an affordable housing developer for a two-acre parcel of town-owned, affordable housing restricted land located along Main Street and walkable to downtown, an elementary school, and MBTA station. |
| Salisbury | Housing Choice Grant Program | $130,000 | The Town of Salisbury will pursue permanent streetscape improvements to the Broadway Mall area to support existing residents and businesses and attract residential and commercial growth the Beach Commercial District of Salisbury. |
| Newburyport | Housing Choice Grant Program | $50,000 | District Improvement Financing (DIF) study for the eight-acre Waterfront West district. |
| West Newbury | Rural and Small-Town Development Fund | $67,500 | The Town of West Newbury will undertake efforts to achieve compliance with Section 3A of MGL Chapter 40A, the Multifamily Zoning Requirement for MBTA Communities. |
| Total Regional Award Amount: |
$8,192,017
|
For more information on the OneStop program and past and present award recipients, click here.