Schoolhouse Green – Construction of Thirty-nine Affordable Apartments in East Falmouth
Location: 90, 104, 112, 138 Teaticket Highway
Applicant: Falmouth Housing Corporation
Allocation: $700,000 from Falmouth Affordable Housing Development Fund
Year/Authority: 2007, Board of Selectmen
In 2009 the Falmouth Housing Corporation (FHC) requested the third of three grants, all of which were appropriated from the Falmouth Housing Development Fund, for an affordable housing development on a four-acre site on Teaticket Highway. The first grant, in 2007, was $75,000 for pre-development costs. The second, in 2008, was $92,000 to write-down the cost of the land acquisition. The third 2009 grant was in the amount of $533,000 for development costs of building thirty-nine apartments in two buildings and a public park along Teaticket Highway at the front of the property. April 2008 Town Meeting had also appropriated $100,000 to FHC for the restoration of the historic schoolhouse on the property and its adaptive re-use as commercial lease space.
Construction was completed 2011 and the apartments were leased to individuals and families of low-moderate income. The design provides small individual yard and garden spaces associated with apartment patios as part of the overall landscape, including the public park. This landscaped linear park creates a buffer between the apartments and the main road and provides open space in the heart of a busy commercial district. The walkway through the park peels off from the main sidewalk, providing pedestrians with an alternate parallel route and quiet spaces to sit. This balance between public and private space was key for incorporating pre-existing pedestrian circulation patterns between neighboring apartments and the nearby stores, fostering neighborhood use of the walkways while maintaining privacy for tenants.
The development’s total cost was $10.5 million. FHC obtained construction financing and contributed to the project from its own funds and received additional funding in the form of low-income housing tax credits ($5.2 million), State HOME funds ($550,000), Barnstable County HOME funds ($150,000), foundation grants ($600,000), and private donations.