Schoolhouse Restoration and Adaptive Reuse
Location: 100 Teaticket Highway
Applicant: Falmouth Housing Corporation
Allocation: $100,000
Year/Article: April 2008, A35
The Falmouth Housing Corporation applied to the CPFund for $100,000 in 2008 and was appropriated that amount by Town Meeting in partial support of the recovery, restoration, and adaptive re-use of the historic Falmouth schoolhouse as part of the development of an affordable housing complex. Total cost of the schoolhouse project was $290,000. The larger project included also the creation of a linear park, construction of thirty-nine units of affordable housing, and improvement of traffic safety along that stretch of Route 28 by closing four existing curb cuts. The rental units are managed by FHC. The schoolhouse portion of the project was relatively small but a critical component. Small project but critical component.
FHC had a number of years of experience in mixed-use development, and at the time, had created through purchase and development 146 rental units of affordable housing. The first mixed use project was at 587 Gifford Street, where twenty-eight units were developed, along with the development of the Falmouth Service Center and the Community Garden. FHC then added an eight-unit building for chronically homeless disabled individuals. That was followed by development of the mixed commercial and affordable housing complex at 704 Main Street.
The $100,000 grant from the CPFund was spent entirely on historic restoration of the schoolhouse. Other support for the complex came from local and state HOME funds, the Housing Stabilization Fund, the Falmouth Affordable Housing Fund, Low Income Housing Tax Credits, Federal Home Loan Bank funds, foundation grants, and private donations. This project was completed in 2011.