On Martha's Vineyard, building year-round affordable housing takes a lot of partners and a lot of patience. On Thursday, Oct. 1, that community turned out in Oak Bluffs.
Island Housing Trust, the Town of Oak Bluffs and the Cape and Islands Veterans Outreach Center broke ground on the Bellevue Veterans Community at 50 Bellevue Ave. It will be a neighborhood of 12 permanently affordable, year-round rental homes for low- and moderate-income veterans, plus a community room, on town-owned land, The Martha's Vineyard Times reported.
The project "represents years of planning, collaboration, advocacy, fundraising, and community support," according to a press release from Philippe Jordi, CEO of Island Housing Trust, quoted by the Times.
The project
According to Island Housing Trust, the Town of Oak Bluffs chose the trust and the veterans outreach center in November 2023 to build year-round affordable housing for veterans on a 3.4-acre parcel of town-owned land. The 12 one-bedroom homes and the community room will be in three two-story buildings.
Jordi told the Times the project will cost $7.6 million, plus $935,000 for off-site infrastructure.
Island Housing Trust led the design, permitting, financing and construction efforts, according to the release. The Cape and Islands Veterans Outreach Center plans to manage the community and provide "wraparound" services for residents. No separate general contractor has been named publicly. Each of the homes will be permanently affordable for year-round veteran residents earning up to 80% of the area median income for Dukes County, according to the trust.
The homes will be open to veterans earning up to 30%, 50% and 80% of the area median income. Because the apartments are one-bedrooms, Jordi said, income for a one- or two-person household can range from $34,000 (30% of the area median for one person) to $85,000 (80% for two people). The trust says it's also seeking rental support vouchers to make the homes more affordable.
The community room will give residents a place for meetings and recreation, according to the trust.
Jordi said a certificate of occupancy, when people can move in, is expected in December 2027. Applications will be shared in the coming months with veteran support groups on the island, he said.
Who helped pay for it
The project is supported by the Rockland Trust Charitable Foundation, the Charlesbank Homes Foundation, the Cape Cod 5 Foundation, the Couch Family Foundation, Santander Bank and private donors, along with state and federal housing programs, lenders and public agencies, according to the release.
Three Martha's Vineyard Regional High School students, Calahan D'Arcy, Harrison Lazarus and Matthew MacMillan, helped raise money and awareness through Project Freedom Fighter.
"Their collective support helped close the significant funding gap often associated with creating affordable housing on Martha's Vineyard, and demonstrates the importance of public-private partnerships in addressing the Island's housing challenges," the release stated.
The partners have been at it since at least November 2023, when the town picked them for the site. The release called the groundbreaking the result of years of planning and fundraising.
At the ceremony, Mark Leonard, an Oak Bluffs Select Board member and Army veteran, talked about his father, an Air Force veteran. He said safe, specialized housing would have helped his father enormously if it had been available while he was alive. He said the project, once built, will provide a place of dignity and care for veterans for years to come.
The Cape and Islands Veterans Outreach Center is a partner in the development as well as the future manager. Island Housing Trust says the center will provide ongoing, customized supportive services to each resident, and that every home will stay permanently affordable for year-round veteran residents.
Why it matters for Contractors
Three two-story buildings with 12 apartments and a community room is a solid job by island standards, and it comes with $935,000 in off-site infrastructure work on top of the $7.6 million project. Island Housing Trust is leading the construction effort itself, and no outside general contractor has been named publicly, so subs and suppliers interested in the job should contact the trust directly. With move-in expected in December 2027, the work will run through the 2027 building season. The release credited foundations, banks, donors, students and public agencies with closing the funding gap, which is how projects like this get built on the island.