Next to one of the busiest shopping centers south of Boston, two old commercial buildings are gone, and apartments are going up in their place.
Nordblom Company held a ceremonial groundbreaking on Thursday, Oct. 8, for Vantage, a 154-unit rental community at 110 Stergis Way, next to Legacy Place. The project will have 131 market-rate apartments and 23 income-restricted homes, and it replaces two obsolete commercial buildings, Dedham Patch reported.
The ceremony came a few weeks after the actual work got going. On Sept. 16, Nordblom announced that demolition and site preparation were complete and construction was underway on the former commercial property.
Who's building it
"Construction is being led by Erland Construction, with architecture and civil design by Stantec," according to Nordblom. The company says the teams have a longstanding collaboration with Nordblom on residential and commercial projects in the region.
Nordblom expects the project to deliver in spring 2028.
Nordblom hasn't released rents or an exact opening date.
Planned amenities include a fitness center, a resident work lounge, a landscaped courtyard and a sky lounge with a kitchen and outdoor terrace.
"Vantage represents a meaningful step forward in bringing new housing to Dedham and transforming an underutilized commercial site into a vibrant residential community," said Patrick O'Neill, senior vice president at Nordblom Company. "Its location next to Legacy Place and within walking distance of the commuter rail makes it an especially compelling opportunity to create new homes in a highly connected setting."
The site is within walking distance of the Legacy Place shopping district, including Whole Foods, and the Dedham Corporate Center commuter rail station.
A state tax credit helped
The state awarded the project a $3 million Commercial Conversion Tax Credit in August, according to Patch. The program, created through the Affordable Homes Act, supports projects that turn vacant or underused commercial properties into housing.
In its Aug. 26 announcement, the state called Vantage a shovel-ready, transit-oriented development. It was one of five projects sharing $15.3 million in that round, which together are expected to create 856 rental homes in Boston, Dedham, Springfield, Westford and Worcester. The largest by number of homes is a former hotel site at 219 Littleton Road in Westford, where Redgate plans 300 rentals.
The state says the credits support eligible construction and substantial rehabilitation costs for projects that will be primarily residential. Counting an earlier round, the program has backed 10 projects and 1,195 homes.
"The reality is that many commercial conversion projects are difficult to finance even when the sites are in prime locations, have community support and ready to move forward," Matias said in August.
Massachusetts Housing and Livable Communities Secretary Juana Matias attended the groundbreaking along with state Sen. Mike Rush, state Rep. Paul McMurtry, Dedham representatives and members of the Nordblom family.
"It was a great afternoon joining Representative McMurtry, Secretary Matias, the Town of Dedham and the Nordblom Family for the groundbreaking of Vantage Development," Rush said in a social media post. "A great partnership between the 100-year-old Nordblom Company, the Town and Commonwealth creating more housing opportunities."
The state's housing office described the project the same way on its own social media, saying Nordblom is using the tax credits to transform two obsolete commercial buildings into 154 rental homes, including 23 income-restricted units.
Patch described Vantage as a long-planned development, and the groundbreaking marked a new milestone for it.
Nordblom is a Burlington-based, vertically integrated real estate firm with more than a century in business. According to the company, it has acquired and repositioned more than 10 million square feet of real estate in the Greater Boston market. More than 20,000 people live or work in the more than 5 million square feet of multifamily, commercial and retail property it manages.
Why it matters for Contractors
Commercial-to-residential projects like Vantage are a growing slice of work in Massachusetts, and the state is putting tax credits behind them. This one has already been through demolition and site prep, and with Erland Construction leading the build, the subcontract packages are where the remaining work is: framing, roofing, MEP, fire protection, elevators, drywall, finishes and the amenity spaces. The schedule runs to spring 2028, so it's a long job. Contractors who want in should reach out to Erland Construction. The state created the Commercial Conversion Tax Credit through the Affordable Homes Act specifically to help turn vacant or underused commercial properties into housing, so contractors who handle demolition, site work and residential construction should watch for other projects that win it.