Developer Renews an 80-Year-Old Public Housing Community

For more than 80 years, Lyman Terrace has served as a home to some of the neediest families in Holyoke, Massachusetts. One of the oldest public housing developments in the country, the aging property had become functionally obsolete and was at risk of being demolished.

The Community Builders (TCB) took on the challenge of preserving the 164-unit property and bringing it into the present.

In the recent second phase, TCB has redeveloped 76 apartments, combining rehabilitation with new construction. The team added about 200 square feet in additions at each apartment to accommodate new kitchens and baths, which will allow for improved unit ventilation and air quality. In addition, the design provides for enhanced accessibility throughout the site. Improvements also included new electrical and mechanical systems.

“It was important to the residents that the housing be preserved and enhanced in its original location,” says Rachana Crowley, director of real estate development. “That drove the vision and the concept.”

Fifty-one units have two or more bedrooms and 17 have three or more bedrooms, serving diverse and multigenerational families. More than 80% of the public housing residents have returned to the rehabilitated property, which is now covered by project-based vouchers.

Located two blocks from City Hall, the development also includes a new community building with program space for the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Holyoke and other resident services.

The $44.9 million project utilized the federal Section 18 disposition program as well as 4% low-income housing tax credit and bond financing and Opportunity Zone equity.