Group Asks City To Convert Waltham Armory Into Affordable Housing

WALTHAM, MA — During the past few years the price to buy a single-family home or rent an apartment has ticked upward. Affordable housing for Waltham’s low-wage workers in the service industry is scarce and there's a three to five year wait to get into Waltham public housing.

So, a Waltham affordable housing advocacy group, WATCH CDC, is partnering with affordable housing development group MetroWestCD to advocate for the city to purchase the abandoned Waltham Armory and convert it into permanently affordable housing by 2023.

The Waltham State Armory on the corner of Sharon and Curtis streets was built in 1908. The state sold the property in 2004 to a private developer. But the property, which is listed under the National Register of Historic Places has been vacant for several years.

MetroWestDC is proposing the city convert the building into 23 affordable housing units — 17 for residents making 60 percent Area Median Income and six for residents making 30 percent AMI. The bulk of the building units —13— they said should be reserved as one-bedrooms, leaving eight units designated as two bedrooms and two three bedrooms.

"The Project is needed to add more affordable housing options," reads a petition.

The advocates reached out to the Community Preservation Committee with their proposal in November. Now, they're hoping to bring it before the city council early next year.

The group is proposing that more than half of the $12 million to buy and convert the building will come from state and federal sources. The Community Preservation Committee approved $5 million for purchase and development of the property. MetroWest CD said it is confident it can secure more than $7 million in federal and state tax dollars to complete the development.

"As with all affordable housing in Waltham, the management for the Armory apartments would be required to report annually to the City’s Housing Division to account for the income verification of the current tenants, rent rates, and a copy of all leases to ensure compliance with the affordable housing deed restriction," according to the petition.

Because the Armory is registered under the National Historic Registry, any changes made to the building will have to be approved by the State Historic Commission, but the group said it plans to preserve the building and only make minor changes to fit 23 units inside. Affordable housing projects need to be over 20 units in order to be eligible for state and federal funding otherwise they would not be financially feasible.