A 50-unit condominium project planned at a former car dealership on Stevens Street in Hyannis is intended to help Cape Codders put down roots with homeownership and revitalize a corner of downtown.
“This ownership development will serve the Cape Cod workforce of teachers, public safety workers, nurses and those in the service industry,” Alisa Magnotta, CEO of Housing Assistance Corporation said in a statement.
The development will fill a critical gap and is a vast improvement over previous and proposed automotive uses, and will be an enormous aesthetic improvement for the Main Street area, Magnotta said.
The nonprofit intends to sell 40 of the units as affordable for incomes up to 100% of the area median income. The other 10 will be sold at market rate, Magnotta said. The nonprofit has received all required administrative approvals in order to obtain a building permit to redevelop the vacant lot, she said.
The 1 1/2-acre property at 268 Stevens St. was listed Monday in town assessor records as owned by 268 Stevens Street LLC, with Joseph Laham as manager. The assessed value was $620,000.
Laham, an automotive executive on Cape Cod, bought the property in 2017. In 2016, he told the Times he intended to purchase and demolish the vacant, one-time Nissan dealership at the corner of Stevens and North Streets and build a “certified collision center” there to restore damaged vehicles to manufacturers’ specifications for the brands he sells and, possibly, for others, too.
Car dealership, proposed car wash, now housing
In 2019, a proposal to build a car wash at the site met community opposition. Later that year, a conceptual plan by a private company to build 50 market rate units was presented to the Greater Hyannis Civic Association.
The proposed housing project is paid for with multiple sources, but most notably through the Massachusetts Commonwealth Builder program, which is designed to fund and promote affordable homeownership, Magnotta said.
Because all the units will be for sale and not for rent, the units will allow homeowners to “put down roots, become vested in the community and build intergenerational wealth,” she said in the statement.
The affordable units will require income certification for the initial purchase but not after purchase. That means the homes will be particularly appealing to younger Cape residents who wish to stay on the Cape and build their careers, Magnotta said.
Conservation Commission approval
The Barnstable Conservation Commission last week approved unanimously the housing agency’s plans to deal with stormwater and other conservation issues for the proposed three-story building at Stevens and North streets.
The project was approved with a continuance to July 9 to deal with a few outstanding concerns with the state Department of Environmental Protection, Commission Chair Tom Lee said.
“I think it’s approvable and a good project for affordable housing,” Lee said.
All the commission members agreed that the project met the conservation requirements and will help meet the need for more affordable housing. Commissioner George Gilmore favored the project, as a proponent of affordable housing, and said the project doesn’t have any effect on the commission’s jurisdictional issues. Commissioner John Abodeely said the previous site, a car dealership, “was a mess,” and that the project would be a “phenomenal improvement” and the need for housing is critical.
Water runoff, traffic a concern
However, a neighbor, Lisa Daluz of Pleasant Hill Lane strongly disagreed, saying, “I don’t think it’s a great project.” She expressed concerns about the water runoff from the property with limited grass and trees and with traffic in the area.
The commission members said that traffic was not under their jurisdiction. They referred Daluz to the town Department of Public Works. Town Councilor Charlie Bloom offered to meet Daluz to help her address her concerns.
Brandon Carr of DiPrete Engineering, representing Housing Assistance Corporation, said the traffic issues were acceptable to the town Department of Public Works. He said the project has gone through the town’s site plan review process and consultations with town engineering and public works staff on the proposed stormwater system for the site. He said the system meets the town’s regulations and practices approved by the state Department of Environmental Protection.
To address the property’s 200 feet of riverfront, the project has a full stormwater system, including using pervious concrete to allow water to go through, Carr said. The building will be connected to the town sewer system and a landscaping plan for the site will include grasses, bushes and trees around the building.
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