Bentley Apartments

Project Details:
Location
Great Barrington, MA
Impact South County Role
Co-Developer & Co Owner
Unit Profile
45 total units — 12 one-bedroom, 22 two-bedroom, 11 three-bedroom apartments, all with universal wheelchair access
Development cost
~$17.2–18 million
Financing

Funded through 14 separate local, state, federal, and private sources, including ~$15.4 million from the MA Department of Housing and Community Development; $8.7 million in federal tax credit equity; $2.9 million in state low-income housing tax credit investment; MassHousing/Affordable Housing Trust Fund; Great Barrington Community Preservation Act Funds; Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston; Berkshire Bank; TD Bank; Redstone Equity Partners; Dorfman Capital; and Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation (CEDAC). Site remediation funding came separately from MassDEP, EPA, HUD, Berkshire Regional Planning Commission/Berkshire Brownfields Revolving Loan Fund, and MassDevelopment.

Collaborators

Impact South County and Berkshire Housing Development Corporation (co-sponsor/developer); MBL Housing and Development (Amherst, MA)

Management

Hearthway

Architect

Dietz & Company Architects, Inc. (Springfield, MA)

Engineering
Furrow Engineering; Foresight Land Services
Contractor
Saloomey Construction (general contractor); D.R. Billings (site contractor)
Status
Completed (opened spring 2021)
Contact

Bentley Apartments is a 45-unit affordable housing complex located at 100 Bridge Street in downtown Great Barrington, part of Impact South County’s larger 100 Bridge Street redevelopment of an 8-acre former brownfield site (the old New England Log Homes site) along the Housatonic River. The complex includes 12 one-bedroom, 22 two-bedroom, and 11 three-bedroom apartments, all with universal wheelchair access, and rents affordable to households earning under 60% AMI (incomes up to roughly $53,000). The development also includes a 1-acre restored riverfront walk and a 2-acre public Riverfront Park on the Housatonic River. Parking and hot water are included in rent; tenants pay electric, heat, and air conditioning.

The site required extensive environmental remediation before construction, as it was a contaminated brownfield that Impact South County had acquired back in 1999. Construction began in 2019–2020 and the complex opened with a virtual ribbon-cutting on May 11, 2021. The project is located within walking distance of downtown shopping, services, restaurants, transportation, and Berkshire Community College, and is designed as community-centered, low-carbon-footprint development.

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