ORLEANS – Plans have begun to turn the Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank property on West Road into a site for affordable housing as the financial feasibility increases.
Architect Rick Fenuccio presented concepts to the housing committee and trust fund board to exemplify some of the possibilities for the property.
“We put the setback lines on there, we look at maximum lot coverage and what the site can support, and we put all that stuff in the hopper and start generating what the site options might look like,” said Fenuccio.
The number of housing units and their exact shape remains subject to change as the planners consider how best to meet the needs of the residents, the town, and the state’s Qualified Allocation Plan (QAP) from the Department of Housing and Community Development.
It has been warned by Laura Shufelt, the assistant director of community assistance for the Massachusetts Housing Partnership for an earlier story that the process can take upwards of 3 years as the project goes through multiple rewrites and re-planning to qualify for tax credits that would allow the units to become affordable housing.
Fenuccio stated whatever plan is eventually used should incorporate “micro units” where possible to help keep the units affordable and plentiful while still
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