Cambridge, MA– Nauset Construction and affordable housing nonprofit developer Preservation of Affordable Housing (POAH) recently celebrated the official groundbreaking for The Rose on Sixth Street.
This project will convert the historic Sacred Heart church rectory and school at 49 Sixth St. in East Cambridge into 46 affordable apartment units. The celebration also included appearances by Secretary Ed Augustus of the Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (EOHLC); State Senator Sal DiDomenico; State Representative Mike Connolly; Executive Director of Massachusetts Housing Partnership Clark Ziegler; and members of the Cambridge City Council and Housing Department, including Vice Mayor Marc McGovern and Cambridge City Manager Yi-An Huang.
“POAH looks forward to transforming this historic property into well-designed, high-quality, energy-efficient, and attractive apartments that will offer critical housing opportunities to residents who would otherwise not be able to afford to live in the City of Cambridge,” said POAH President/CEO Aaron Gornstein.
Designed by architectural firm DMS Design of Peabody, this adaptive reuse project addresses the critical need for housing in the region while preserving the architectural character of these historic structures by restoring their historical facades and interiors. The project’s scope of work includes the complete renovation and restoration of walls, ceilings, woodwork, mechanical, electrical, plumbing systems, elevators, and windows. Historic hardwood floors will also be repaired and preserved where possible or replaced with matching materials.
When complete, Rose on Sixth Street will provide 46 affordable homes for the community, including 34 one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments and 12 units with three or more bedrooms. The property will serve a range of incomes below the 80% Area Median Income, with eight of the apartments targeted to extremely low-income…