Building community
AHEAD builds community in the North Country
When Brittany Emmons moved into Lloydâs Hills Apartments in Bethlehem last February, the place was so new that the internet company insisted it didnât exist.
A year into the pandemic, Brittany was taking nursing classes remotely. âI was trying to figure out how to take my test, how to go to class,â she laughs. âIâm like, âI promise you, here I am. Iâm living here!â â
Now the complex is full. On nice afternoons, Brittanyâs 6-year-old daughter, Harper, and other youngsters spill out from the 28 two- and three-bedroom apartments to play. Lloydâs Hills is at the end of a winding lane, so traffic isnât a concern.
Neither is noise. Brittany was happy to escape their last apartment in Whitefield, where the roar and rattle of snow plows woke her too early on too many winter mornings.
A New Hampshire Housing report this summer on the North Countryâs housing needs found affordability is an issue for more than a third of households there, largely because of low incomes and few options.
The $8.5-million Lloydâs Hills development, owned by AHEAD (Affordable Housing, Education and Development Inc.), is a gift for working families. In a town with an aging housing supply and few vacancies, it offers 21 affordable homes (the other seven are rented at the market rate) built to Energy Star standards. Itâs an easy walk from the elementary school and the town center.
âWe could have put twice as many units in here and been able to fill them,â says AHEADâs Director of Development, Larry Berg.
A major reason for the lack of affordable housing is that building it requires a virtual Jenga tower of financing. Pulling the wrong block at the wrong time can collapse entire projects, and rebuilding the tower always costs more.
Thatâs what AHEAD faced in early 2020. Nearly five years into the projectâs planning, with construction finally underway, a key investor backed out.
The Littleton-based AHEAD owns and operates more than 500 affordable apartments for families, seniors,
and people with disabilities in N.H.âs North Country, and has partnered with the Community Loan Fund on
numerous projects.
Now it was time to tap that partnership again. Our loan kept the contractors on the job until other financing came through, which also kept the project on budget and schedule.
For Brittany, who wanted to return to Bethlehem to be closer to her job and her family, itâs exactly what she needed.
âI love my space,â she says. âItâs our own little community up here.â
This article was published in the New Hampshire Community Loan Fundâs 2021 annual report.