The Railyard Apartments, which offer affordably priced housing, began welcoming residents to Concord’s South End in November. (Photo by Charlotte Matherly, Concord Monitor)
Alexander Pepin and his family waited months to move in.
They’d been on the waitlist for the delayed Railyard Apartments since the summer, so he and his parents, brother and two cats were living in limbo at the Families in Transitions temporary housing.
Pepin and his family finally got the keys to their new apartment last month – and since then, it’s been smooth sailing.
“It’s just really roomy,” he said, “and there’s a good vibe about the place.”
The Railyard welcomed its first residents into the first two buildings starting in November, and as of the new year, 22 units were occupied at the complex, which offers affordably priced apartments. It’s located on Langdon Avenue in Concord’s South End.
The third building is scheduled to open in February, bringing the total number of apartments to 96, but the rest of the Railyard’s future is unclear.
After initially pitching it as a 200-unit project, Jeremy Vieira, who’s overseeing the project at Boston-based developer Dakota Partners, said plans for the rest of the complex are “on hold.”
He attributes it to high interest rates and construction costs.
“The original financing structure just isn’t working right now, so we’re working toward a solution there,” Vieira said. “We’ll see how the project evolves over the next several months.”
So far, though, current residents say they’re having a good experience at the complex. The apartments are spacious, clean and pet-friendly. The complex has a fitness room, playground and a noise curfew.
“It feels like the people who made it really cared about the community,” Pepin said.
Some units are also set aside for clients of the Concord Coalition for Homelessness, as part of a voucher system to help people experiencing homelessness get housing.
The plan was to designate 10 units for housing vouchers. Five of those were built in the first phase, and all of those are now occupied, Vieira said, but depending on the rest of the development’s future, the other half of those units could be on the chopping block.
“I wouldn’t hazard a guess whether … there will be additional homeless units on the phase right now,” Vieira said.
The Railyard Apartments had been praised for its agreement with the coalition and regarded by city and state officials as a model for affordable and accessible housing.
The city of Concord counted the second phase of the project in its inventory of nearly 2,400 units of new housing coming to Concord. That list includes 1,800 units at projects where construction has not yet begun
Rental pricing is variable at the Railyard, depending on income. Generally, Vieira said, a one-bedroom unit is about $1,300 and a two-bedroom is just over $1,500. Despite running behind, Vieira said he’s happy to finally have people moving in.
“It’s really heartening to see that we got 22 folks who have a new roof over their head, an apartment that is affordable to what they make,” Vieira said. “They don’t have that excess rent. They can go spend it on education, kids, vacation, whatever they might need to.”
Charlotte Matherly is the statehouse reporter for the Concord Monitor and Monadnock Ledger-Transcript in partnership with Report for America. Follow her on X at @charmatherly, subscribe to her Capital Beat newsletter and send her an email at cmatherly@cmonitor.com.
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