North Shore CDC's Ribbon Cutting to celebrate the completion of Salem Point Apartments Rehab and Pocket Park Completion

North Shore Community Development Coalition recently completed an extensive renovation of their Salem Point Apartments II and will be hosting the development’s ribbon cutting on Friday, September 25th at 9 am at 15 Ward Street in Salem, MA. In addition to the 77 units of renovated affordable housing, the ribbon cutting also celebrates the creation of a pocket park on 15 Ward Street and an accurate replication of 2 large-scale murals in the neighborhood that had deteriorated beyond repair. This rehab was the largest development renovation and the first open space & public art renovation to be completed by North Shore CDC.

The renovation was an $18+million transaction of 11 buildings throughout Salem’s Point Neighborhood that included a major renovation and refinancing of the properties to ensure their long-term quality and affordability. The renovation, completed by NEI General Contracting and designed by Davis Square Architects, included new kitchens and bathrooms, new roofs, all new windows, extensive masonry repairs, extensive flooring upgrades, new energy-efficient mechanical systems, insulation improvements, energy and water-usage reduction features and a solar thermal hot water heating system. Historic restorations to the facades of the buildings were also completed.

A unique component of the Salem Point Apartments’ renovation was the replication of two large murals that hung on two of the buildings under renovation. The original murals were painted by community members in the late 1990’s and were replicated by Oliver Brothers Fine Art Restoration and Conservation in 2015. The murals will be on display on their original buildings on Harbor and Ward Street for the ribbon cutting.

Funds for the development were raised through the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program issued by the Department of Housing and Community Development, state and federal Historic Tax Credits, the Massachusetts Housing Investment Corporation, Institution for Savings, the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston, the North Shore HOME Consortium, the City of Salem HOME program, Mass Development, Dorfman Capital, CEDAC, and Eastern Bank.

The 15 Ward Street Pocket Park transformed an unsafe dumping site into a small urban park. Residents of the Salem Point neighborhood led the design process of the park, which resulted in a small basketball court with seating, green space, and a community kiosk. Funding for the park was supported by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, the Salem Community Preservation Act, and the City of Salem’s CDBG, with design by Michelle Crowley Landscape Architecture and Boscardin Consulting Engineers and construction by Anderson Landscape Construction.

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