A six-apartment affordable housing development on Chapel Lane has received $445,500 in state grant funding from MassHousing’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program. Developer Steve Beauchemin plans to construct two buildings at 6 Chapel Lane, off Depot Street in East Wareham, each containing three three-bedroom apartments. 

The funding is being provided to the Wareham Area Committee for the Homeless, who will then work with Beauchemin in funding the project. For-profit developers are not eligible for the Neighborhood Stabilization Program, but a non-profit such as the committee can partner with a for-profit developer for an application. 

“We’re very excited,” said committee chair Chuck McCullough. “A lot of hard work went into the grant request, driven by Steve.”

McCullough said the state grant was “critical” to make the project’s finances work. While the developer still needs to secure the remaining funds, McCullough expects the shovel to be in the ground sometime this year. 

Beauchemin received $150,000 of Wareham’s Community Preservation Act funds for the project from Town Meeting in October 2023. The project’s developers will support it with $1.4 million, and it is expected to cost $2.1 million overall. 

The apartments will be rented to households at or below 80% of Area Median Income, and must remain affordable for 15 years, according to the office of Senator Marc Pacheco. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the median household income in Wareham from 2018 to 2022 was $76,787, 80% of which is $61,429.60. 

“I want to congratulate the work of the Wareham Area Committee for the Homeless for their efforts to acquire grant funding for this project,” said Pacheco. “Projects like these are necessary to giving people affordable housing options in our communities.”