Ownership change could dislodge residents

The Inn on Fairbank Street and Great Elms on Stow Road, two landmark homes that together provide nine affordable rental apartments in Harvard, will be auctioned off in December, according to the lender, North Middlesex Savings Bank.

If the scheduled auctions take place, Harvard's inventory of state-approved affordable units will drop from 5.4 to 4.9 percent toward the state-mandated level of 10 percent. More than 14 people will need to find new places to live.

"I will deal with reality, but I would like a place just like it is here," said one longtime resident, gazing out the window of the bright and tidy two-room place he rents for less than $500 a month, including heat.

The homes are Harvard's only state-sanctioned, affordable rentals available to all ages; all other affordable rental properties in town are limited to people 55 and over.

The properties' owner, Harvard Trust Non-Profit Properties, surrendered its keys two weeks ago, after North Middlesex Savings Bank seized its accounts. The corporation stopped paying its mortgage last April, after years of sustaining the aging properties with no reserve fund and no ability to raise rents. Rising costs—the 2010 fuel bill was $24,287—and the need for major upgrades, including a $63,000 sewer connection cost, vanquished the 25 year-old community-based group. Its sole purpose was to own and manage this affordable housing.

Initially, the bank "protested" at accepting the keys, said Harvard Trust Non-Profit Properties president Victor Normand.

"But without any cash at all we can't responsibly manage the property," he said, noting that insurance and fuel bills were due soon.

Normand said the bank took all the corporation's money, $20,000.

"That pays for all the [past due] mortgage and $6,000 on the principal," he said.

North Middlesex president William Marshall said last month that the failure of Havard's Municipal Affordable Housing Trust to engage a consultant to explore options for salvaging the units was one turning point for the bank.

Porter mural confirmed at The Inn
 

During the 1830s, The Inn was visited by famed folk artist Rufus Porter (1792-1884), confirmed now as the painter who decorated the main hallway. Historic decorative arts artist and expert Linda Carter Lefko of Pen Yan, New York, co-author with Jane Radcliffe of "Folk Murals of the Rufus Porter School," documented the walls in 2009.

"The murals in the downstairs hallway that are plum color monochromatic are the remains, after wallpaper removal, of an original Rufus Porter mural," Lefko told the Press this week.

Upper hallways are "repainted modern, in the style of what was presumably said to have been there," she said.

Also paying heed to the murals is affordable housing consultant David Salomon of Cambridge, who in 2010 prepared an analysis of The Inn and Great Elms on Stow Road.

"While conservation of a national treasure is an unusual burden for a local non-profit, the responsibility needs to be addressed," his report says.

A Porter mural at The Inn (Photo by Lisa Aciukewicz)

"The sense of urgency was apparently not borne on them," Marshall said. "I got the impression there was a kind of disconnect between the groups [Harvard Trust Non-Profit Properties and the town's Municipal Affordable Housing Trust]."

Nevertheless, Marshall said, the bank was "willing to delay right up until the last minute" before the foreclosure auction, if the loan could be "brought to a good position."

Marshall suggested that the town should get more involved.

"Could the town adjust the [sewer connection] betterment fees?" he asked. "If the town wants to maintain the units, something's got to give."

Estimates from 2010 put numerous basic upgrades and repairs at $322,000 for The Inn, including such things as the sewer connection, a fire escape, electrical upgrades, and weatherization. Similar repairs were estimated at $192,400 for Great Elms. A full-scale upgrade would cost $1.8 million, based simply on costs of $160 per square foot. The estimates were provided by David Salomon of Constructive Advisors in Cambridge, who called The Inn and Great Elms "among the most interesting buildings that I have inspected over many years of involvement with affordable housing."

The mortgage, actually a commercial loan covering both The Inn and Great Elms, amounts to $248,829; past-due property taxes, payable by a new owner, total $17,000, not including so-far modest late fees. And a $325,861 federal improvement loan—payable only if the property sheds its affordable status—need not be paid by the bank or a new owner. That loss would instead be borne by the state, according to the Department of Housing and Community Development spokesman Mary-Leah Assad.

Assad also issued this statement on Tuesday: "DHCD is committed to preserving affordable housing whenever possible. To that end, we will continue working closely with Harvard Trust Non-Profit Properties, the Municipal Affordable Housing Trust Fund and the town to prevent these projects from being foreclosed upon."

The Board of Selectmen's liaison to the Municipal Affordable Housing Trust, Ron Ricci, did not respond to requests for comment on the recent developments. Last month, though, Ricci told the Press he favored "replicating" the affordable units at a "low impact site" if The Inn and Great Elms fell to foreclosure. Other officials, including Town Administrator Tim Bragan and Selectmen Chair Marie Sobalvarro, were just getting acquainted with the situation.

Sobalvarro said last week that her first impressions were of "a train wreck happening in slow motion and largely out of view," saying also that she needed more information before making the matter an agenda item at a future Selectmen meeting. Bragan said he was poised to guide tenants to the appropriate resources for help.

Auctions are currently scheduled for Dec. 8 at The Inn and Dec. 15 at Great Elms. Subsequent eviction proceedings—assuming the new owner wishes them—typically take "at least six months," according to the bank.

For a complete timeline of affordable housing at The Inn and Great Elms, visit the Harvard Wiki on the Harvard Press website, www.harvardpress.com.