The Municipal Affordable Housing Trust is contributing $11,600 to stave off bank auctions of The Inn and Great Elms, said trust member and Selectmen liaison Ron Ricci Friday morning. The two complexes are Harvard’s only affordable-housing rental properties available without age restrictions.
After an executive session Monday, Ricci announced that the trust had reached an agreement with North Middlesex Savings Bank, which had scheduled the auctions for Dec. 8 and 15. At that time, Ricci had said the trust was willing to commit funds, but didn’t say how much. He told the Press in an email Friday the amount is $11,600.
In that same email, Ricci said that “the players” in Monday’s negotiations were the bank, the Municipal Affordable Housing Trust, the state Department of Housing and Community Development, and Harvard Trust Non-Profit Properties, the organization that owned and managed the buildings before turning over the keys to the bank in late October.
In addition to the trust’s contribution, Ricci said, “At least two Harvard residents who are not members of the [Municipal Affordable Housing Trust] or [Harvard Trust Non-Profit Properties] are helping in various fashions.”
The affordable housing trust is working on a long-range plan that includes Department of Housing and Community Development involvement, Ricci said Friday.
“Any course of action taken will obviously require broad support from the town,” he wrote in his email.
The Inn, on Fairbank Street, and Great Elms, on Stow Road, contain nine apartments between the two of them. North Middlesex Savings Bank President William Marshall said Tuesday the bank is committed to postponing the auction “to address issues, maintain the property, and reach a final disposition for the well-being of the tenants.”