Sherburne Commons, a full-service senior living community under construction on Nantucket, will include 20 cottages and 40 apartments.
Seniors searching for housing with support services on Nantucket have had to go off the island in the past. But now, a new community expected to be finished by early next year will offer Nantucket’s seniors a new choice.
The full-service community, Sherburne Commons, will provide housing for people 62 and older who need assisted living services, as well as those who can live independently.
The $28 million project, which is being developed by a nonprofit organization of island residents who saw a need for such a community, is one of the largest residential projects undertaken on the island.
“The need [for such a community] has been there for a while,” said Andrea Doherty, the Sherburne Commons marketing director who works for Welch Healthcare and Retirement Group, the Norwell-based company that will manage the community once it’s completed.
The project has been in the works for at least a decade, according to Doherty. The idea for the community emerged when Nantucket Cottage Hospital was in the process of developing its strategic plan. Creating a full-service senior living community where residents could age in place was part of the hospital’s vision. But as the years went by, the hospital’s strategic mission changed, and the plan for the senior community was dropped, explained Doherty.
A group of island residents who were part of the hospital’s strategic planning process still felt strongly that the senior living community was needed on Nantucket. “They formed a nonprofit and forged ahead,” said Doherty.
The group worked to develop a plan for the community, and about six years ago, went to the town asking for a 20-acre site for the project.
“We had an overwhelming response at Town Meeting,” said Joe McLaughlin, vice president of the group developing Sherburne Commons.
The town agreed to donate 20 acres of land between South Shore and Miacomet roads for the project. Construction began last fall.
“It’s turned out to be an exciting project,” said McLaughlin.
Of the seniors’ need for such a development on Nantucket, he added, “As an island community, people have created a life on the island, and when they needed assisted living services Â… they had to leave. That was kind of painful.”
Modular Benefits
The community will feature 20 detached cottages ranging in size from 990 to 1,531 square feet, as well as a 50,000-square-foot building with 40 one- and two-bedroom apartments.
Fourteen of the apartments will be for seniors requiring assistance with daily personal services – such as meals and housekeeping – and eight apartments will be set aside for individuals with dementia, Alzheimer’s and other related memory impairments.
Already, 80 percent of the units have been pre-sold, according to Doherty. Prices for the homes range from $240,000 up to $800,000.
Doherty described the purchase price as an entrance fee – 90 percent of which is refundable to a resident or heir once a resident moves out and sells the unit. Residents also are required to pay a monthly service fee that ranges from $2,500 to $3,600.
Twenty percent of the homes will be reserved for households earning up to 50 percent of the area median income.
The buyers of the cottages, which are modular units, can choose from five different styles.
The cottages are manufactured by Excel Homes – a company based in Camp Hill, Pa. – and are being finished onsite by Heritage Modular of Needham.
Sean Sweeney, president of Heritage Modular, said the homes are being sent by barge from New Bedford to the island. Once they arrive at the site, Heritage Modular sets them and within two days they are weather-tight, according to Sweeney.
The construction team is then able to do onsite work like installing the heating, electrical and plumbing systems, as well as flooring and siding.
Heritage began setting the first homes in January and as of last week, 13 homes were already standing.
Sweeney, whose company has done modular homes in towns like Wellesley, Lexington and Newton, said there are at least three benefits to using modular homes for larger projects like Sherburne Commons: cost, quality and certainty of schedule.
Since modular homes are manufactured in a climate-controlled factory, the homes are usually finished on time and don’t face weather-related delays, explained Sweeney.
In addition, modular homes are ordered and there are no adjustments made to the homes during the building process that can lead to higher costs. Further, buyers and developers must select finishes – such as tile and kitchen cabinets – and make other decisions about the home interior early on in the process.
“You know what you’re getting before the house even shows up,” he said.
In the case of the cottages in Sherburne Commons, the homes arrived on the island nearly complete. Sweeney said the interior trim was painted and all the light fixtures and switches were already in place. Once Heritage sets the cottages, they are 80 percent complete, he added.
That’s a big advantage in a place like Nantucket where tradesman, electricians and plumbers are difficult to retain, especially during the summer months when the island’s population swells and their services are in demand.
And modular homes are built by people who are specifically trained and know their trades. “[The manufacturers] have all the quality control,” Sweeney said.
Doherty said modular homes were used for Sherburne Commons because “it’s the most cost-effective and fastest way to build on the island.”
The community was designed by EGA Architects of Newburyport. Kay Construction of Newton is constructing the apartment building.
MassDevelopment, the state’s finance and development authority, awarded a $27.5 million financing package for the project last fall. Sovereign Bank provided a letter-of-credit for the bonds, and Ziegler Capital Markets Group acted as the underwriter.
