Council enthusiastic about proposed veteran housing and services at Fernald 

Waltham is entertaining an ambitious proposal to bring a 66-unit housing development for low-income veterans to the Fernald property.

Caritas Communities, a company that develops and manages housing for low-income residents in Massachusetts, proposed the project. Caritas was the only company to respond to a bid request the city circulated for affordable housing projects for the site.

Caritas representatives visited the City Council’s Committee of the Whole meeting this week to present an initial version of its plan to build veterans’ housing and support services.

A look at the project

Caritas proposes taking over Dolan and MacDougall halls, two former dormitories on the west side of the former Fernald’s campus, via a long-term lease. 

It plans to renovate both halls and build a new central building to connect them. This new complex would hold three and a half floors of one-bedroom and studio apartments. The units, designed for single veterans living alone, would be small, ranging from approximately 350–700 square feet, but the building would provide additional storage space and shared common areas.

The apartments would be designated for low-income veterans, with a preference for those with disabilities or experiencing homelessness. Caritas’ executive director Frank Connell said the company planned to coordinate with the Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing voucher program to provide additional rent support for some residents.

Caritas also plans to rent and renovate the nearby West Nurses’ Home, a building formerly inhabited by Fernald staff, as a center for wraparound support services run by Veteran Pathways of New England. These services would include job training, financial assistance, wellness programs and offsite transportation.

The buildings would center around a monument to fallen soldiers that architect David Tanner of BWA Architecture, Inc. said he hopes will set a new tone for the site.

“You’re all aware of the history of the state school — and it’s not a history that we intend to celebrate with this project,” Tanner said. “The goal here is, for the well-being of veterans, to preserve this building that deserves to be preserved, really to shrug off this old legacy and [build] a new one.”

It’s unclear how much renovation work the three buildings will require, but the project team said the buildings’ outside masonry and the concrete floors are in surprisingly good shape. Connell emphasized that at this stage of the process, any estimates for total renovation costs are extremely preliminary, but guessed the process could cost along the lines of $55 million. 

Most of the project, Connell said, would be funded through state and federal loan programs contingent on Caritas’ promise to provide affordable housing. Some of those programs would also require some kind of proof of municipal support, which he said the company would likely seek through a Community Preservation Act grant.

Enthusiasm from councilors

Councilors expressed broad support and excitement about housing plans for the Fernald site, which they said were long overdue.

“I’ve been looking forward to voting on something like this since I got elected,” said Ward 3 Councilor Bill Hanley. “I can’t think of a better way to heal what went on at those 200 acres under the state’s watch.”

Caritas has expanded the scope of the project since its initial bid; Connell said his company has taken on physically larger projects before, but the overall scope is especially ambitious. Mayor Jeannette A. McCarthy told councilors she was “pleasantly surprised” at the expansion, and vouched for Caritas, who she said has experience in providing veterans’ housing and has already thoroughly vetted the property.

Multiple councilors expressed strong support for Waltham veterans to receive preference for the project with Ward 8 Councilor Cathyann Harris calling it a “non-negotiable.”

Connell told councilors his team would try to guarantee a Waltham preference, but warned that the company will be dependent on the criteria of state grant programs, which are focused on alleviating housing needs across the state. He added that Massachusetts veterans are currently experiencing high rates of homelessness.

Ward 6 Councilor Sean T. Durkee said he was glad to see the project plans to provide transportation for residents, given the relative isolation of the site, but raised concerns about the size of proposed apartments.

“Most people would have friends and have people over,” he said. “If you want to enhance [veterans’ housing] experience, let’s not remind them of what it’s like in basic training.”

The city council decided to table the matter while it waits for McCarthy to return to them with specific requests to move the project forward.