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Winchester town officials are coming together to support two articles on the Fall Town Meeting warrant that would allow for the renovation and sale of a house at 160 Forest St.
The Historical Commission this week unanimously voted to support both Article 28 and Article 29 in order to fund the project being promoted by the town’s Affordable Housing Trust (AHT). The Planning Board will also reportedly vote to support the articles.
Article 28 is being brought forth by the Winchester Committee on Community Preservation (WCCP) to appropriate and transfer $1.03 million from the Community Preservation Fund for several projects, including $350,000 for the Forest Street renovation.
The project is the largest amount on the WCCP request.
Article 29 asks the town to authorize the Select Board to “convey the care, custody, control and ownership” of the Forest Street property to AHT.
Last fall, Town Meeting authorized the Select Board to accept the title of the house and restrict it for affordable housing. The property was left to the town by Martha Chase Rice in her will when she died in November 2020.
A look inside the 160 Forest St. property. COURTESY PHOTOS/TOWN OF WINCHESTER/AFFORDABLE HOUSING TRUST
The property is currently being held by the Housing Corporation of Arlington, a non-profit dedicated to affordable housing. Article 29 will return the property back to AHT for development.
The house is under a deed restriction that will forever make it affordable housing for buyers who qualify at 80% of the area median income, or approximately $132,000 for a family of four.
The 1,624-square foot house is a 1938 Cape with three bedrooms, one full and one half bath that sits on a 10,694-square foot lot that also includes a deteriorating garage. The Assessor’s Office currently values the house at $952,200.
AHT Chair Marty Jones is excited the trust has been able to move the project to this point during the past year.
“All the people we’ve talked to about the project are all in,” Jones said. “The [WCCP] committee is all in and that’s a huge number for them to [put money towards] on a project this size.”
Jones said the board has been meeting since last year, looking at the different possibilities about how to develop the property, including a possible Accessory Dwelling Unit.
After investigating the property with different contractors, convening a community forum, hiring a project manager and conducting a feasibility review, Jones said the board has been looking at the financial resources for making the project a reality.
“Well, we’re not doing the ADU because that’s too complicated,” Jones said. “The next step is to get the house done.”
Next steps
If and when Town Meeting approves both Article 28 and 29, Jones said the next steps would be to find a partner to work with in renovating the property.
“My preference would be to do a partnership,” she said, “something like Habitat for Humanity. If we can’t find anyone, we will probably have to go through the public bidding process.”
That means submitting a Request for Proposal.
The $600,000 for the planned renovation would come from both the CPA funds and the AHT itself. In its 2025 annual report to Town Meeting, AHT “has committed up to $250,000 of its funds, if needed, to support the project.”
Should Town Meeting vote to further study the plan, Jones said the request for the renovation will move to the Spring Town Meeting. In the meantime, AHT can draft an RFP to work with a consultant on the project.
“Either way, we know what our path is,” Jones said. “But the first thing is to pass [Article 29] because we can’t start anything now. The property has to come back to the town first.”
Fall Town Meeting starts on Monday, Nov. 3 at 7 p.m. at Winchester High School. It will also be live streamed by WinCAM.
Nell Escobar Coakley has been a journalist for more than 30 years. She is co-founder and editor-in-chief of Gotta Know Medford and editor of Winchester News. She can be reached at editor@winchesternews.org.
