Hoxie's Solution Is Housing - Editorial
When it comes to the question of what to do with the Ella F. Hoxie Elementary School, the answer feels obvious: affordable housing.
Earlier this month, Bourne Town Administrator Marlene V. McCollem made it clear that it is her intention to market the property, yet no one seems to be able to agree on what to market it as. But a quick look around the area would reveal the unique success found at the nearby Kempton J. Coady School, which in 2016 was purchased by the Stratford Capital Group. The 58-unit building was completed in 2017 and is age-restricted to residents 55 years and older.
The Stratford Capital Group has found a niche in adaptive reuse of vacant buildings, especially old school buildings. Of the seven reuse projects in the company’s portfolio, all are historically significant buildings, and six are former schools. Two of the seven are family rental units, and one of those is 100 percent affordable. It’s called the Page Woodson School, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. While the 128-unit complex—consisting of the adaptive reuse of three-story school building and a newly constructed four-story building—is bigger than what the Hoxie School could offer, it can and should serve as a blueprint for what the property could offer in terms of affordable housing.
As of December 21, 2020, the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development reports that 6.9 percent of Bourne’s housing inventory is designated as affordable on the Chapter 40B Subsidized Housing Inventory. Bourne is in a unique position when it comes to the affordable housing crisis on Cape Cod. Spanning both sides of the Cape Cod Canal, Bourne has a large footprint and offers easy access to communities both north and south. In an economy where it’s almost impossible for workers to find either summer or year-round housing, any units that can be added to the subsidized housing inventory should be.
There is a major focus on the development and preservation of affordable housing, not just on Cape Cod or in Massachusetts, but across the country. Government at all levels has recognized the need for affordable housing and has designated a considerable amount of funds to create units for people across all demographics. In the case of the Hoxie School, the Town of Bourne has an opportunity to rehabilitate and maintain a historic building and add units to the subsidized housing inventory through a Chapter 40B development.
It’s key to mention that affordable workforce housing should be at the top of the town’s list of priorities, and appealing to young people is key to keeping the Cape’s communities vital. Without housing for workers, local businesses and economies suffer. Evidence of that is visible all over Cape Cod. Staffing shortages have wreaked havoc on local businesses, leaving both customers and employees disgruntled. But with nowhere for workers to live, what options are there? Year-round rental properties are few and far between, and those that are on the market come with a price far above what a young working-class person can afford. In fact, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition’s 2021 publication “Out of Reach: The High Cost of Housing,” there is no state, metropolitan area, or even county in the United States in which a worker earning the federal or prevailing state or local minimum wage can afford a modest two-bedroom rental home at fair market rent by working a standard 40-hour work week.
Young people are what keep Cape Cod thriving—they’re the ones working at the restaurants, guarding the beaches, working with children, and, ideally, raising their own families here—but with nowhere for them to live, they will be forced elsewhere.
As a gateway to the region and, historically speaking, the youngest town on Cape Cod, Bourne is poised to set the stage for what vibrant, thriving communities people can expect when coming here. In making Bourne accessible for young families and workers to live in, the town would not only be investing in itself and its future, but also in all of Cape Cod.