Way Finders breaks ground on Essex Village in downtown Holyoke

Wayfinders has revealed its latest affordable housing investment in downtown Holio this morning. >> And 22 News reporter Sarah Yian gives us an inside look. >> That's right, Nick Sara. In less than a year, there will be 41 new affordable housing units on four different sites close to the Holio Public Library. Wayfinders is calling it Essex Village. It's preserving several long vacant lots in downtown Holio, including the 1888 Essex building. State and local funding partners helped them invest over $28 million in this project. 18 apartments will be for families earning 30% or below the area of medium income and 23 will be for those earning 60% or less. This is just one project that came from the policies in the Massachusetts Affordable Homes Act. Today was the official groundbreaking. >> Making sure that they have a place for folks who've called Holio home for generations and folks who might want to be part of the exciting things that are happening here in this city and want to move to Holio. >> All the units will have heating, cooling, electricity, and hot water, including in the rent. There will also be on-site laundry, parking spaces, and 247 maintenance staff on call. But that's not all. Four units will be wheelchair accessible and one will be for a sensory impaired resident. At the groundbreaking ceremony, Mayor Joshua Garcia also shared that he even lived right across the street 15 years ago. working for you. Sarah Benay, 22 News.