Laconia Housing adds 24 units of affordable rentals

LACONIA — Laconia Housing recently announced the addition of 24 units of affordable housing in Laconia. Over the last two years, Laconia Housing has been working behind the scenes on projects and partnerships to help ease the burden of housing in the Lakes Region.

With these additions, and through working with local landlords, Laconia Housing now houses nearly 1,500 residents, including elderly, disabled, working families, and professionals in 351 units across Laconia, Belmont, and Northfield.

In March of this year, tenants moved into Perley Pond II, a new development on Blueberry Lane.  The 12 new units include 10 one-bedroom standard and two one-bedroom ADA units, all with gas and electric included in the rent.

This project involved many community partners including Meredith Village Savings Bank, which provided the $1.3 million in financing to secure construction, and InvestNH, which provided the additional $1.35 million from the state funding. This same state funding also provided the City of Laconia with $120,000, $30,000 of which they contributed to this project.

Laconia Housing invested $250,000 of its own to complete the funding necessary to complete the project and NH Housing worked with Laconia Housing’s agency to establish the ground lease.

Last month Laconia Housing completed two more projects.

One, at 13 Summer St., had five existing units, and Laconia Housing converted the existing space to add three more units. Workers also completed renovations to the roof, windows, siding and insulation. Today, Summer Street offers a total of eight units, with one- and two-bedroom apartment options, and the NHSAVES program assistance for energy savings. 

Lastly, residents moved into 395 South Main St.’s four units on July 1. These in-town residential units were converted from office units. They are conveniently located close to Laconia’s downtown shops and food stores, right next to Laconia Housing’s own Sunrise Community Living campus.

For both Summer Street and South Main Street projects, Meredith Village Savings Bank provided the financing and Federal Home Loan Banks gave the award for low-income housing.

Cathy Bowler, Laconia Housing Executive Director said, “It is Laconia Housing’s vision to be an integral component of the Lakes Region community by providing a peaceful, safe, comfortable environment for all residents to live, work, and grow. These three projects are just another small step toward achieving that vision.”