Spencer Green Nears Completion

Utile’s latest affordable housing project, Spencer Green, will soon be ready for tenants. The 48-unit, affordable apartment development by Chelsea Neighborhood Developers showcases a variety of sustainable features. Carefully selected mechanical systems and fixtures, along with an energy-conserving exterior envelope insure the project will meet or exceed the EnergyStar Homes standards for efficiency. Solar panels will power most of the common electrical loads and a rainwater cistern (certainly full at the moment) will provide a source for irrigation water for a wide variety of native species during droughts.

Spencer Green’s ambitions include a socially forward-thinking program. Great care has been taken in the development and design of the project’s communal spaces. The project’s three buildings frame a landscaped courtyard designed by Heimarck & Foglia that includes extensive outdoor seating and a play yard for small children. Generous balconies provide further opportunity for interaction on the street and in the courtyard. A flexible ‘Common Room’ will be made available to the residents for special events and educational programs.

Carefully keyed into a mildly sloping site, the two “townhouse” buildings are composed of a unique combination of two-story duplex units above single-story two and three bedroom flats at ground level. The “main” building is a more conventional double-loaded corridor plan, offering five different one and two bedroom unit layouts. Utile’s fresh approach to the exterior details aims to provide a bridge between the surrounding fabric and the area’s emerging, contemporary market-rate housing.

Final close out is expected in August.