Brookview Village Not for "Poor" People Say Developers

As the Brookview Village "friendly 40B" was passed last week, representatives for the developers reinforced that the development was for affordable housing, not low income housing.

“This project is not designed for the poor," said Arthur Bergeron, lawyer and representative of the Gutierrez Company that is developing the property. "The point of this development is to provide housing for the workers who are going to be working across the street and those people aren’t that poor."

To make their point, the company released information on apartment pricing. The pricing for the 225 unit complex and other comparative complexes in Marlborough is listed below.

Receive breaking news in your inbox or smartphone by signing up for our newsletter here

The comments were made during a discussion leading up to the approval of the complex in a 3 to 2 vote by the Zoning Board of Appeals. The data and comments by Bergeron were made in explanation of the 40B status of the development.

"This is designed to be worker housing, not unemployement level housing,” said Bergeron.

The affordable housing prices are based on a formula that utilizes median income levels. The median income levels are just over $71,000, according to a preliminary housing analysis by MAPC. To be elligible for low income housing, a single person would have to make 80 percent of the median income, or no more than $54,750.

The ZBA approved the development. The conditions of the approval, including an initially suggested $675,000 in mitigation funds, still have yet to be set.