Rockland, MA NeighborWorks Housing Solutions (NHS), one of the leading housing service providers in southern Mass., held a ribbon-cutting for Copley Gardens, its latest renovated apartment home community located at 105 Market St.

Copley Gardens is an 83-unit mixed-income property that recently underwent extensive renovations necessary to shore the property up for the long term, including modernizing the exterior and interior building components, upgrading units, and making five of the units fully accessible to people living with disabilities. The last major renovations to this community occurred in the late 1990s.

“As part of this redevelopment, we increased the number of affordable apartment homes from the original 62 in the 90s to 72 units now,” said Noelle Humphries, associate real estate development director for NeighborWorks Housing Solutions. “We made significant upgrades to the buildings, adding new siding, new windows, redesigned entrances, landscaping, an updated fire protection system, and other substantial renovations to ensure the safety and comfort of our residents.”

In addition to interior cosmetic updates like new paint, carpeting, and select in-unit upgrades, a much-needed playground was added to the community. The new recreation space provides a safe place for children to play and parents to gather. It also features an adaptive swing, which was funded by a gift from the Wells Fargo Foundation. The existing management office was redesigned and relocated to an accessible building to ensure easy resident and visitor access.

State senator John Keenan and state representative David DeCoste attended the ribbon-cutting and shared a few words of congratulations, as did Rockland assistant town administrator Jennifer Constable, president and CEO of Mass Development Dan Rivera, managing director of community development lending for Silicon Valley Bank Peter Hollands, and president and CEO of Massachusetts Housing Investment Corporation Moddie Turay.

“The renovations at Copley Gardens represent our commitment to addressing the need, of not just adding essential affordable housing, but of maintaining existing affordable housing as well,” said Robert Corley, CEO of NeighborWorks Housing Solutions.

“The redevelopment will improve the quality of life for the residents of Copley Gardens, and ensure the property remains affordable for the long term. We look forward to more projects like this in more communities in the future.”