Vertec Corp. breaks ground on the construction of a new 40-Unit Elderly Housing Development.
The project consists of a 48,695 s/f, four-story wood frame, mixed-use development providing 5,576 s/f of street-level retail, and 40, one-bedroom, affordable senior rental units. Vertec broke ground in January and construction will be complete by February of 2014
The project is part of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) 202 program. The HUD 202 program helps expand the supply of affordable housing with supportive services for the elderly. It provides very low-income elderly with options that allow them to live independently but in an environment that provides support activities such as cleaning, cooking, transportation, etc.
The project is currently designed to achieve LEED Gold certification, however, it's just a few points away from achieving LEED Platinum, according to William Faradie, III of Vertec Corp. They are working closely with the developer, Nuestra CDC and the architect, The Architectural Team to achieve the Platinum level and the team is confident that they can achieve it.
The development will provide residents with a common area living room, multipurpose room and roof terrace. The sustainable design features includes sun screens, underground cistern for rainwater reuse, solar hot water and solar PV panels at the roof levels with the possibility of a vegetated roof system.
One of the project challenges has been dealing with unsuitable soil conditions. To best meet this challenge Vertec will use a Geo Pier System (Rammed Aggregate Piers) which is a ground improvement method that uses soil "replacement" and soil "displacement" technology. The system is designed to strengthen soft and loose soil with very dense, stiff, rock columns constructed by heavy equipment crowd force and vertical impact ramming.
The Quincy Commons Project is the first of a number of construction projects known as the Quincy Corridor located off of Quincy St. The project site is located on the northeast corner of Quincy St. and Blue Hill Ave. The Quincy Commons site is one of the few remaining vacant lots dating back to the early 1970's.
The project will not only meet the needs for affordable housing for seniors in the community but it will also open up many construction jobs giving the residents a chance to join the workforce. Furthermore, Vertec Corp. is working closely with Nuestra CDC and Quincy Geneva Housing on providing such jobs for the community. The project has set the bar to achieve higher than your average percentages of hiring residents from within the community.
Vertec Corp. operates with offices located in both Dorchester and North Easton, Mass.
The project team included:
Nuestra CDC: Owner
Vertec Corp.: General Contractor
Geotechnical Partnership: GeoTech Engineer
Wozny/Barbar & Associates, Inc.: Mech, Plumb, Elect, Fire Prot. Engineer
Janey Co.: Clerk
New England Building Supply: Rough Carpentry
Anderson Insulation: Insulation/Thermal Hot Water
D+D Electric: Solar