The Concord Coalition to End Homelessness has won an award for creating four apartments for long-term homeless people on Green Street, not long after it turned a triplex on West Street into more such apartments.
The coalition’s work on 10 Green St., which preserved much of the aspect of the historic house even as it was cut into four apartments, was among nine projects and two people honored in the N.H. Preservation Alliance’s annual awards on May 3. Reviewers praised the project for enhancing the character and features of a notable property while helping some of the community’s most vulnerable residents.
Ellen Groh, executive director of the group, said they hoped that Concord would see more such projects as officials examine changes in zoning that would allow such “infill” work, not only to help end homelessness but to reduce the strain on rental and housing markets that has sent prices skyrocketing.
“This idea that you can take houses in Concord and turn them into more units on the same footprint, is a huge way to help solve the housing crisis,” she said.
Praise for the Coalition comes as it is working on a seemingly simple project: keeping track of the city’s homeless population.
“We are putting a focus on trying to pin down the number of long-term homeless in Concord, working with other agencies to get a collective number,” Groh said. “How many are in encampments, are they still there, have they moved on to a new town?
“It’s more challenging than you might think to keep track of this. There are privacy issues …, Sometimes they don’t want to cooperate, to tell you their real name, to tell you anything.”
The group’s annual report says that 22 people were housed in 2021. In the first quarter of 2022, 11 people had been housed in the city.
Design work for the Green Street project was done by Warren Street Architects. The general contractor was JH Spain.
“They did a great job in keeping historical features – trim, high ceilings – it feels lovely,” Groh said.
One of the other awards given out by the Preservation Alliance went to the Woman’s Club of Concord for their rehabilitation and stewardship of the Chamberlin House, a Queen Anne-style home that serves as their headquarters and provides housing.
Rick Geddes of Geddes Building Movers of Bow received one of two awards for being a leader in the preservation field for his company’s work in moving historic buildings, including the 200-ton Gale School in Belmont.
