Overview:
The historic Pequoig House, a former hotel converted into affordable senior housing, has been awarded an $850,000 grant to support renovations. The grant, along with a $1.2 million loan and potential additional grants, will help fund the $5.5 million renovation project. The project includes installing energy-efficient windows, creating a community room, and modernizing the property with LED lighting, insulation, and a computer center. Construction is set to begin in late 2027.
ATHOL – The historic Pequoig House is among the recipients of $2.12 million in grants and a $1.2 million loan from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston.
Pequoig House was awarded an $850,000 grant to support renovating the former Pequoig Hotel, a four-story Classic Revival building built in 1894. The grant will support renovating the building, which was converted a few years ago from a hotel into affordable senior housing with 53 rental units.
Owner Kyle Carbone of Ogden Pond Realty said his company has initiated a major renovation project at the Pequoig which, when it has been completed, will represent an investment of some $5.5 million in the downtown Athol building. The grant, in addition to historic tax credits and potential additional grants from the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities that the Pequoig House has applied for, will help with the project.
“I work for a small firm, and my boss was the head of affordable housing for a very large developer,” Carbone said. “When my boss went off on his own in 2018, this property came across his desk. And we’re really focused on affordable housing, especially preserving affordable housing. When we see a property such as this one, especially where it’s a historic site, we know there’s a process out there where we can modernize the property, make the property a lot more ‘homey’ for the tenants.”
Carbone said the planned renovations include installation of energy-efficient windows which are also compatible with the historic aesthetics of the Pequoig.
“They [the historical society] want the facade facing Main Street to not vary in appearance from what has been there historically,” he said. “So, we’re creating the exact same window, appearance-wise.”
“This is exactly what affordable housing should look like,” said Justin Walker, deputy director of Fairview Housing Partners, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting affordable housing that has been working with the Pequoig House.
Carbone also said one of the building’s two storefronts on Main Street will be converted to a community room for residents of the building. Plans also call for the installation of energy-efficient appliances, LED lighting, bathroom upgrades, code compliance upgrades, and the installation of insulation.
“We’re also going to put in a computer center,” he added. “We’re really trying to modernize the property and make it a better overall home for our residents.”
Carbone’s company is currently working on its application to the Executive Office of Housing and Affordable Housing. The application must be submitted in March, he said, and the announcement of grant awards will take place in July. He said he is hopeful construction can get underway this fall with completion of the project in late 2027.
Madison Schofield of the Greenfield Recorder contributed to this report.