Clearing Begins For $59 Million Ticcoma Green Affordable Rental Housing Project

The wooded, 1.4-acre lot next to the Nantucket Fire Department is being cleared this week in preparation for the construction of the largest and most expensive affordable housing project in Nantucket history.

The $59 million Ticcoma Green project, which has been in the works for a decade, will include 64 units - a mixture of one-, two-, and three-bedroom rentals - that will be available to individuals and families earning between 30 percent and 120 percent of Nantucket's area median income.

The property at 6 Fairgrounds Road was acquired by the town back in 2004 as part of the Nantucket Electric Company land acquisition and has been targeted for large-scale housing project ever since. The town is partnering with developer Norton Point Development, which was granted a 99-year lease of the property, and Hallkeen, the real estate management company that runs the town's Academy Hill senior housing apartments.

Financing for the project was just completed in December. Norton Point Development secured $32 million in financing from Rockland Trust, an $8.7 million low-interest loan from the town, as well as $13 million from the Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency (MassHousing), additional funding through the Massachusetts Housing Partnership, and low-income housing tax credits from the state.

“HallKeen and Norton Point have seen firsthand how deeply affordability has impacted the islands,” David Oliveri, owner of Norton Point Development and a partner at HallKeen Management, told the Current. “We knew this project needed to be built, and we had an opportunity to be part of the solution. Thanks to the Town of Nantucket and a committed group of partners and agencies, it is one step closer to becoming a reality.”

Oliveri told the Current the project is expected to be completed in 2027.

The plan for the Ticcoma Green project includes four buildings, 64 units, and 114 bedrooms. The 64 apartments would be divided into 12 three-bedroom units, 26 two-bedroom units, 14 one-bedroom units, and 12 studios. Fifty-one of the units would be restricted to individuals and households making below 120 percent of the area median income, and will be awarded to qualified individuals and families through a lottery system. The final 12 units would be rented at market rates. The development would have a total of 81 parking spaces and will feature shared amenities, including a bike shed, a picnic and grill area, EV charging stations, a playground, a community garden, storage, and an on-site management office.

The project has already survived a lawsuit filed by a group of neighboring property owners who appealed the local approval of the affordable housing development in state Land Court and then to a state appeals court. Those legal challenges were ultimately defeated when the appeals court rejected the lawsuits in January 2020, just before the start of the pandemic. But the financing aspect in the post-COVID-19 world has proven to be an even greater hurdle, as the estimated project cost has increased substantially in recent years. As recently as April 2022, the mixed-income rental housing project had been estimated at roughly $40 million. Nearly four years later, it stands at $59.3 million.

“Price escalation has had a significant impact across the construction industry, and this project felt those effects following COVID," Olivera said. "Nationally, commercial, and multifamily construction costs have increased by roughly 30 to 45 percent, which creates real challenges when projects experience that level of escalation.”

The project begins as Nantucket has made meaningful strides in increasing its stock of affordable housing units, including the recently completed Wiggles Way apartments across the street from Ticcoma Green. But the island's housing crisis continues to have severe impacts on the island's working class and families, with a dearth of affordable options and "entry-level" homes on the market now hovering around $2 million.

In 2025, Nantucket's median home sale price was $3.5 million, just slightly below the all-time high it hit in 2024.