Town Farm buildings to become senior homes
- Westford says the long-stalled Town Farm redevelopment finally cleared a big hurdle, with state funding now in place for senior housing at 35 Town Farm Road. - The plan would create 35 mixed-income homes for residents 62 and older, preserve the 1837 building, and move the town food pantry onsite. - It matters because Westford has spent years trying to reuse the historic property without losing it — and now the financing looks real.
A historic poor farm is about to become senior housing. That is the core of this story. But the real news is not the concept — Westford has talked about that for years. The news is that the town and its nonprofit partner, CHOICE, Inc., say they now have state funding lined up to actually do it at 35 Town Farm Road. That turns a preservation idea into something much closer to a construction project. ### What changed now? Westford announced in mid-April that the Commonwealth awarded funding for the Town Farm redevelopment, a project the town has been trying to move forward through planning, design fights, and local approvals for several years. The town framed it as a major milestone because financing is usually the part that separates “approved” from “real.” (westfordma.gov) ### What is getting built? The plan is for 35 mixed-income apartments for residents age 62 and older. Some of those units are meant for very low-income seniors, not just market-rate tenants, which makes the project more than a simple adaptive reuse of an old building. The redevelopment also includes space for the Westford Food Pantry, so the site keeps a public-service role instead of turning into a private enclave. (westfordcat.org) ### Why is the Town Farm such a big deal? Because this is not just another empty municipal parcel. Westford Town Farm is a historic property tied to the town’s old poor farm system, with the main brick building dating to 1837 and later additions expanding it in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The site is on the National Register of H(westfordcat.org)entity. (en.wikipedia.org) ### Why senior housing? Westford’s task force landed on senior housing years ago after looking for a use that matched both the building and the town’s needs. Older residents often need smaller, cheaper, easier-to-manage homes, and towns like Westford have struggled to add enough of them. Reusing the Town Farm for age-restricted housing solved two problems at once — preserve a diffic(en.wikipedia.org)ply. (westfordma.gov) ### Why did this take so long? Basically, old buildings are hard. Historic preservation adds design constraints. Affordable and mixed-income housing adds financing complexity. And local projects like this usually need Town Meeting support, nonprofit development partners, state money, and a workable operating plan. Westford voters backed the senior-housing direction years ago, but that did not mean the deal was fully financed or ready to build. (wickedlocal.com) ### What happens to the historic buildings? The approved concept keeps the original historic structure rather than replacing it with a new apartment block. That is the whole point of the project’s political appeal — the town gets housing, but the 1837 building and later historic elements sta(wickedlocal.com)(westfordma.gov) ### Is this the final step? No. Funding is the big unlock, but projects like this still move through detailed development work, agreements, and construction. WestfordCAT reported late last year that the Select Board was also dealing with a PILOT agreement for the project, which shows the town has still been ironing out the financial structure around it. So this is advanced — but not ribbon-cutting advanced. (westfordcat.org) ### What is the bottom line? Westford finally has a plausible path to turn one of its most complicated historic properties into something useful again. If the project stays on track, Town Farm stops being a preservation headache and becomes 35 homes for older residents — with the site’s public-service history still visible in the result. (westfordcat.org)
