KEENE, NH – Keene Housing is working on a project that would convert the former River Valley Community College space on Washington Street in Keene into apartment buildings.

Keene Housing Executive Director Josh Meehan told WKBK in an interview Tuesday that the plan is to split the project into two phases. The first phase would include the construction of a new building on the property behind the existing one, and the second phase would include renovation of the existing building.

75% of the 60 total units will be one-bedroom apartments, and 25% will be two bedrooms. Meehan expects the majority of tenants will be people who are low and moderate income, with an income ceiling set at 50% of area median income, or roughly $38,000 per year for a family of two, as well as people who are elderly or have disabilities.

That site is located in the city’s low-density district, but Meehan said Keene Housing did receive the necessary permission for the project in that area from the Zoning Board Monday night.

He said it’s a little too soon to tell, but should everything go smoothly, Meehan predicts work on the first phase of the project would get underway next year.

“If everything lines up just perfectly, the second phase should be completed by 2028,” Meehan said.

By doing the second building first, Meehan said they’ll be able to open the new building for people to move in while they’re working on the second phase.

With the ongoing housing crunch in Keene and the Monadnock Region, Meehan says they’re trying to move quickly with the project to get roofs over the heads of those in need.

“I can say quite confidently that we’ve never experienced a housing shortage like we are today, at least from the perspective of Keene Housing,” Meehan said. “We have currently 1,344 individual applications for housing that we own in Keene, Marlborough, and Swanzey …. We own about 600 apartments and our vacancy rate as of last month was .8%, and that basically means we have no vacancies, that’s just the time it takes to turn an apartment and get it ready for the next family.”

Keene Housing also offers a Housing Choice Voucher Program, which provides rent assistance in the marketplace. Folks are added to waiting list and eventually receive a voucher to go find an apartment in the community, but the current market makes that difficult.

“People are having an extraordinarily difficult time finding an apartment to lease with the voucher,” Meehan said. “And that again is what’s driving us to find a solution that includes building housing of our own because people are really struggling to use the voucher in the marketplace.”

The project will now go to the planning board for approval, and once they have that approval Keene Housing can then apply for low-income housing tax credits from New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority.