Beacon Communities and Harborlight Homes have closed on financing to redevelop the historic former home of the Briscoe School located in Beverly, MA into a mixed-use community, centered around affordable housing for seniors, to be called Beverly Village for Living and the Arts.

The financing marks the first time a MA affordable housing deal has benefitted from funding from the American Rescue Plan Act, in addition to local, state and additional federal funding.

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The adaptive reuse plan will transform former classrooms into 85 units of affordable housing for low-income seniors, and former locker rooms will become six live/work studios with an artist occupancy preference. The existing three-story building will be completely rehabilitated while still preserving important historical features; the addition of sustainability features will prioritized.

The 1923-constructed Briscoe School closed in 2018 after the City of Beverly built a new school. Beacon Communities (a privately owned real estate firm that develops, acquires, invests in and manages multifamily housing) and Harborlight Homes (a nonprofit that develops, manages and advocates for quality, service-enriched housing that is affordable and inclusive) were chosen by the City of Beverly to redevelop the site in 2019, and purchased the building in 2022.