Housing Projects & Initiatives

Click on the tabs below to learn about housing developments in progress or in the pipeline to create more residential housing units in Provincetown.

  1. 3 Jerome Smith
  2. 26 Shank Painter
  3. The Barracks Project
  4. 288A Bradford
  5. 22/22R & 24 Nelson Ave
  6. Harbor Hill
  7. Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs)

3 Jerome Smith Road (former VFW site) Housing Development

Rendering of the 3 Jerome Smith Road Project, showing two buildings, a courtyard, parking and people

UPDATE - May 2023:

In May of 2023, the Town of Provincetown announced that the 3 Jerome Smith Housing Project was one of 27 housing projects to receive funding from the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD). The 3 Jerome Smith Housing Project was awarded funding in its first application round. This significant achievement is attributed to the unwavering commitment and strong support of local residents and officials.

DHCD will support this mixed-income project with federal and state low-income housing tax credits and over $9,000,000 in soft debt from a variety of housing funding programs, including ARPA funds.

With DHCD funding secured, the project is now on track to begin construction in Spring 2024. Additional details and background on the project can be found here.

UPDATE - April 2023:

At Annual Town Meeting in April 2023, supplemental Funding for 3 Jerome Smith Road Housing Development was approved in the amount of $2,250,000 to be used to subsidize the Town’s portion of The Community Builder’s development of 65 affordable and community housing units at 3 Jerome Smith Road, pursuant to a grant agreement between the Town and the developer, which shall include an affordable housing restriction to be held by the Town. This transferred $1,650,000 from excess funds within the Tourism Fund and $600,000 from free cash to cover the Town’s agreed upon contribution to the 3 Jerome Smith Road Project (former VFW site). 

BACKGROUND:

3 Jerome Smith Road is a planned 65-unit new construction multifamily development in Provincetown. The Jerome Smith Road project will provide affordable, resilient housing and amenities tailored to the needs of residents of Provincetown. The development will be comprised of four 3-story buildings on a 1.8-acre site providing rental housing for households earning 30% of area median income (AMI), 60% AMI, "workforce" moderate-income households (80% AMI), and a handful of market rate units. The development provides urgently needed affordable rental housing in a location where year-round rental housing at all price ranges is under intense pressure from short-term rentals, remote workers, and seasonal owners.

The development will have 18 studio apartment units, 32 one-bedroom units, 10 two-bedroom units, and 5 three-bedroom units. Four of the units will be designated as CBH units for persons with disabilities. 

The Community Builders, Inc. (TCB) was awarded developer designation for the site through a Town-led RFP process and purchased the adjacent parcel, 55R Captain Bertie’s Way, which expanded the footprint of the site. Local CDC, Community Development Partnership (CDP) is serving as a local partner/consultant on this project. 


Click on the tabs below to learn about housing studies, analyses, and programs that are in progress or in the pipeline to create support more year-round residential housing units in Provincetown.

  1. Year-Round Deed Restriction Program
  2. VMCC Feasibility Study
  3. Route 6 Analysis
  4. 30 Creek Rd
  5. UMass Donahue Study
  6. Down Payment Assistance
  7. Exemption for Taxpayers Renting to Year-Round Residents

Year-Round Deed Restriction Program

The Town of Provincetown is investigating the feasibility of a year-round deed restriction program, an innovative response to the housing crisis which aims to make existing housing stock accessible to year-round community members.  Inspired by successful efforts in Vail, Colorado and Lake Tahoe, California, the program would allow the town to purchase deed restrictions from Provincetown property owners, ensuring that the restricted housing units are rented to year-round tenants.  

The Town of Provincetown has worked with the housing directors of Nantucket and of the Martha’s Vineyard Commission, along with Reps. Dylan Fernandes and Sarah Peake, and Sen. Julian Cyr to introduce draft legislation which would make a year-round deed restriction program possible.  

At Town Meeting in April 2023, voters approved a Home Rule Petition to allow the Town of Provincetown to create a year-round deed restriction program to promote year-round housing occupancy. Managed by the Year Round Market Rate Rental Housing Trust (YRMRRHT), with approval from the Select Board, this program would allow the Town to purchase deed restrictions from homeowners and developers to permanently limit the occupancy of a given unit via a year-round housing occupancy restriction for rental or ownership housing. This would be a voluntary program where homeowners could sell a deed restriction to the Town, for a yet to be determined amount, whereby the deed restriction would live with the property in perpetuity and would only allow for the property to be occupied by an owner or renter who lived at the property year-round with no Area Median Income (AMI) restrictions.

Year-round deed restriction programs have proven effective in resort communities with high rates of second-home ownership and short-term rentals, and limited opportunities for the construction of new affordable housing.