79 King Street

79 King Street will be a 110,000 SF building providing 66 rental units for people 55+, as well as ground floor retail and tenant amenity space. It is located in Northampton’s walkable downtown core, with easy access to local transit, Amtrak trains, and two major bicycle trails. The urban infill site is currently occupied by a single story, 5000 square foot building within a large parking lot. Due to code restrictions, the first floor and podium are concrete construction. The structure above consists of CLT floors over glulam columns and beams, and CLT shear walls. Exterior walls and cores are also CLT. To our knowledge, it is the first building for senior living in the US constructed of mass timber. Our research shows that approximately 80% of baby boomers cannot afford to age in place without the possibility of running out of money. The goal was to attract this demographic from suburban homes to urban apartments that fit their budget. The project has just completed Schematic Design.