PHOTOS: 75 Cross Street to Provide Apartments to Formerly Homeless Families

At a ribbon-cutting ceremony held Wednesday, the Somerville Community Corporation inaugurated its newest building, at 75 Cross St. in East Somerville.

The building contains eight affordable apartments that will be home to formerly homeless households, some of them families. People will begin moving in as early as Nov. 1, according to Danny LeBlanc, CEO of the Somerville Community Corporation.

The $2.7 million project will provide project-based Section 8 affordable housing to tenants.

The Somerville Community Corporation bought the property from a developer who intended to build condos on the site but ran into financial difficulties, LeBlanc said. The foundation was already built, so the building went up quickly, he said.

"Eight families that had been homeless will have permanent homes for the holidays," he said at the ribbon-cutting.

In addition, the Somerville Homeless Coalition will partner with the Somerville Community Corporation to provide support services to residents.

Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone, speaking at the ceremony, said, "There's really a lot of demand for this kind of housing." 

He said, "This is also an addition to a neighborhood in East Somerville that is really on the rise."