28 New Affordable Rental Apartments Open for Applications

Individuals and families can now apply for one of 28 new affordable rental apartments at River Lofts, 250 Water Street. The apartments are deed-restricted in perpetuity for households earning 80% or less of Berkshire County’s Area Median Income (AMI)  – and they exist because Williamstown residents voted to invest in them.

The Town of Williamstown has invested $2,005,000 in the Cable Mills development on Water Street over nearly two decades. At the 2007 Annual Town Meeting, residents voted to commit $1,525,000 in Community Preservation Act (CPA) funds to the project’s first phase. For River Lofts specifically, the Town stepped up again in 2024 with $480,000 — $400,000 from the Town directly and $80,000 from the Williamstown Affordable Housing Trust Fund. That public investment was essential: without it, the gap between construction costs and what income-restricted households can afford to pay could not have been bridged.

River Lofts will include 54 energy-efficient rental apartments total, 28 of which – 52% of the building – will be income-restricted affordable units. All 54 units are designed to be energy efficient in accordance with the Town’s comprehensive plan, Envisioning Williamstown 2035.