MASHPEE − A former massage spa at Mashpee Commons has been transformed into seven living spaces for new employees, medical students and visiting specialists affiliated with the Community Health Center of Cape Cod.
Mashpee Commons and the Health Center teamed up to convert the unused space. Formerly Massage Envy, the new space is called CHC at the Commons and is above Mashpee Fresh Market with the entrance on Market Street across from Beyond the Barn and Ooh La La Shoes.
“Workforce challenges, the cost of housing, the cost of living, all those things that we know go on on the Cape —this is our little, little solution, meeting some of those challenges,” said Karen Gardner, CEO of Community Health Center of Cape Cod.
Currently, 25,000 patients use the center’s services, which range from dental to vision to primary care, said Gardner. The 107 Commercial St. center relies on students and has relationships with Tufts University, Boston University, Boston College, and others.
“Students like to come here, but they struggle a little bit with needing to find a place to stay, maybe couch-surfing, maybe family members, maybe traveling sometimes from Boston,” said Gardner.
With the majority of the dormitory-style units being singles, the project could house eight people. There is also shared bathrooms, kitchen, laundry room, and common living area.
Students would stay at the housing for eight to 12 weeks to get through their rotation. Some can also stay there as temporary housing while looking for someplace permanent, said Gardner.
“This was a great partnership with the Community Health Center,” said Tom Feronti, director of Planning and Construction at Mashpee Commons. “Now we’re happy to pull this together and push it forward and hopefully this becomes a collaborative model for property owners, organizations, communities across Cape Cod to use because it just really is a creative way to start dealing with our housing crisis.”
Previous coverage: LeClair Village: Affordable housing lottery underway for 39 units in Mashpee
Mashpee Commons currently has 78 apartments on-site, including studios, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom apartments. Eight are deed-restricted as affordable.
Mashpee Select Board Chairwoman Carol A. Sherman said she hopes the project is “the first of many that we can do in town.”
Previous coverage More rentals will be available in Mashpee Commons’ 382-unit housing project
“We need one for single guys for bartenders. We need one for single girls for waitresses…it’s a perfect location to test it for the first time,” said Sherman. “Mashpee wants to do workforce housing, it’s just so hard to get going.”
Zane Razzaq writes about housing and real estate. Reach her at [email protected]. Follow her on X @zanerazz.
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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Community Health Center of Cape Cod has new housing for students
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