BEVERLY - The city OK'd plans to build 65 affordable housing units in Gloucester Crossing, so now the Beverly Affordable Housing Coalition is waiting for $20 million in grants before construction can start.

Final approval of a comprehensive permit from the Zoning Board of Appeals was granted Sept. 5, but more importantly, nobody objected to the project, Executive Director Mickey Northcutt said.

"The appeal period passed without an appeal," he said.

News on whether or not the coalition has received a number of state and federal grants should come this winter and spring. Construction will start in about 18 months to two years, Northcutt said.

Over the summer, Beverly Affordable Housing, in partnership with North Shore YMCA, purchased 10 properties on Mill and Grant streets. They plan to tear down the buildings and replace them with six new buildings, adding a total of 24 more affordable-housing apartments. The project aims to greatly enhance one of Beverly's poorest neighborhoods.

"We're incredibly excited," Northcutt said. "We're transforming Gloucester Crossing into a neighborhood where families can thrive."

The apartments were built around 1900 to house factory workers at the United Shoe Machinery Corp.

"When the facility closed, the neighborhood has gone through a long period of lack of investment," Northcutt said.

Out of the 41 units there now, 31 are occupied, mostly by working-class, low- to moderate-income families.

Construction will take place in two phases, during which time the residents will be moved to temporary housing for about a year and will have first priority to move back to the neighborhood and live in one of the new units when they are complete.

Rent, which is around $900 for a one-bedroom apartment and $1,000 for a two-bedroom, will remain about the same, Northcutt said.

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