Wilber School

The opening of Wilber School Apartments, a 75-unit mixed-income development created by the conversion of an historic former public school building and construction of an addition, represented the culmination of years of effort to find a new use for a school closed more than 30 years.  After concluding that redeveloping the decaying building for municipal uses would be too costly, the Town invested $750,000 to abate hazardous wastes and asbestos and issued a request for redevelopment proposals. 

The development is located in the heart of downtown Sharon, across the street from Town Hall and less than a half mile from Sharon’s MBTA commuter rail station. It is environmentally friendly (with LEED Gold certification).  Its creation has provided new revenues to the Town through a long-term lease with a significant upfront payment.  It also enabled the Town to add 75 units to its subsidized housing inventory count and preserve an historic property.  The developers restored the exterior Colonial Revival architecture and preserved the original lockers, blackboards, classroom doors and corridors.  The $29 million+ project was financed using state and federal historic tax credits, state and federal low income housing tax credits and mortgage financed with tax-exempt bonds.

The development consists of 30 one- and 45 two-bedroom apartments, including 15 apartments for households earning up to 50 percent of the area median income (AMI) and seven are reserved for households with incomes at or below 100 percent of the AMI.  The remaining 53 units are market-rate.