An affordable housing development in Concord’s South end is expected to be ready for its first residents to move in starting this fall.

The 98-unit residential apartments, built as part of the first project phase, were constructed on top of a former rail yard off Langdon Avenue, which gives the development its name, Railyard Apartments. Developers received planning board approval two years ago and have since been applauded for helping to ease the city’s housing crunch.

“The buildings are up, the signage is on and we are expecting our first move-ins to occur in mid to late September,” said Jeremy Vieira, the development director for Dakota Partners. “There was the occasional bump in the road but our construction team did an incredible job addressing those the moment they came up.”

Once construction of the second phase is complete, the Railyard will offer nearly 200 units of income-restricted and market rate housing, making the development one of the larger residential developments in the city in years.

Strewn between a quartet of three-story buildings, residents will have access to a clubhouse and a fitness center, which have been constructed, in addition to sidewalks and walkways throughout the property.

“We have no construction date for phase two at this juncture but it will likely be the beginning of next year,” Vieira said.

Developers are still taking applications for affordable housing, which can be found and downloaded via www.therailyardnh.com.

When Dakota Partners first bought the property, the ground was covered with hip-high brush. The site was entirely cleared, evened out and mitigated of any environmental concerns.

A former industrial site and recognized as a brownfield clean-up area, preliminary excavation revealed debris materials in addition to asbestos-coating piping and a leaking oil tank as part of the urban landfill that was left behind in the 1950s when the property was vacated.

Like most industrial zones turned residential, which are seen throughout New England, the conversion was not considered abnormal or a risk to residents.

“All environmental concerns were remediated and disposed of off site,” Vieira said. “There were two storage tanks that we discovered, which had some sort of material in them but they were excavated and removed. The site was tested and it was confirmed clear.”

Dakota Partners last year completed the construction of a similar housing project in Hudson, bringing the town an affordable housing community geared toward families.

Other Dakota developments include a three-story wood frame building containing 17 one-bedroom and 24 two-bedroom units in Bedford called Kensington Woods that was completed in 2017. In Milford, they rehabilitated a historic 1820s mill into a modern 70,000 square-foot mixed-use building with 35 one-bedroom and 15 two-bedroom apartments.

Another proposed project in Goffstown called Woodland Village will be a townhouse development consisting of 76 one- and two-bedroom townhouse units within 13 buildings located on a vacant 37-acre site.

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