A room called home

John Madigan lives in a cramped room in a 10-room boarding house on Appleton Street in Lowell. An American flag covers one window, pictures of John F. Kennedy and the Beatles hang on the wall, and a microwave oven rests on a shelf beside a cereal box and a loaf of bread. Nine other men live in separate rooms inside the house. They share two bathrooms on the second floor.

It's no palace but it's home, and Madigan, 50, who is hobbled by a hip injury, is grateful for the room. He has lived in the house 14 years.

"Rent's cheap, $100 a week, and nobody here bothers me," he said.

Rooming houses like this provide affordable housing in a part of Lowell that's about to undergo a wholesale makeover. Development will transform the 15-acre area just outside downtown, known as the Hamilton Canal District, into a neighborhood of shops, offices, and as many as 1,000 apartments and condominiums.

Some activists fear that development and gentrification will lead to higher rents and the loss of affordable rooming houses. They have asked for commitments from City Manager Bernard Lynch and others in power that affordable units will be part of the new mix.

But Lynch, while favoring the inclusion of affordable housing in the new plan, nonetheless has been reluctant to dictate to developers what shape that should take. Lowell has spent nearly $12 million buying parcels of land from private owners and is currently reviewing developers' proposals for the district.

The Rev. Sharon Jones, pastor of Aldersgate Methodist Church in Chelmsford, is one of the advocates pushing for affordable housing, part of a group organized by the Merrimack Valley Project. She helps serve free suppers with other volunteers on Monday and Wednesdays nights at Eliot Presbyterian Church on Summer Street and has gotten to know residents of the neighborhood.

"They have so much at stake in what will happen here, yet they've had no voice in the planning process and the project is just rolling along at full speed," she said.

Three development firms have submitted proposals. Lynch declined to discuss details but said the developers were not required to include affordable housing.

"We're not opposed to the notion of working with developers setting aside units that are affordable," he said. Lynch pointed out that with 13 percent of the city's housing stock currently designated as affordable, Lowell already exceeds the state target of 10 percent. He also said the city is forming an advisory committee that will draft a plan to end homelessness in Lowell in 10 years.

"What we are reluctant to do is dictate to developers in absolute terms a requirement that a certain portion of the project be designated affordable housing," he said.

The advocates believe the Hamilton Canal development is a prime opportunity to create affordable housing in the short term and, in the process, obtain millions of dollars in state funding.

They point to Chapter 40R, the state's "smart growth" law. Chapter 40R provides financial incentives to cities and towns that build high-density developments near transit centers. In Lowell's case, the Hamilton Canal District is within walking distance of the Gallagher Terminal on Thorndike Street. Buses to surrounding communities and a commuter train to Boston run out of the terminal.

"It creates a smart growth district which allows for denser development than is possible under local zoning," said Phil Hailer, spokesman for the state Department of Housing and Community Development.

Under the law, Lowell would receive from the state $3,000 for every unit in the project if 20 percent of the units are considered affordable. The state would pay an additional $600,000 if the overall project exceeded 500 housing units. In total, Lowell could receive $3.6 million if the new development contained 1,000 housing units.

David Turcotte, administrator of the Center for Family, Work and Community at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, is another advocate. He credits Lynch for committing to a long-term plan to end homelessness but said the Hamilton Canal development represents a more tangible and immediate way to address at least part of the housing issue.

"He's right in focusing on a 10-year plan, but here is an opportunity to set up an overlay district in a portion of the development area and guarantee affordable housing and access state money," said Turcotte, who also teaches a course on housing development and land use. "This could become part of his overall 10-year goal."

At this point, Lynch said he will not commit to affordable housing. Planners will spend the next four months reviewing the developers' proposals before the city makes a selection. The city's primary interest, he said, is economic growth and new jobs.

"The city has made a huge investment in this," he said. "Millions have been spent to buy land. It will double the space of downtown. Affordable housing is a critical issue, but I also have to look at what makes sense in creating jobs and a tax base to recoup the money the city has invested in this."

But what's good for the city may be disastrous for people like Madigan, say advocates.

Buildings within the district will be demolished. Landlords who own those that remain will be able to charge higher rents or sell their properties because of gentrification.

One of Madigan's neighbors in the boarding house is Larry Witt, 58. He is a warehouse worker who has lived in the house for 15 years.

"I go to work and live here quietly and I keep to myself," said Witt, who moved to Lowell from Westford. He said living in the boarding house is his only option.

"It's either here or a shelter," he said, "and I don't want to live in a shelter."