DEERFIELD — While one developer inquired about the town’s senior housing project, no bids were submitted in response to the request for proposals (RFP) to transform the former St. James Church parcel at 83-85 North Main St. into affordable housing.

Lili Dwight, chair of the ad hoc Senior Housing Committee, said the project will continue on, as Rural Development Inc. (RDI), a nonprofit created by the Franklin County Regional Housing & Redevelopment Authority, expressed interest in the project, but had reservations about the site. The RFP closed on April 17.

The senior housing project, which has been discussed for years in Deerfield, is intended to serve as one of the key components of Deerfield’s municipal campus, alongside the 1888 Building’s transformation into municipal offices and the Leary Lot improvements.

“I was very bummed, but we’re not giving up,” Dwight said Thursday. “We’re going to find a way forward.”

Deerfield is seeking a developer to create between 30 and 60 apartments for adults ages 62 and older, with all units affordable to households at or below 60% of the area median income. Residents at the 2023 Annual Town Meeting approved the appropriation of $420,000 in Community Preservation Act funds to purchase the former St. James Church property.

Dwight said RDI, which constructed the Sanderson Place senior housing project in Sunderland, had two main concerns about the former St. James Church parcel: the proximity to Bloody Brook’s floodplain and the high costs of tearing down the existing building or renovating it. The town’s intent, which was stated in the RFP, is to preserve as much of the church’s structure as possible.

She added that the town has mitigation abilities for Bloody Brook, but cost concerns may be difficult to address, as the current economic forecast means “risk-taking is going to be at a minimum for a while.”

Gina Govoni, executive director of the Franklin County Regional Housing & Redevelopment Authority that operates RDI, said a meeting with Deerfield officials is being planned where these concerns can be addressed.

With the lack of bids, Deerfield finds itself in a place similar to where Erving was in 2019, when after more than a decade of on-and-off work, the town released an RFP for a project on Care Drive.

There is hope for Deerfield, though, as RDI began working with Erving after the community released another RFP in 2023. RDI has contracted with the town and the Austin Design Cooperative to facilitate the design of 18 one-bedroom units for seniors 62 and older and eight multi-bedroom townhouses for multi-generational families.

“This happened in Erving, too, the first time they put it out,” Dwight said. “We’ve just got to be creative and we will.”

Chris Larabee can be reached at clarabee@recorder.com.