Nordblom Company has broken ground on a 154-unit apartment complex near Legacy Place in Dedham, backed by a $54.6 million construction loan from Eastern Bank.

The project, called Vantage, sits at 110 Stergis Way, where two aging commercial buildings have already been demolished. Burlington-based Erland Construction is handling the build, with architecture firm Stantec designing the complex. Occupancy is targeted for spring 2028, Banker & Tradesman reported.

The complex will include 23 income-restricted units and 130 market-rate apartments, plus one model unit not intended for residential use, according to an amendment the Dedham Planning Board approved on April 22. Attorney Keith Hampe, representing Nordblom, told the board at that meeting that the company anticipated breaking ground the following month.

Todd Fremont-Smith, Nordblom's senior vice president of development, told Banker & Tradesman the company raised equity through a "friends and family" network because of headwinds in institutional capital markets.

"These were single-story buildings that we thought we would upgrade and renovate, and then we realized there was an opportunity to take them down," Fremont-Smith said.

Nordblom purchased the 5.72-acre site in 2018, drawn by its proximity to Legacy Place and an MBTA commuter rail station. The project received $3 million in state commercial conversion tax credits as part of Gov. Maura Healey's $15.3 million statewide package, according to a Patch report on Aug. 28.

The Dedham Planning Board unanimously approved the project's Certificate of Action on Oct. 17, 2024, in a 5-0 vote. Nordblom committed to a one-time $40,000 mitigation payment for Wigwam Pond and agreed to give local firms preferential treatment on subcontracts exceeding $3 million, according to board minutes.

The town stands to gain. The development is projected to boost the property's assessed value from $5.1 million to $137 million. Annual property tax revenue would rise from roughly $135,000 to about $480,000, according to a Fougere Planning fiscal impact analysis presented to the board in June 2024. That amounts to a net-positive fiscal impact of between $121,000 and $217,000 per year.

Fremont-Smith told the Planning Board on May 22, 2024, that the project would cut impervious surface on the parcel by 50%, with an entirely new drainage system.

No upcoming public hearings for the project appear on the Planning Board's agenda. The next milestone is the spring 2028 move-in date.