Former City Commissioner Bob Schumm has filed plans to build a five-story building on a pair of vacant lots in the 800 block of Vermont Street.

The Affordable Housing Advisory Board voted unanimously to recommend proposals to include low-cost units in two development projects — one downtown and the other in East Lawrence.

Both projects are mixed-use residential developments that are seeking economic incentives from the city. The downtown project, called Vermont Place, would set aside one of its 12 condominiums for low-cost housing. Board members said that it was an important first step.

“This may only be one small apartment, but it is one apartment for someone who otherwise may not be able to afford it,” Nancy Thellman, who is also a County Commissioner, told the board at its meeting Monday.

The proposed downtown project would include a mix of condominiums and office space at 815 Vermont St. The project’s developer, former City Commissioner Bob Schumm, is proposing that one of the 12 condominiums be designated as an affordable housing unit that would be offered for sale through the Lawrence Tenants to Homeowners Program. That one-bedroom condominium would be sold for about $95,000 — the market value of the property is estimated at about $246,785 — and designed as an affordable housing unit in perpetuity.

Schumm told the board that after he’d spoken to those with Tenants to Homeowners about how the program worked, he was excited to move forward with the proposal.

“I am excited to be the front line on this, kind of like the first to do it,” Schumm said. “I had to think long and hard about it (and) the implications and what it might mean.”

The proposed East Lawrence project, located at 826 Pennsylvania St., would include apartments and a restaurant and brewery. The project’s developer, Adam Williams, is proposing that two of the 14 apartments be designated for affordable housing units that would have the cost of utilities included in the monthly rent. The apartments would both be one-bedroom and rent for about $840 per month initially — market value of the unit is about $1,000, not including utilities — and be set aside as an affordable housing unit for 30 years.

A rendering of the redevelopment of 826 Pennsylvania Street, which is planned to house a brewery, restaurant and residential development.

Both projects are seeking two forms of incentives: Neighborhood Revitalization Act and Industrial Revenue Bonds. Schumm is seeking 10 years’ worth of tax rebates under the NRA. The first five years would include an 85 percent tax rebate on the new tax value added to the property as a result of the project. In the final five years, the tax rebate would decrease to 50 percent. Schumm is also requesting Industrial Revenue Bonds for a sales tax exemption on construction materials.

Williams has indicated to city staff that the project will require an NRA tax rebate at a percentage greater than 50 percent and an IRB for a sales tax exemption on construction materials, according to a city memo.

Following the board’s recommendation, both projects will be referred to city staff for cost-benefit and gap analysis and then sent to the Public Incentives Review Committee for review and recommendation. The City Commission has public hearings Nov. 1 on both incentive requests.

The board is in the process of drafting an affording housing provision to the city’s economic incentives policy, which is in the process of being rewritten. The City Commission is set to begin discussion of a new incentives policy at its meeting on Tuesday.

Clarification: In a previous version of this article, the price provided for the one-bedroom condominium was for the unfinished unit. The market price of the finished condo — including about $52,000 for an underground parking spot — is estimated to be $246,785.