Loan to aid affordable housing project planned in Jackson Square
By Matt Rocheleau, Town Correspondent
JAMAICA PLAIN – A plan for a 36-unit affordable rental housing development in Jackson Square has received a financial boost.
The Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation has made a $100,000 loan to the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Development Corporation to help get the project toward a shovel-ready stage.
The affordable housing units will be built at 75 Amory Avenue. That project, and the roadway it will sit on, will be constructed as part of the 14-building, multi-phase, quarter-billion-dollar, mixed-used Jackson Square Redevelopment Initiative.
The 75 Amory Ave. project will be the JPNDC’s first housing development within that larger initiative at the crossroads between Jamaica Plain and Roxbury. It is anticipated to break ground in late 2012 or early 2012, said JPNDC spokeswoman Sally Swenson.
“We’re very pleased to be able to support their new venture in Jackson Square,” said CEDAC executive director Roger Herzog by phone Tuesday.
He said the organization was one of five that combined to provide $1.5 million in funding to Jackson Square Partners to aid in the overall planning of the grand redevelopment proposal. The JPNDC, along with Urban Edge and the Hyde Square Task Force, comprise Jackson Square Partners.
CEDAC, a 33-year-old, public-private community development finance agency that supports nonprofit agencies, announced the financial support last week as part of a total of $3.8 million in loan commitments for 12 affordable housing developments.
“Projects such as these are critically important to communities and residents across the Commonwealth, especially in those areas that are lacking access to quality affordable housing,” added Herzog in a press release. “The pre-development funds provided by CEDAC allow each of these non-profit developers the opportunity to help strengthen their communities by creating or preserving affordable homes for those in need.”
E-mail Matt Rocheleau at mjrochele@gmail.com.
© 2011 NY Times Co.
URL: http://www.boston.com/yourtown/news/jamaica_plain/2011/06/loan_to_aid_affordable_housing.html