State grant to benefit Boston Street affordable housing
2 rooming houses will become units for formerly homeless
By Dustin Luca Staff Writer
Aug 19, 2016
SALEM — Harborlight Community Partners just landed a valuable chunk of change toward its $6.5 million overhaul of two Boston Street properties.
Gov. Charlie Baker’s administration said this week that Boston Street Crossing is one of 26 projects in the state that will receive state grants aimed at developing and preserving affordable rental housing. Andrew DeFranza, executive director of Harborlight, said he didn’t know yet just how much money the project will receive.
The project grew out of a homelessness task force that has been meeting on the North Shore for about a year and a half.
“This is sort of springing from that soil,” DeFranza said. “It’s going to take two existing rooming houses in Salem — 43 Boston St. and 179 Boston St. — and make dramatic physical improvements to those buildings.”
There are currently 37 rooms in the two buildings. Once the project is finished, the buildings will house 26 studio apartments tailored for formerly homeless individuals. All 26 units will be reserved for people making less than 30 percent of the area’s median income.
Lifebridge, the nonprofit that runs the shelter for the homeless in downtown Salem, is a partner in the project.
“They’re going to provide the case management services,” DeFranza said. “We do the development and run the property, but we bring in partners to provide services.”
The state grant is one of several funding sources for the $6.5 million project.
“The (Community Preservation Act) funded it and the city of Salem funded it,” DeFranza said. “It was funded with North Shore Home Consortium funds. It also has a redevelopment loan from CEDAC (the Community Economic Development Assistance Corp.).”
The City Council voted earlier this year to approve $59,000 in funding from CPA funds. The money comes from a small surcharge on property taxes that is dedicated to historic preservation, open space and affordable housing.
This project represents one of the best ways to fight against homelessness, said DeFranza.
“Creating (good quality) affordable housing is the key method for making it possible for those who are homeless to be housed again,” he said. “You have to create housing they can afford with their income levels and have the services that allow them independence.”
The homelessness task force, meanwhile, “created the space to help allow solutions addressing that problem,” he continued. “This is one of the mechanisms to address the problem in the region.”
The Beverly-Salem Mayors Regional Task Force on Homelessness began meeting in December of 2014, bringing together local officials, law enforcement and social service agencies to come up with solutions to the problems of homelessness.
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