Lexington Housing Authority (LHA) is “now the proud owner of five condos at
Pine Grove Village,” according to LHA Executive Director Caileen Foley. Foley
made the announcement at the Dec. 13 Lexington Housing Authority meeting.
The announcement was not sudden, but rather a summing-up of months of
work that went into preventing 16 housing units at Pine Grove Village from
losing their affordable status and reverting to fair market value. LHA’s five newly
acquired units—they officially turned over to the agency on Dec. 1–are rental
properties, while 11 other units made the transition from a co-op to
condominiums. The five rental units, now belong to the Lexington Housing
Authority. They are, and will continue to be, leased to Section 8 voucher holders
and Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program (MVRP) voucher holders.
The latter units are owned outright by those living there. LHA is one of the
trustees on the newly created condo board, according to Foley.
Elizabeth Rust of the Regional Housing Services Office spearheaded the effort,
operating as an agent for the town of Lexington. Pine Grove Village “was
probably one of the first 40Bs in the commonwealth,” Rust said, referring to the
state’s Chapter 40B affordable housing law that lets developers skirt local zoning
regulations in return for the inclusion of a substantial percentage of affordable
units. It was created under the auspices of Massachusetts’ 13A Preservation
Initiative, begun in the 1970s. The program was set up with a 30-year restriction
that expires in 2018, Rust said, meaning that a chunk of Massachusetts’
affordable housing, Pine Grove Village included, stands to revert to market value
next year.
Project used CPA funds
Sixteen Lexington aordable
housing units
locked in for good
The town of Lexington, LHA, MassHousing and co-op (now condo) residents
worked together to make sure that wouldn’t happen. They used just over $1
million in Community Preservation Act (CPA) funds approved with the passage
of a 2017 annual Town Meeting article to fund the necessary shifts. Worried by
the prospect of losing their affordable housing, co-op residents initially
approached the town in May 2016, according to Rust. Those residents and the
town initially disagreed on how to proceed, ultimately concluding that it would
be better to forge ahead together to find a mutually agreeable solution, rather
than head to litigation, she explained.
In the end, they did, after much “work toward a common, beneficial solution for
all parties,” Rust said. “In the end, everyone had the same goal.”
The conversion of the co-op into 11 condominiums was a key component. The
key change for the five rental units is that they’re now owned by LHA.
“We’re excited for the opportunity,” Foley said in an interview after the meeting.
“It was fun to work with the town, and get it done so quickly.”
Units now affordable forever
The town contributed money to the conversion, and in return received a
“perpetual deed restriction restricting the resale of the units,” Rust said.
This deed restriction is different from that instituted under 13A. Now, “there’s
no risk of losing them, or having to do this again,” Rust said of the housing.
“They’re properly secured from the affordable housing perspective.”
It took many steps to get to this point, in what was an unusually involved
process, due to several factors. For one thing, the co-op was “a nontraditional,
nonstandard set-up,” Rust said. Moreover, the work had to be done not only for
rental properties, but for owned properties as well, and “there was a capital needs
study done, and analysis,” she explained.
“Each one was a standard piece, but it was a project that brought all pieces
together,” in an unusual way, Rust added.
The journey from potential litigation to preserving 16 affordable housing units
in a community with still-rising property values “shows that the town is really
committed to preserving its affordable housing,” Rust said. “The town was
proactive and cooperative and supportive. No one got the better deal or outdid
each other.”
http://lexington.wickedlocal.com/news/20171215/sixteen-lexington-affordable-housing-units-locked-in-for-good