Winter 2016/2017 Newsletter
End of 2016 Saw High Volume of Affordable Housing Production
The last quarter of calendar year 2016 saw a high volume of affordable housing developments receive funding from CEDAC, the Commonwealth’s Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), and other funding entities. In 2016, CEDAC approved $20.3 million in predevelopment and acquisition financing to 42 projects throughout Massachusetts.
“It is encouraging to see so many quality affordable housing projects from community-based non-profit organizations receive funding,” said Roger Herzog, CEDAC’s executive director. “These projects strengthen communities from Boston to Pittsfield, and are important to ensuring that families and individuals living in low-income neighborhoods have access to quality housing.”
Among the projects approved in 2016 were:
Live 155 (Northampton) – Once a single-room occupancy (SRO) building on Pleasant Street in Northampton, Springfield’s HAPHousing is transforming this site into 70 studio- and one-bedroom apartments above street-level commercial space. The new affordable units, which will also come with supportive services, were more than a decade in the making. The city of Northampton had long sought a non-profit developer to acquire this property and address chronic management issues but was unsuccessful until HAPHousing decided to take on the challenge. CEDAC provided HAPHousing with a $1.6 million acquisition loan and $1 million in predevelopment funding, while the City of Northampton made $450,000 in funds available. DHCD has awarded the project $6.6 million in housing tax credits and other capital funds. The project completed demolition of the former SRO building, closed on project financing, and recently began construction.
Tribune Apartments (Framingham) – Preservation of Affordable Housing, Inc. (POAH) was able to preserve affordable housing for the elderly and disabled persons who live in Framingham’s Tribune Apartments. The 53-unit affordable housing development near Framingham’s Town Hall was able to maintain affordability through an $8.1 million acquisition loan from CEDAC and our lender participant Massachusetts Housing Investment Corporation (MHIC). In March 2016, DHCD announced $3.7 million in funding to help complete renovations on the development. POAH closed on its project financing and started the rehabilitation process in January 2017.
Howard House (Brockton) – The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), working with development partners Peabody Properties, Inc., Windover Construction and Affordable Housing and Services Collaborative, Inc., opened a new supportive housing development in Brockton for veterans a few weeks before the New Year. Built in 1924, Howard House had recently been underutilized as storage space at the VA’s medical campus in Brockton. Seeing an opportunity to turn surplus property into permanent supportive housing to help homeless veterans, the VA followed a model they had used with the Bedford Green Apartments at the Rogers VA Medical Center in Bedford to help create these 14 new units. CEDAC, along with DHCD, supported Peabody Properties and the Affordable Housing and Services Collaborative by awarding them $3 million in funding for the development.
Union Square Apartments (Somerville) – Somerville Community Corporation (SCC) celebrated the grand opening of Union Square Apartments in early January. Located at 181 Washington Street, the newly constructed residence is just blocks from the anticipated MBTA Green Line extension stop. The site, which previously held the Boys and Girls Club, was purchased by SCC in 2012 with a $1.5 million acquisition loan from CEDAC, with an additional $1 million in predevelopment lending. Now completed after a challenging but ultimately successful permitting process, Union Square Apartments has 35 affordable units – all of which are occupied – and retail and office space on the ground floor. In January, CEDAC joined Somerville Mayor Joe Curtatone, Assistant Undersecretary of the Department of Housing and Community Development Susan Terrey, SCC’s Executive Director Daniel Leblanc and others to celebrate the ribbon cutting ceremony for the new development.
“Massachusetts continues to show its commitment to developing affordable housing in communities throughout the state,” said Herzog. “We’re pleased to work with so many non-profit partners, who understand the needs of their communities and who find ways to work with their municipalities, the state, and with other partners to turn their vision for a project into a reality.”