On March 2nd, Secretary of Housing and Economic Development Mike Kennealy joined Undersecretary of Housing and Community Development (and CEDAC Board Chair) Jennifer Maddox and community development sector leaders to celebrate the 12 projects that received a combined total of $46 million in capital subsidies as well as $125 million in equity from the sale of federal and state tax credits to develop 572 new units of housing in the Commonwealth’s most recent competitive funding round. The vast majority of the units – 507 – will be affordable to low- and moderate-income families, with more than 20 percent of the affordable units set aside for extremely low-income residents, with incomes at or below 30 percent of the area median income. For a family of four living in Boston, that’s $38,350 annually. You can watch that event on YouTube.
CEDAC has committed significant early stage financing to more than half of the projects receiving resources. We congratulate our partner organizations and others on the awards of state funds to move these much-needed projects forward.
“Affordable housing has been a priority for our administration since day one, and the impact of the pandemic has made the need for additional investment even more clear,” said Governor Charlie Baker in a press release. “We are proud to have invested more than $1.4 billion since 2015 in our affordable housing ecosystem, and are thankful to the Legislature for passing our Housing Choice legislation to promote the production and preservation of additional units across the Commonwealth.”
As we note above, CEDAC has provided either predevelopment or acquisition loans – and in one case, both – to seven of these projects. Why is this so encouraging? Because, at a time when community development corporations and other affordable housing developers have faced tremendous pressures to maintain the health and well-being of the people living in their communities, we are inspired to help them achieve this significant milestone and advance their projects forward.
The seven CEDAC-supported projects funded in this mini-round include:
- Morton Station Village, Mattapan – Caribbean Integration Community Development in conjunction with the Planning Office of Urban Affairs will build 31 new units of transit-oriented housing. 27 of the units will be affordable. CEDAC provided $625,000 in predevelopment financing for this project.
- Dudley Crossing 1, Roxbury – Nuestra Communidad will construct or rehab 47 units of affordable housing in the Nubian Square neighborhood of Roxbury. CEDAC has provided $495,000 in predevelopment funds in support of the project.
- 1599 Columbus Avenue, Roxbury – Urban Edge will develop 65 new units of affordable housing in the Jackson Square neighborhood of Roxbury, Urban Edge acquired the two land parcels that make up the site with two CEDAC acquisition loans totaling $2,080,000. This financing was made possible through the Home Funders program as well as the City of Boston’s Vacant Site Acquisition Fund.
- 9 Leyland, Dorchester – Dorchester Bay Economic Development Corporation will build 43 new units of supportive housing for older adults. All of the units will be affordable. CEDAC supported this project by committing $645,000 in acquisition financing from the Vacant Site Acquisition Fund, as well as an additional $579,750 in a predevelopment loan.
- 910 Main Street, Great Barrington – Community Development Corporation of South Berkshire in partnership with WayFinders will build 49 new units of affordable housing, CEDAC has supported the project with $200,000 in predevelopment funding.
- The Lighthouses, Salem – North Shore Community Development Coalition is constructing 46 units of affordable housing across two sites in Salem. CEDAC has provided $275,000 in predevelopment financing for this project.
- The Union Block, Taunton – Neighborhood of Affordable Housing (NOAH) will rehabilitate an historic building in Taunton’s central business district by turning it into 38 units of housing, 34 of which will be affordable. CEDAC has committed $500,000 in predevelopment funding for this project.
In total, CEDAC has committed $5.4 million – $2.7 million in predevelopment and $2.7 million in acquisition financing – for these 7 projects. Additionally, eight of the twelve developments have received funding awards from at least one of the three supportive housing bond programs – the Housing Innovations Fund (HIF), the Facilities Consolidation Fund (FCF), and the Community Based Housing (CBH) program – that CEDAC manages on behalf of the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD). We look forward to moving these projects to construction closing – and to the time when we can celebrate in person with community leaders and development teams!
