Projects

With this most recent project, Worcester Common Ground (WCG) has redeveloped a blighted property in the heart of the Piedmont neighborhood of Worcester into a new mixed use building that will help City efforts to transform the Chandler Street corridor. WCG worked cooperatively with the long-time owner of the site, the King family, and using acquisition financing from CEDAC, acquired 120 Chandler in 2018, and finalized a plan for the adaptive reuse of 126 Chandler Street, the demolition of 120 Chandler, and the addition of an attractive new four-story building. The descendants of the Kings gathered for recognition by WCG in 2021 and to celebrate the grand opening of this successful collaborative effort.

The project also features street-level commercial space for WCG’s long-time tenant across the street, Horizon Acupuncture, a large community room equipped with a kitchen, and 23 off-street parking spaces. Finally, the property features Worcester’s first residential rooftop greenhouse to be used for a training program for youth on urban farming.

TND has created 51 new rental units for families on a transit-oriented site. The development contains 19 workforce housing units and 32 affordable units for households with incomes up to 60% AMI, including six units designated for ELI households. The project offers housing for disabled persons, including four fully accessible CBH units and two FCF units. TND has engaged a resident services coordinator to provide supportive services and referrals to tenants. Residents are also encouraged to participate in TND's Community Engagement and CONNECT programs, which offer opportunities to become involved in the neighborhood, participate in individual financial capacity building workshops, receive job training and guidance in job searches, and participate in English language classes.

Nuestra Comunidad Development Corporation (Nuestra Comunidad) recently celebrated its 40th anniversary of efforts to achieve equitable development in the Roxbury neighborhood. Bartlett Building A represents the third mid-rise building of an ambitious ten-phase development initiative known as Bartlett Station, which will create 355 new homes on an 8.5-acre former MBTA bus yard and brownfield site. Nuestra Comunidad will offer supportive services to all residents, and will feature innovative partnerships with Boston Medical Center (BMC) and New Lease for Homeless Families to help families achieve and maintain healthy lives. This project is one of three Boston developments that BMC has selected for the new Accelerating Investments for Healthy Communities (AIHC) initiative, which CEDAC manages as its financial intermediary.

Nuestra Comunidad also demonstrated its commitment to racial equity by co-developing this site with a highly respected MBE, Windale Developers, and achieved high percentages of MBE contractors and persons of color in the construction workforce.

Bentley Apartments is a part of the Community Development Corporation of South Berkshire’s (CDCSB) 100 Bridge Street redevelopment of a brownfield site. The 2.5-acre site, only a quarter mile from downtown Great Barrington, is located on a portion of the former New England Log Homes (NELH) property that also includes a 2-acre public Riverfront Park on the Housatonic. All units are accessible and affordable to households below 60% of AMI, with 21 units targeted for ELI households. The complex features a residents’ community room, central laundry room, and outdoor gathering space.

The well-located site presented serious environmental challenges due to contaminated soil from its previous use as a log home manufacturing site. Due to the time consuming yet essential remediation effort, the site met all of the stringent DEP and EPA regulations for brownfield clean up.

CEDAC provided CDCSB with patient, early stage financing beginning in 2006 and continued to support the $17.2 million project throughout its extensive environmental cleanup process, while providing additional funding as needed.

Housing Corporation of Arlington (HCA) has developed two sites into three buildings with a total of 48 units of affordable rental housing. 117 Broadway, located in East Arlington, contains 14 housing units plus ground-floor commercial space for Arlington Eats, a local food pantry that has long operated at this address. Five units at 117 Broadway will be reserved for homeless individuals, with services provided by the Somerville Homeless Coalition.

All residents will have access to supportive services. HCA employs two part-time social workers who provide homelessness prevention, financial literacy and other services. Additionally, HCA partners with the Town of Arlington’s Human Services Coalition, a consortium of town agencies that collaborate to identify and provide services to Arlington residents in need. HCA enjoys an extremely strong relationship with the Town, which has committed significant local resources to this project.

FORWARD, a new non-profit organization, recently completed the construction of two interconnected, single-story community residences for individuals with autism on a town-owned site in Dennis. This fully accessible development includes eight bedrooms, all of which are designated for ELI individuals, as well as shared common spaces and a staff office. Located on a wooded five-acre site, the development features a large outdoor patio and provides immediate access to walking trails. Cape Abilities, a regional non-profit service provider, delivers around-the-clock, onsite supportive services and helps residents with daily tasks such as grocery shopping and laundry.

Named after the massive glacial boulder standing at its entrance, FORWARD at the Rock advances FORWARD’s mission of meeting the critical housing needs of adults with autism and related disabilities while providing long-term stability to its residents. FORWARD at the Rock opened in October 2020 and is fully occupied.

North Shore Community Development Coalition (North Shore CDC) has redeveloped a 14,000 square foot parcel on Main Street in downtown Gloucester into 30 units of affordable family housing. The property is located within easy walking distance to public transit , the waterfront, and downtown amenities.

This mixed-use development consists of 30 one-, two, and three-bedroom affordable rental units, 2,000 square feet of ground floor commercial space, and 30 off-street parking spaces. All units are affordable to households at or below 60% AMI and are LIHTC assisted, and eight units are designated for ELI households. The property is Passive House certified, a leading standard in energy efficient construction.

An integral part of this project is the partnership between North Shore CDC, an experienced developer of affordable and mixed use projects, and Action, Inc., a community action agency serving residents of the city and other local communities.

The Library Commons I development offers affordable family housing, supportive services and an art studio/gallery, as well as close proximity to employment, education, public transportation, and downtown Holyoke’s burgeoning cultural scene. The project name derives from the beautiful and recently renovated public library, which sits just steps away.

Way Finders provides on-site supportive services to residents, including adult basic education, financial literacy, first-time home buyer classes, and career counseling.

Facing rapid spread of COVID-19 at the MainSpring House emergency homeless shelter, Father Bill’s & Mainspring leased the former Rodeway Inn in June 2020 and swiftly relocated more than 60 shelter guests there. The COVID infection rate at MainSpring House soon plummeted to less than one percent. Realizing the success of this model, FBMS negotiated to purchase the hotel outright with an acquisition loan from CEDAC, allowing the hotel’s shelter guests to become permanent residents. Overnight, the congregate shelter population in the City of Brockton was cut in half. What began as an emergency measure to protect MainSpring House guests' health became an adaptive reuse success story that can serve as a national model to address homelessness.

Residents have access to a comprehensive set of wrap-around services provided by FBMS’s on-site staff. Each resident has an individualized service plan and works with their case manager to access community-based services, including counseling, health care, legal assistance, education, and employment training.