Author: Dilia Ramirez

Patrick Administration Announces New Funding to Create Over 235 Units of Supportive Housing

Friday, December 19, 2014 –Department of Housing and Community Development Undersecretary Aaron Gornstein today announced more than $15 million in funding to create over 235 new units of supportive housing for veterans, homeless and very low income households across the Commonwealth. With these new units, the Patrick Administration has funded a total of 3,065 supportive housing units, tripling the amount of Governor Deval Patrick’s goal a year early.

“Governor Patrick has made permanent supportive housing a high priority because it is a key part of the solution to reducing homelessness over the long-term. By providing a range of support services–which may include workforce development, education, child care, or mental health services– our local non-profit partners can help to ensure a successful and sustainable tenancy.”

In December 2012, Governor Patrick announced a goal of creating 1,000 new units of supportive housing across the Commonwealth by December 2015. To reach this goal, 18 state agencies signed a memorandum of understanding partnering to improve existing processes, make recommendations for new, collaborative efforts and develop a long-range action plan to meet the need for supportive housing among the Commonwealth’s residents. The creation of the Commonwealth’s Interagency Supportive Housing Steering Committee and Working Group, co-chaired by the Secretaries of Housing and Economic Development and Health and Human Services, has played a critical role in helping Massachusetts reach this goal, and recently released a report celebrating this achievement.

Supportive housing helps individuals and families that are homeless or facing homelessness, institutionalized or at-risk of institutionalization, people with disabilities and the elderly. Additionally, the agencies continue to assess the extent of public cost-savings generated as a result of providing permanent supportive housing and will recommend strategic reinvestments.

In addition to a providing housing for families, supportive housing, which is operated in conjunction with a network of non-profit agencies across the Commonwealth, can include services such as childcare, access to job training, mental-health care and other opportunities that give participants a hand up towards stability and success.

Alongside these new supportive housing units, the Patrick Administration also awarded 149 project-based vouchers from the Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program (MRVP). The vouchers are available to owners of existing, affordable rental properties, who provide services or partner with an agency that has experience with successfully stabilizing homeless or very low-income households.

The MRVP vouchers allow homeless families to move into existing housing developments with long-term affordability restrictions. The non-profit agencies that own the properties provide participating families with comprehensive supportive service programs to help ensure that they do not fall back into the cycle of homelessness and emergency shelter, while helping them move toward stability and self-sufficiency. Funds for supportive services in the amount of $2,500 per unit will be used to provide a wide array of services, including job search and training, financial literacy and planning, self-sufficiency training and coaching, counseling, parenting, early education and childcare, mental health and addiction treatment, adult education, and GED and skills training.

“The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has recognized the importance of creating quality supportive housing for communities in need and has been pro-active in creating an active pipeline for these projects,” said Roger Herzog, executive director of the Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation (CEDAC). “The awards that have been granted today will make sure that both much-needed housing and services are available to homeless families and individuals, persons with disabilities, veterans, seniors, and youth, among others.”
Earlier this month, Governor Patrick announced the launch of a Massachusetts Pay for Success (PFS) initiative that will leverage philanthropic and private capital investments to reduce chronic individual homelessness, creating a new model of sustainable state support for chronically homeless individuals. The initiative will provide 500 units of stable supportive housing for up to 800 chronically homeless individuals over 6 years, improving the well-being of individuals while saving taxpayer dollars by reducing the utilization of costly emergency resources like shelter and Medicaid payments.

In addition, DHCD has been committed to providing supportive housing for the Commonwealth’s veterans. The Department has awarded funds to produce 370 new units of affordable housing for low income veterans since the release 2013, exceeding the Patrick Administration’s three-year goal of 250 units.

The Patrick Administration continues to focus its efforts and resources on homelessness prevention and permanent housing to reduce the number of families living in hotels and at the same time to maintain one of the strongest safety nets in the country.

The following projects were announced today:

Harborlight House, Beverly

Harborlight House in Beverly is a supportive housing project serving frail low-income seniors who need various services in order to live with some degree of independence. The sponsor is an experienced non-profit, Harborlight Community Partners. When rehabilitation is finished, the project will house 30 seniors in a prime Beverly location.

Residences Betances, Boston

Residences Betances is located in the South End of Boston. Sponsored by the non-profit Inquilinos Boricuas En Accion (IBA), the project will house extremely low-income individuals with developmental challenges and diagnosed mental illness. The residents of the completed property will receive numerous services tailored to their individual needs. The completed property will feature four studios and seven single rooms.

Howard House, Brockton

Howard House in Brockton is a historic rehabilitation project that will offer 14 units of permanent supportive housing for homeless veterans on the site of the Brockton VA Medical Center. The sponsor is a joint venture including Peabody Properties, Windover Development and Father Bill’s Mainspring. The project will receive extensive support from the federal Veterans Administration, as well as from the state. The homeless veterans who become Howard House residents will be offered numerous services tailored to fit their needs.

O’Connor Sisson, Dartmouth

O’Connor Sisson in Dartmouth is a rehabilitation project intended to serve homeless veterans in need of support services. The sponsor is the Dartmouth Housing Authority. The completed project will offer nine efficiency units for extremely low income veterans, who will receive extensive services such as employment counseling, financial planning and therapeutic counseling. In addition to state subsidies, the project will receive Community Preservation Act funds from the Town of Dartmouth.

4 Leighton Street, Fitchburg

4 Leighton Street in Fitchburg is a project that will provide 15 units of supportive housing for extremely low-income individuals, including individuals making the transition from homelessness. The experienced sponsor is the non-profit Twin Cities CDC. The completed project will offer extensive services to the new residents, including services to help residents maintain sobriety.

Harvard Elms, Harvard

Harvard Elms in Harvard is a new construction project intended to serve low and extremely low-income families, some of whom will participate in DHCD’s supportive housing initiative and will receive support services. The sponsor is the experienced non-profit CHOICE, based in Chelmsford. The project has been permitted locally through Chapter 40B. When completed, Harvard Elms will offer nine affordable units, including supportive housing units for families making the transition from homelessness.

20 Willis Street, New Bedford

20 Willis Street in New Bedford is a project intended to serve homeless veterans. The sponsor is the non-profit Southern Massachusetts Veterans Housing Program. When completed, Willis Street will offer 40 units of single-room supportive housing for homeless veterans, as well as community space, a kitchen and dining room, and service space. Extensive services will be available to the veterans who become Willis Street residents.

St. Mary’s, Boston

St. Mary’s Center for Women and Children is developing a 12-unit transitional housing program for pregnant and parenting young adults. Priority will be given to homeless families who face numerous obstacles to independent living. A full –time support service coordinator will help identify the services most needed by each young family.

Gifford Street, Falmouth

The Falmouth Housing Corporation will add support services for three homeless families to the Gifford Street project with funding from the Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program (MRVP). Supportive services will be provided by the Falmouth Housing Authority’s existing housing stabilization program. Specific services will include transition counseling, job placement assistance and direct case management.

Columbia Park, Haverhill

Emmaus Inc. will create 16 units of permanent, supportive housing for homeless families currently residing in emergency shelters/motels. Fourteen units will be located at Columbia Park Apartments in Haverhill, a 32-unit complex that Emmaus has owned since 1992. Two units will be sited in a two family house, also in Haverhill. Services will be provided through an expansion of Emmaus’ existing supportive housing program.

Redfield, Pittsfield

The Berkshire Fund in Western Massachusetts will use the Housing Preservation and Stabilization Trust Fund to provide MRVP subsidy and support services for four units of existing housing within a 23-unit supportive housing program serving high risk pregnant and parenting young adults. Families served by the program will receive specialized support services designed to help them become responsible tenants, self-sufficient and committed members of the community.

Harbor and Lafayette Homes, Salem

Sponsored by the North Shore Community Development Corporation, Harbor and Lafayette Homes will preserve two existing single room occupancy properties in Salem’s historic Point Neighborhood as 26 service-enriched, affordable apartments for low-income individuals, and one apartment for a resident manager. The 16 service-enhanced MRVP subsidies will serve extremely-low-income youth aging out of the foster care system. These tenants will receive a comprehensive package of supportive services from North Shore CDC.

Bixby Road, Spencer

This project will incorporate 11 supportive housing units within a 42-unit townhouse style family development in Spencer. The supportive housing units will be designed and structured for formerly homeless occupants who face particular life challenges, such as a chronic physical illness or disability, and who need support services. The services will be provided through a tenant supportive services program operated by the project sponsor, South Middlesex Opportunity Council.

Kenwyn and Quadrangle, Springfield

HAP Housing in Springfield will use eight Housing Preservation and Stabilization Trust Fund service-enhanced MRVP subsidies to assist homeless families as they transition from shelters, such as HAP’s Residential Resource Center, a temporary housing facility that provides shelter for 36 families. The MRVP subsidies will allow families to move into permanent rental housing at either Kenwyn or Quadrangle Court, and the support service dollars will permit the continuation of service delivery to the families in their new location. Services will include parenting classes, domestic violence counseling and financial education seminars.

E. Henry Twiggs Estates, Phase I, Springfield

Better Homes, Inc. is working on a plan to support the comprehensive redevelopment of 75 scattered site units in the Bay and Upper Hill neighborhoods of Springfield. As an integral part of the first phase of the project, Better Homes will convert 13 affordable rental units into permanent supportive housing for low income families. Services will be provided through an expansion of Better Home’s existing supportive housing partnership with HAP Housing, also of Springfield.

SourceReal Estate Rama

Patrick Administration Funds 235 New Units Of Supportive Housing

Department of Housing and Community Development Undersecretary Aaron Gornstein today announced more than $15 million in funding to create over 235 new units of supportive housing for veterans, homeless and very low income households across the commonwealth. With these new units, the Patrick Administration has funded a total of 3,065 supportive housing units, tripling the amount of Gov. Deval Patrick’s goal a year earlier.
In December 2012, Patrick announced a goal of creating 1,000 new units of supportive housing across the commonwealth by December 2015. To reach this goal, 18 state agencies participated in a task force dedicated to encouraging collaboration and removing obstacles that hindered development.
Supportive housing helps individuals and families who are homeless or institutionalized, people with disabilities and the elderly. Additionally, the agencies continue to assess the extent of public cost-savings generated as a result of providing permanent supportive housing and will recommend strategic reinvestments. Supportive housing can include services such as childcare, access to job training, mental-health care and other opportunities that give participants a hand up towards stability and success.
Alongside these new supportive housing units, the Patrick Administration also awarded 149 project-based vouchers from the Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program (MRVP). The vouchers are available to owners of existing, affordable rental properties, who provide services or partner with an agency that has experience with successfully stabilizing homeless or very low-income households. Funds for supportive services in the amount of $2,500 per unit will be used to provide a wide array of services, including job search and training, financial literacy and planning, self-sufficiency training and coaching, counseling, parenting, early education and childcare, mental health and addiction treatment, adult education, and GED and skills training.
“The commonwealth of Massachusetts has recognized the importance of creating quality supportive housing for communities in need and has been pro-active in creating an active pipeline for these projects,” Roger Herzog, executive director of the Community Economic Development Assistance Corp., said in a statement. “The awards that have been granted today will make sure that both much-needed housing and services are available to homeless families and individuals, persons with disabilities, veterans, seniors, and youth, among others.”
The following projects were included in the funding round:
Harborlight House, Beverly
Harborlight House in Beverly is a supportive housing project serving frail low-income seniors who need various services in order to live with some degree of independence. The sponsor is an experienced non-profit, Harborlight Community Partners. When rehabilitation is finished, the project will house 30 seniors in a prime Beverly location.

Residences Betances, Boston
Residences Betances is located in the South End of Boston. Sponsored by the non-profit Inquilinos Boricuas En Accion, the project will house extremely low-income individuals with developmental challenges and diagnosed mental illness. The residents of the completed property will receive numerous services tailored to their individual needs. The completed property will feature four studios and seven single rooms.

Howard House, Brockton
Howard House in Brockton is a historic rehabilitation project that will offer 14 units of permanent supportive housing for homeless veterans on the site of the Brockton VA Medical Center. The sponsor is a joint venture including Peabody Properties, Windover Development and Father Bill’s Mainspring. The project will receive extensive support from the federal Veterans Administration, as well as from the state. The homeless veterans who become Howard House residents will be offered numerous services tailored to fit their needs.

O’Connor Sisson, Dartmouth
O’Connor Sisson in Dartmouth is a rehabilitation project intended to serve homeless veterans in need of support services. The sponsor is the Dartmouth Housing Authority. The completed project will offer nine efficiency units for extremely low income veterans, who will receive extensive services such as employment counseling, financial planning and therapeutic counseling. In addition to state subsidies, the project will receive Community Preservation Act funds from the town of Dartmouth.

4 Leighton Street, Fitchburg
4 Leighton St. in Fitchburg is a project that will provide 15 units of supportive housing for extremely low-income individuals, including individuals making the transition from homelessness. The experienced sponsor is the non-profit Twin Cities CDC. The completed project will offer extensive services to the new residents, including services to help residents maintain sobriety.

Harvard Elms, Harvard
Harvard Elms in Harvard is a new construction project intended to serve low and extremely low-income families, some of whom will participate in DHCD’s supportive housing initiative and will receive support services. The sponsor is the experienced nonprofit CHOICE, based in Chelmsford. The project has been permitted locally through Chapter 40B. When completed, Harvard Elms will offer nine affordable units, including supportive housing units for families making the transition from homelessness.

20 Willis Street, New Bedford
20 Willis St. in New Bedford is a project intended to serve homeless veterans. The sponsor is the non-profit Southern Massachusetts Veterans Housing Program. When completed, Willis Street will offer 40 units of single-room supportive housing for homeless veterans, as well as community space, a kitchen and dining room, and service space. Extensive services will be available to the veterans who become Willis Street residents.

St. Mary’s, Boston
St. Mary’s Center for Women and Children is developing a 12-unit transitional housing program for pregnant and parenting young adults. Priority will be given to homeless families who face numerous obstacles to independent living. A full-time support service coordinator will help identify the services most needed by each young family.

Gifford Street, Falmouth
The Falmouth Housing Corp. will add support services for three homeless families to the Gifford Street project with funding from the Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program. Supportive services will be provided by the Falmouth Housing Authority’s existing housing stabilization program. Specific services will include transition counseling, job placement assistance and direct case management.

Columbia Park, Haverhill
Emmaus Inc. will create 16 units of permanent, supportive housing for homeless families currently residing in emergency shelters/motels. Fourteen units will be located at Columbia Park Apartments in Haverhill, a 32-unit complex that Emmaus has owned since 1992. Two units will be sited in a two family house, also in Haverhill. Services will be provided through an expansion of Emmaus’ existing supportive housing program.

Redfield, Pittsfield
The Berkshire Fund in Western Massachusetts will use the Housing Preservation and Stabilization Trust Fund to provide MRVP subsidy and support services for four units of existing housing within a 23-unit supportive housing program serving high risk pregnant and parenting young adults. Families served by the program will receive specialized support services designed to help them become responsible tenants, self-sufficient and committed members of the community.

Harbor and Lafayette Homes, Salem
Sponsored by the North Shore Community Development Corp., Harbor and Lafayette Homes will preserve two existing single room occupancy properties in Salem’s historic Point Neighborhood as 26 service-enriched, affordable apartments for low-income individuals, and one apartment for a resident manager. The 16 service-enhanced MRVP subsidies will serve extremely-low-income youth aging out of the foster care system. These tenants will receive a comprehensive package of supportive services from North Shore CDC.

Bixby Road, Spencer
This project will incorporate 11 supportive housing units within a 42-unit townhouse style family development in Spencer. The supportive housing units will be designed and structured for formerly homeless occupants who face particular life challenges, such as a chronic physical illness or disability, and who need support services. The services will be provided through a tenant supportive services program operated by the project sponsor, South Middlesex Opportunity Council.

Kenwyn and Quadrangle, Springfield
HAP Housing in Springfield will use eight Housing Preservation and Stabilization Trust Fund service-enhanced MRVP subsidies to assist homeless families as they transition from shelters, such as HAP’s Residential Resource Center, a temporary housing facility that provides shelter for 36 families. The MRVP subsidies will allow families to move into permanent rental housing at either Kenwyn or Quadrangle Court, and the support service dollars will permit the continuation of service delivery to the families in their new location. Services will include parenting classes, domestic violence counseling and financial education seminars.

E. Henry Twiggs Estates, Phase I, Springfield
Better Homes, Inc. is working on a plan to support the comprehensive redevelopment of 75 scattered site units in the Bay and Upper Hill neighborhoods of Springfield. As an integral part of the first phase of the project, Better Homes will convert 13 affordable rental units into permanent supportive housing for low income families. Services will be provided through an expansion of Better Home’s existing supportive housing partnership with HAP Housing, also of Springfield.

SourceBanker & Tradesman

State Approves Funding for Affordable Senior Units in Beverly

Beverly will gain 30 affordable units for low-income seniors as part of more than $15 million in state funding announced by the Patrick Administration on Friday.
Department of Housing and Community Development Undersecretary Aaron Gornstein announced the funding, which will create more than 235 new units of “supportive housing for veterans, homeless and very low income households” across the commonwealth. The Patrick Administration has now funded 3,065 “supportive housing units,” according to a press release.
“Governor Patrick has made permanent supportive housing a high priority because it is a key part of the solution to reducing homelessness over the long-term. By providing a range of support services — which may include workforce development, education, child care, or mental health services — our local non-profit partners can help to ensure a successful and sustainable tenancy,” he said.
The Beverly portion will fund Harborlight House, which is a “supportive housing project serving frail low-income seniors who need various services in order to live with some degree of independence. The sponsor is an experienced non-profit, Harborlight Community Partners. When rehabilitation is finished, the project will house 30 seniors in a prime Beverly location,” according to the press release.
According to the press release by the Patrick Administration:
“Supportive housing helps individuals and families that are homeless or facing homelessness, institutionalized or at-risk of institutionalization, people with disabilities and the elderly. Additionally, the agencies continue to assess the extent of public cost-savings generated as a result of providing permanent supportive housing and will recommend strategic reinvestments.
“In addition to a providing housing for families, supportive housing, which is operated in conjunction with a network of non-profit agencies across the Commonwealth, can include services such as childcare, access to job training, mental-health care and other opportunities that give participants a hand up towards stability and success.
“Alongside these new supportive housing units, the Patrick Administration also awarded 149 project-based vouchers from the Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program (MRVP). The vouchers are available to owners of existing, affordable rental properties, who provide services or partner with an agency that has experience with successfully stabilizing homeless or very low-income households.
“The MRVP vouchers allow homeless families to move into existing housing developments with long-term affordability restrictions. The non-profit agencies that own the properties provide participating families with comprehensive supportive service programs to help ensure that they do not fall back into the cycle of homelessness and emergency shelter, while helping them move toward stability and self-sufficiency. Funds for supportive services in the amount of $2,500 per unit will be used to provide a wide array of services, including job search and training, financial literacy and planning, self-sufficiency training and coaching, counseling, parenting, early education and childcare, mental health and addiction treatment, adult education, and GED and skills training.”
“The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has recognized the importance of creating quality supportive housing for communities in need and has been pro-active in creating an active pipeline for these projects,” said Roger Herzog, executive director of the Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation (CEDAC). “The awards that have been granted today will make sure that both much-needed housing and services are available to homeless families and individuals, persons with disabilities, veterans, seniors, and youth, among others.”

SourceBeverly Patch

Loan plan helps seniors, disabled stay in their homes

Yvonne Ellison has lived in her home on Whitman Street near Codman Square for 35 years. A 65-year-old divorcee, she has raised four boys here on a quiet, dead-end side street near Dorchester High School. It was a perfect spot, she says, sitting, as it does, across the street from her parents, who owned the single-family house before selling it to her in 2003.
The proximity to her folks meant that her boys were raised with the help of their grandparents and she could use public transportation to get into her job working in the Secretary of State’s office in Boston. And when her mom developed a brain tumor that eventually took her life, Yvonne was right across the street and was her main caregiver.
Last year, though, Yvonne had to make a tough decision. She was diagnosed with a degenerative spinal condition that will likely cause her to need a wheelchair within a few years. As it is, she can barely get up and down her stairs. She was crawling up to her bedroom at night. She fell repeatedly. The situation was only going to get worse.
“There were a whole of things wrong with the house,” says Ellison. “A tree had come down on the back of the house. The whole back wall around the gutter there had rotted out. I said to my son, ‘I give up. I’m leaving.’” But one of her sons — Kenny — said no. “He was determined. He said, ‘Ma, after all these years of fighting to keep this place, you can’t give up now.’”
The work she would need to do to retrofit her home for her disability was daunting: a handicap-accessible bathroom on the first floor, where she would relocate her bedroom, and a ramp that would allow her to bypass her front stairs and gain access to her home from a rear door. The cost, she estimated, would be upwards of $30,000.
Yvonne found the help she needed, first, through the city’s Boston Home Center, an office operated by the Department of Neighborhood Development. The Home Center’s Homeworks program had already assisted Ellison several years ago when she needed a loan to fix her roof. Now, she called upon them again for advice.
The city sent her to the Metropolitan Boston Housing Partnership, a quasi-public agency that administers state funds aimed at assisting low and moderate-income residents and their families with housing-related problems.
MBHP administers a state fund aimed at helping seniors and disabled people find an affordable means of making needed repairs and upgrades to their homes. It is called the Home Modification Loan Program.
The program “is one of our most exciting ones because it allows folks to stay housed where they are,” said Chris Norris, executive director of MBHP. “And for most people it does this at no cost for the owner or the tenant because we use a zero interest loan. So, for the majority of them there is no interest.”
Eligible homeowners, like Ellison, are not obliged to repay the loan until the property is sold or transferred. The program loaned out an estimated $600,000 this year to 27 different applicants. It has helped roughly 200 individual households since the program was launched in 1999.
“We have adequate funding for it and we have plenty of it to give,” explained Norris. “It also guarantees that you’ll have a professional coming out to do the work and you’ll pay a reasonable rate for it. We’ve done it for many years and recently it has been expanded by the Legislature to include cognitive disabilities like autism.”
In Ellison’s case, the MBHP responded to her request for assistance within about two weeks by sending a staff member to her home to do a site assessment.
The agency then helped her hire qualified contractors – ABC Construction and Thomas Maguire – to build out her bathroom and ramp. The total loan cost ended up being just under $30,000 and the whole process – which began by filling out a loan application last November – was completed in June 2014.
“I’m thrilled. It’s so easy to access, it’s wheelchair accessible, even though I’m not in a wheelchair yet. I can live down here (on the first floor) and my sons are upstairs. It works for me because I can stay in my home as long as I need to,” says Ellison, who has returned to work part time for the state thanks in part to the new ramp. She uses the MBTA’s Ride program to get around.
Ellison needed some good news. Last year, she lost Kenny at age 44. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in January and was gone within three months.
The loss was devastating to Yvonne, who still mourns his death bitterly. “At least he was able to know that I was going to be able to stay here,” she said.
MBHP also runs the Housing Consumer Education Center, a regional nonprofit office that serves as a clearinghouse for services for tenants and property owners facing trouble. It is located on Lincoln Street in Boston, but can be accessed digitally at the agency’s website. In addition to the Home Modification Loan program, the agency also administers the RAFT program— short for Residential Assistance for Families in Transition. The program can help provide grants up to $4,000 per year to eligible households to pay for rent or for utilities that might have been shut off.

For more information on MBHP, call it’s a resource line at 617-425-6700.

SourceDorchester Reporter

City of Cambridge, Harvard celebrate renovation of Chapman Arms

A little more than three years ago, tenants of Chapman Arms were unsure what the future of their homes would hold. But at a special ceremony held recently, the city, Homeowners Rehab Inc. and Harvard University celebrated the final steps in the acquisition, preservation and renovation of 25 affordable housing units in Harvard Square.
In 2011, HRI acquired the 50-unit Chapman Arms — with 25 affordable housing units and 25 market rate units, the first acquisition under the commonwealth’s preservation statute, Chapter 40T. Harvard University, owner of the land under Chapman Arms, supported the acquisition and worked with the city and HRI so that the building could be kept affordable for the long term.
In 2009, an analysis by the city’s Community Development Department identified 10 properties containing 1,094 affordable units at risk of losing their affordability by 2021. Since that time, through the efforts of the city, the Cambridge Housing Authority and other partners, more than 424 affordable units in seven properties have been preserved, ensuring these homes will remain affordable for future generations.
Cambridge produces new affordable housing by using funding from the Community Preservation Act to leverage other public and private funds. In the last five years, the city has used CPA funds to preserve or create more than 1,000 affordable units through preservation of existing housing, new construction, conversion of non-residential properties to affordable housing, and by purchasing market-rate units.

SourceThe Cambridge Chronicle & Tab

Northampton ‘Lumberyard’ affordable housing project panned at joint public hearing

A $20 million affordable housing project proposed for the former Northampton Lumber site at 256 Pleasant St. got thoroughly picked apart Thursday night at a joint public hearing of the Planning Board and Central Business Architecture Committee.
A 55-unit, 70,000 square-foot apartment building is proposed for the 1.25-acre property at the corner of Pleasant and Holyoke streets. The former Northampton Lumber building would be torn down. The proponent is the non-profit Valley Community Development Corporation. The project would derive its funding from various sources, including state and federal low income housing tax credits, said Valley CDC Executive Director Joanne Campbell.
Clifford Boehmer, president of Davis Square Architects, presented the project and discussed his design decisions. Boehmer said the site on Pleasant Street was visually prominent from both directions, and therefore deserved a “theme building.” He said the building is meant to “echo” aspects of historic buildings downtown, without attempting to literally replicate them.
Architecture committee member Aelan Tierney questioned Boehmer at length, saying she was not convinced the building’s design complied with the city’s downtown architecture guidelines. She criticized the curved masonry wall that intersects with a bare expanse of fiber cement siding on the building’s north facade, as well as other aspects of form and materials. Tierney said she was not against the project, but wanted it to be done right.
“The Valley CDC still has plenty of homework to do,” she said.
Longtime committee member Joe Blumenthal said he liked the curved facade, but that the entire building should be masonry, instead of mixed materials. Boehmer responded that if the building were all brick it would be “bad news for the budget.”
Committee member Bruce Kriviskey was particularly colorful in his criticism, calling the project a “Tuscan Towerhouse,” a “real Potemkin village,” and, in reference to the facade’s striped brick pattern, “almost Islamic.” As for the artist’s renderings of the building, Kriviskey said if he had submitted them to his former architecture professors, he would have gotten a “C” for the building and an “A” for the sky.
Jordi Herold, owner of a renovated historical commercial property on Short Street, which is a private way, said he felt that his concerns about the abutting project had “not been heard” by the Valley CDC and their architects, despite the fact that he had met with them several times.
Herold said while he acknowledged how hard it is to put such a development together, he was dismayed that “a publicly funded project” had taken shape “without a lot of input from people.”
Tom Douglas, an architect with an ownership stake in the Yes Computers building at 196 Pleasant St., also a renovated historic building, said the artist’s renderings showed by Davis Street were misleading. He said a narrow 12-foot alleyway that’s part of the plan is made to look deceptively spacious in the colored drawing. He also remarked that the artist’s depiction of the building leaves out other, existing buildings on the block, including the former Fraternal Order of Eagles building, which is now a law office.
Douglas said the alleyway concept should be abandoned in favor of extending the project’s commercial storefront space on Pleasant Street.
Douglas had other criticisms, describing the curved wall of the building as a “bulge” that goes opposite to the curve of the street. He described a window configuration on the Pleasant Street facade as being “like a cyclops.”
Several others who spoke during public comment session said the building should strive to put more commercial space on the first floor. The Valley CDC’s plans show one commercial space on Pleasant Street, along with several first-floor apartments, as well as an office space facing Holyoke Street, which will be inhabited by the Valley CDC itself.
Attorney Amy Royal, who owns the abutting Eagles building at 270 Pleasant St., also said the architect’s drawings were “deceptive.” She said there is no way the project can be built as described without encroaching on her property, and that the architects were aware of that fact. Royal promised to “take action” if her property rights are infringed upon.
Royal also objected to the public hearing on procedural grounds, saying it should not have gone forward until issues about the project’s footprint are resolved.
Some spoke in favor of the project, with conditions. Florence resident Rutherford Platt, who rents an office from Herold at One Short Street, said the Valley CDC project will revitalize the south end of Pleasant Street. He advised the Planning Board to pay attention to traffic concerns, saying Pleasant Street is dangerous to cross and not pedestrian-friendly due to degraded and obstructed sidewalks.
City planner Carolyn Misch said Valley CDC had agreed to extend their sidewalk renovations north on Pleasant Street past their actual street frontage so as to improve pedestrian safety and streetscape appearance.
The project will need a permit from the Central Business Architecture Committee as well as site plan approval from the Planning Board, whose purview does not extend to issues of aesthetics.
The public hearing remains open, and the two public bodies will reconvene Jan. 8. Public comment will be received until the hearing is closed, said Misch.
Valley CDC director Campbell said if the project gains site plan approval, construction would not begin until 2017. She said the rental housing is geared toward individuals and families making between $25,000 and $50,000 per year.
In 2013, the Valley CDC received a $1.1 million loan from the Community Economic Development Assistance Corp., a state finance entity, to help it acquire the property. The CDC purchased the site from Gale LaBarge, now of Vero Beach, Florida, a member of the family that ran the downtown lumber yard for years.
Meanwhile, Misch sent an email to members of the media on Friday morning advising them to refrain from seeking comment from members of the Planning Board and Central Business Architecture Committee until the public hearing is officially closed. Reached Friday afternoon, Misch said the order derived from her understanding of Massachusetts open meeting law.

SourceThe Republican

MassHousing, State Announce $22M For Affordable Housing

MassHousing and the state Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) have closed on $22 million in Affordable Housing Trust Fund (AHTF) loans for affordable housing in 16 communities.
The AHTF financing will help create or substantially rehabilitate and preserve the affordability of 973 rental apartments.
“Affordable housing is always in high demand across Massachusetts,” Aaron Gornstein, undersecretary for DHCD said in a statement. “The Affordable Housing Trust Fund is one tool that we have for creating more affordable and accessible housing for young families and individuals and meeting Gov. [Deval] Patrick’s production goal of 10,000 new multifamily units a year in the commonwealth.”
The AHTF provides resources to create or preserve affordable housing throughout the state. Funds are available for rental, homeownership and mixed-use projects as well as housing for the disabled and homeless, but may be applied only to the affordable units. AHTF funds are used primarily to support private housing projects that provide for the acquisition, construction or preservation of affordable housing. MassHousing and DHCD jointly administer the AHTF. DHCD has also allocated Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, which have generated equity toward the cost of completing the projects.
The recent AHTF loan closings include the following projects:
• $1.45 million for the 92-unit Parc at Medfield Phases I and II in Medfield. The GateHouse Group LLC is developing a vacant parcel into four buildings with all of the units affordable to households earning up to $56,450 annually. DHCD also provided $1.3 million through its Housing Stabilization Fund program.
• $1 million for Homeowners Rehab, Inc. of Cambridge for the preservation and renovation of Putnam Square Apartments. The development includes 94 units of elderly housing located between Harvard and Central Squares in Cambridge.
• $1 million for the 24-unit Gorham Street Apartments in Lowell. Coalition for a Better Acre of Lowell is developing a six-story building on a vacant lot. Six of the units will be reserved for families at risk of homelessness. DHCD provided an additional $1.4 million in financing.

SourceBanker & Tradesman

Public Hearing tonight for ‘Northampton Lumberyard’ affordable housing project

Under a proposal by the non-profit Valley Community Development Corporation, the former Northampton Lumber at 256 Pleasant St. would be torn down and a four-story, mixed-use residential/commercial building would be built in its place.
The city’s Central Business Architecture Committee will hold a public hearing tonight (Thurs., Dec. 11) in conjunction with the Planning Board to present information and gather public input on the project. The hearing will be held at 7 p.m. at the city’s Council Chambers within the 212 Main St. municipal building.
The plans call for a fully-accessible building on the 1.23 acre site, including 55 apartments and 3,500 square feet of commercial space on the first floor, facing both Holyoke and Pleasant streets. The Valley CDC has said it plans to move its main office into one of the commercial units. The building would be 42 feet tall, according to zoning documents.
The CDC has said the units would be geared for people making up to 60 percent of the area median income. That amounts to $34,440 for a single person and $49,140 for a family of four.
In 2013 the Valley CDC received a $1.1 million loan from the Community Economic Development Assistance Corp., a state finance entity, to help it acquire the property. The CDC purchased the 1.23 acre site from Gale LaBarge, now of Vero Beach, Florida, a member of the family which ran the downtown lumber yard for years.
The project has its share of detractors, including abuttor and lawyer Amy B. Royal, owner of buildings at 236 and 270 Pleasant St. In a Dec. 5 letter to the Planning Board, Royal said the plan as proposed encroaches upon her property and should not go forward.
Maribeth Erb and Mary Finn, owners of the Optical Studio building at Pleasant and Finn streets, wrote to the Planning Board excoriating the building’s “enormous size,” calling the developer’s drawings “misleading,” and blasting the project’s architectural design.
The city’s Office of Planning and Sustainability has recommended the project, saying it will serve as an anchor to a newly-developing Pleasant Street and a gateway to the city’s downtown.
The designer is Davis Square Architects of Somerville.
If approved, “The Northampton Lumberyard” will join another affordable housing project in the works on Pleasant Street. Last month HAPHousinggained a special permit from the Planning Board to demolish the former Northampton Lodging at 129 Pleasant and construct a five-story building with mixed-income apartments and retail space.

SourceThe Republican

MassDevelopment Provides $14.6M For Chinatown Affordable Housing Project

MassDevelopment has issued a $14.6 million on behalf of CEDC Oxford Ping On LLC to help build the 67-unit affordable housing project under construction in Boston’s Chinatown neighborhood.
The 10-story building on Oxford and Ping On Streets will consist of 48 studios, 16 one-bedroom units and three two-bedroom units. One of the one-bedroom units will serve as a rent-free live-in property manager’s unit. The remaining 66 residences will be affordable to households earning no more than 60 percent of the area median income. Seven of these units will be affordable to households earning no more than 30 percent of the area median income. Construction began in May at the site, which was being used as a parking lot.
In addition to the tax-exempt bonds, MassDevelopment assisted the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development with the approval of federal low income housing tax credits, which provided approximately $10.9 million in equity for the project.
“The Oxford Ping On project will fill a gap in Chinatown’s housing supply with this affordable housing development, and we applaud CEDC Oxford Ping On LLC for taking on this important project,” MassDevelopment President and CEO Marty Jones said in a statement. “MassDevelopment is proud to provide financing for this development, which will provide a great new option for people looking to remain or relocate into the neighborhood at affordable rents.”
CEDC Oxford Ping On LLC is an affiliate formed by Chinese Economic Development Council, which works to enhance the economic development of the Chinese community in Boston, and helps low-income Asian residents of Chinatown achieve economic and social self-sufficiency by developing affordable housing, incubator office space, and employment training programs.

SourceBanker & Tradesman

Hampden Sheriff’s Department, Commonwealth Workforce Coalition conduct training for employment couns

Of the 53 employees at his Avocado Street company, Hampton Farms plant manager Matthew B. Venezuela, said 25 have come through “the program.”

The program is a euphemism for the Hampden County Correctional Center in Ludlow, specifically it’s a pre-release program at the jail that prepares inmates for employment after release.

Venezuela said that in the 15 months since Hampton Farms, a food processing facility specializing in peanuts, peanut butter and cotton candy products, has been working with Sheriff’s Department to hire people who were “court involved” – another euphemism – the company has had no problems.

None, he said. Not a single of any hires who have come by way of the jail has been fired, he said. Two have even been promoted to supervisor posts.

“It’s a pretty easy decision for us,” he said. “We know what we are getting.”

Venezuela was one of the featured speakers Friday at a training session held at the Mason Square Library for a training session and certificate program for ex-offender employment specialists.

The training session, offered jointly by the sheriff’s department and the Commonwealth Workforce Coalition, had 43 attendees from all across the state and as far away as New Hampshire.

Attendees were not former jail inmates. Rather, they were work-force development staff and career counselors, the people who serve as go-betweens for former inmates and their would-be employees.

The sessions provided training for workforce development personnel to develop the skills needed to assist former inmates finding employment. They even learned how to prepare a client how to properly answer when the human resources manager asks about that two year gap in the client’s work history.

The Hampden County Correctional Center has always focused on a rehabilitation component in its role of housing inmates to prepare them for life on the outside after their sentence through vocational training and basic education. But the facility has also focused on aiding people after they have been released such as counseling, medical issues or even finding a place to stay.

And a key part of that is helping the former inmates find work, said Richard Devine, the Sheriff’s Department director of employment and community outreach.

“Ninety-seven percent of people incarcerated are coming home,” he said. “How do we prepare them to return to the communities and not return to jail,” he said.

Offenders who get out of jail and land a decent, steady job are statistically less likely to become re-offenders. “That’s exactly right,” he said.

“It’s about public safety. That is the bottom line,” Devine said. “If we can keep (the former inmates) focused on what they need to do, they don’t reoffend.”

Judith Lorei of Commonwealth Workforce Coalition, said it is critical for job-placement people who work with former offenders to establish relationships with would-be employers, to know what types are available and what skills are needed.

“That’s the importance of building a relationship with the employers. They know you’re not going to send anyone to them that hasn’t been screened or assessed, and who isn’t a right match for that job,” she said.

Devine said supplying the right people to employers is important “so the employer will come back and say ‘Gee, I want to hire more of your people.'”

Employment specialists working with ex-inmates make sure candidates are properly matched with employers, that they are properly suited for the post so the employer will not have any regrets about a hire.

“Unlike people coming in off the street, there’s a whole support system in place to help with retention issues,” she said. These can include substance abuse programs.

Venezuela said he has former inmates attending Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous, and even one going to classes for being a better father. The support groups provide the stability needed to keep ex-inmates on track, he said, “and our job is to provide them with the structure they need for those eight hours at work.”

Devine said the interest in the session indicates people realize the need in helping former inmates find work.

“People are realizing we can’t build enough jails,” he said.

SourceThe Republican