Category: CEDAC

Amherst seeks funds second time for affordable housing project

February 11, 2012
Amherst seeks funds second time for affordable housing project
By smerzbach
AMHERST – A second application for state and federal tax credits that would help pay for construction of a 42-unit affordable housing project was submitted to the Department of Housing and Community Development Friday.
HAP Housing is planning the Olympia Oaks project on 13 acres of a town-owned site off Olympia Drive. If funding comes through in this round, the homes could be built and ready for occupancy in October 2013.
Peter Gagliardi, executive director of HAP, said Friday that the second application comes after HAP learned in October that its initial request for the One-Stop tax credit was not awarded.
Gagliardi said he remains confident that HAP will be successful in receiving the tax credits and funds from the state’s Affordable Housing Trust and Housing Stabilization Fund.
“We’re competing for scarce resources, but we have been in before,” Gagliardi said.
Building the housing and resurfacing Olympia Drive is expected to cost around $8.5 million, Gagliardi said, with the cost rising to $10 million when other infrastructure work being done by the town is included.
Gagliardi said state officials could make a quick decision on the funding request, within three to five months, because of the jobs housing construction provides and the spinoff benefits to local businesses that will provide materials and supplies.
The Select Board last month sent a letter of support, signed by Chairwoman Stephanie O’Keeffe, explaining that the town is committed to moving the project forward. This has been demonstrated through a 99-year ground lease, supplying $200,000 in Community Development Block Grant money and up to $140,000 in Community Preservation Act money and the issuing of a comprehensive permit by the Zoning Board of Appeals.
“The Amherst Select Board strongly encourages the Department of Housing and Community Development to approve HAP Housing’s application and award the tax incentives and other funding requested,” O’Keeffe wrote. “The Olympia Oaks projects has overwhelming local support, and your support would be most welcomed as well.”
The site where the housing will be built has been cleared and graded, with water, sewer and other uitilities, as well as drainage work, all part of an investment by the town.
Gagliardi praised Amherst for what it has done to make Olympia Oaks a reality.
“The town has been extraordinarily supportive and we’re pleased to have been selected to do work on this project for them,” Gagliardi said.
Two of the 42 units at Olympia Oaks will be set aside for homeless families as the result of a $100,000 commitment from the Interfaith Housing Corp., an organization that built and operated Village Park Apartments and has been committed to investing money into affordable and low-income projects.
Olympia Oaks has already received money from other non-town sources. Last April, $400,000 in Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation predevelopment bridge funding and $40,000 from the NeighborWorks America arrived. Keith Construction of Stoughton has been selected as the general contractor.
Olympia Oaks will be the newest affordable housing stock built under a comprehensive permit. The most recent was Butternut Farm on Longmeadow Drive, which opened last June.

Daily Hampshire Gazette © 2011 All rights reserved
Source URL: http://www.gazettenet.com/2012/02/11/amherst-seeks-funds-second-time-for-affordable-housing-project

SourceGazetteNet.com (Hampshire Gazette)

Grant aids Acton housing plan

Grant aids Acton housing plan
GateHouse News Service
Posted Feb 09, 2012 @ 12:27 PM
Acton, Mass. —
The Community Economic Development Assistance Corp. has announced today loan commitments or increases totaling $390,000. Included in these commitments is a loan to the Acton Housing Authority for new affordable housing in that community.
“We are encouraged to see a community like the town of Acton addressing the need for affordable housing,” said Roger Herzog, executive director of the organization, also known by its acronym, CEDAC. “There are many communities across the Commonwealth that struggle to provide quality affordable housing. The Acton Housing Authority is providing community development leadership in an area of the state that will benefit tremendously from it.”
CEDAC approved a predevelopment loan of $120,000 to the Acton Housing Authority for the McCarthy Village II project. The development will be twelve new affordable rental units that include nine 2-bedroom and three 3-bedroom units.
The Acton Housing Authority is reserving six of the units for households with incomes below 30 percent of the area’s median income. Additionally, three of these units will be dedicated to homeless families coming directly from shelter.
The project will be designed to LEED for Homes Silver certification and is to appear as a natural extension of the existing surrounding homes. The architectural treatment blends seamlessly with the existing duplexes at McCarthy Village I. The project specifications will conform with EnergyStar guidelines for building envelope, lighting and energy efficient appliance selection, the press release said.
CEDAC is a private-public, community development finance institution that provides technical assistance, pre-development lending and consulting services to non-profit organizations involved in housing development, workforce development, neighborhood economic development and capital improvement to childcare facilities. To learn more, visit www.cedac.org.
Copyright 2012 The Beacon. Some rights reserved

Read more: Grant aids Acton housing plan – Acton, MA – The Beacon http://www.wickedlocal.com/acton/news/x574398952/Grant-aids-Acton-housing-plan#ixzz1mYiYhIOi

SourceGateHouse News Service Wicked Local, Acton

Residents welcome new elderly housing on the Neponset River

February 8, 2012

Residents welcome new elderly housing on the Neponset River
By Patrick D. Rosso, Town Correspondent

HYDE PARK, MATTAPAN: Senior citizens in Mattapan and Hyde Park cheered Tuesday as Mayor Thomas Menino cut the ribbon to the Residences at Neponset Field, a $10-million affordable housing development.
“This property is great,” said Thomas Tibbs, a 55-year-old Mattapan resident who lives in the new building with his wife Sarah. “We came out of a house that was hard to keep up with and this new building is wonderful. Everyone deserves a house and a home.”
The 31 affordable units on a 3.5-acre site along the Neponset River are meant to provide elderly residents with a stable community at an affordable price.
The building, which is LEED certified “silver”, cost approximately $10 million to construct. Workers officially broke ground in 2010, but the project has been in the works since 2007.
“This is advancement for the city to make sure we provide affordable housing,” said Menino. “We will always continue to provide housing in Boston.”
The new space, which sits on a once-vacant lot, provides residents with amenities such as elevator service, laundry and common rooms. Construction for the project was funded in part by the city of Boston, the state of Massachusetts and the US Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The units, which have all been filled, provide rental units for residents 62 or older who are earning at or below 50-percent average median income.
According to the city, the project provided 72 construction jobs and three new permanent jobs.
Future plans for the site include the creation of a single family or townhome development, but at the end of the day many who live at Neponset Field were ready to kick back and enjoy their new home and community.
“When I came here I met people who truly cared about me,” said Sarah Tibbs, 63. “There is a real community here and it is just so wonderful.”
Email Patrick D. Rosso, patrick.d.rosso@gmail.com. Follow him @PDRosso, or friend him on Facebook.

© 2012 NY Times Co.
URL: http://www.boston.com/yourtown/news/mattapan/2012/02/hold_residents_welcome_new_eld.html

SourceBoston Globe

Tenants Association Buys, Renovates South End Rental Housing

Thursday, January 19, 2012, 10:29am
Tenants Association Buys, Renovates South End Rental Housing
MassDevelopment and Boston Private Bank & Trust Co. have partnered to provide Brownstone Apartments LLC with $6.64 million in tax-exempt bond financing. The bond proceeds will be used to purchase and renovate a 75-unit rental housing complex in Boston’s South End.
All of the units are affordable, with 73 units rented to households earning up to 60 percent of the area median income and two units rented to households earning up to 80 percent of the area median income. Low Cost Tenants Association, the project’s sponsor, is a nonprofit cooperative of apartment residents who work to maintain its affordability.
Renovations include repairing exterior masonry and stonework; replacing windows, kitchen cabinets, flooring, and bath accessories; retiling; resurfacing; and painting. MassDevelopment issued the bond that Boston Private Bank & Trust purchased.
“MassDevelopment is pleased to support Brownstone’s tenants as they purchase and renovate their facility,” said MassDevelopment President and CEO Marty Jones. “Reasonably-priced housing helps attract residents and businesses, and this low-cost financing will help make these South End apartments more attractive and livable.”
“Many people and agencies worked hard to help us both maintain control of our homes and invest in rehabilitating these wonderful old buildings – HUD, the city of Boston Neighborhood Housing Trust, the Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation, and Peabody Properties. However, I’d have to put MassDevelopment and Boston Private Bank & Trust at the top of the list,” said Jean Niane, Low Cost’s President and a longtime resident. “We are talking about our homes here, and we are not going to gamble with that, and we did not ask MassDevelopment or the Bank to gamble either. We all wanted the same thing, and we’re grateful for their willingness to work with us patiently to find the most efficient and safest way for our homes to continue to be both affordable and well-kept.”

Banker & Tradesman ©2012
URL: http://www.bankerandtradesman.com/news148259.html

SourceBanker & Tradesman

Developer starts work to rehab 82 housing units in Roxbury, JP

January 19, 2012

Developer starts work to rehab 82 housing units in Roxbury, JP
By Matt Rocheleau, Town Correspondent
JAMAICA PLAIN, ROXBURY – A Boston community development organization has begun work to rehabilitate 82 units of occupied, multi-family, affordable rental housing in Roxbury and Jamaica Plain.
Urban Edge announced that construction started this month on the historic preservation and green renovation of the 82 of its “Limited Partnership Apartments” within 10 buildings at seven different sites across the two neighborhoods.
“This project keeps our promise that all the housing developed and owned by Urban Edge will remain a growing asset to its residents, their neighborhoods and the City of Boston,” Noah Maslan, Urban Edge’s real estate director said in a statement.
The news comes less than six months after the 38-year-old, Roxbury-based nonprofit completed the green rehabilitation of 103 other rental apartments in Jamaica Plain and Dorchester.
The developer said the construction it began this month is the latest in its current development pipeline of eight renovation projects planned over the next two to three years that the organization hopes will boost the local economy, improve housing quality and extend affordability to 515 families, while also improving the environment through reduced energy and water use.
The developer was awarded a $325,000 federal housing grant to help fund the rehabilitation of the 82 units, which is expected to take about 15 months to complete. In August, Urban Edge announced it received that funding as one of 115 NeighborWorks organizations nationwide to share $34.9 million in grants to rehabilitate or finance the rehabilitation of affordable housing.
The project is also being supported by: MassHousing, the state’s Department of Housing and Community Development, the City of Boston’s HOME Program and Neighborhood Housing Trust, the Massachusetts Housing Equity Fund, the Massachusetts Historical Commission, the Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation, the Local Initiatives Support Corporation, the Kresge Foundation, National Grid, and the Boston Private Bank & Trust Company, officials said. Public funders include the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
“Rehabilitation of existing multi-family housing benefits many — residents who will enjoy improved housing conditions, owners who will benefit from lower operating expenses, communities that will see increased property values and a cleaner environment, and people put to work by the construction dollars,” Urban Edge’s president and CEO, Chrystal Kornegay, said in a previous statement.
The nonprofit’s project will upgrade main building systems, envelopes and structural integrity and address related capital needs at the Urban Edge Limited Partnership Apartments (UELP). The work will follow Urban Edge’s “integrated green” development approach guided by the LEED and Green Communities rating systems and the organization’s sustainability goals.
Energy audit and benchmarking analysis indicates that eight of the ten UELP buildings use approximately 10 to 60 percent more gas and up to two times more water than a typical building of similar type, Urban Edge said. The planned rehab work is estimated to reduce gas consumption by up to 25 percent.
Boilers and hot water tanks will be replaced with high-efficiency indirect hot water heating systems and controls; new roofs will be installed at eight of the buildings; and residents will receive Energy Star lighting fixtures and appliances, the organization announced.
UELP residents will receive updated kitchens, bathrooms, common laundry facilities and insulation. The development nonprofit has committed to preserving the property’s affordability in perpetuity.
NEI General Contracting is overseeing construction. The project architect is Davis Square Architects.
E-mail Matt Rocheleau at mjrochele@gmail.com.
—

© 2012 NY Times Co.
URL: http://www.boston.com/yourtown/news/roxbury/2012/01/developer_starts_work_to_rehab.htm

SourceBoston Globe

Preserving affordable housing: Cambridge, Harvard, and HRI partner on affordable units in Harvard Sq

Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Preserving affordable housing
Cambridge, Harvard, and HRI partner on affordable units in Harvard Square
By Lauren Marshall, Harvard Staff Writer

Twenty-five affordable apartments in Harvard Square’s Craigie Arms Apartments will remain affordable for at least 50 additional years after the city of Cambridge, Harvard University, and the nonprofit Homeowners Rehab Inc. (HRI) put together a creative plan to preserve the affordability of these units through HRI’s purchase of the 50-unit Craigie Arms building.
Affordability restrictions on the 25 affordable units were scheduled to expire in 2016. With the property for sale, these units were an attractive investment to buyers interested in reaping the financial benefits of converting these units to market-rate housing after the existing restrictions expired.
Working together, the city, Harvard, and HRI were able to orchestrate HRI’s purchase of the building to ensure affordability of the 25 units for a minimum of 50 years. Specifically, Harvard amended and extended its ground lease on the property in a manner that allowed HRI to secure the necessary financing from the Cambridge Affordable Housing Trust and the Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation (CEDAC). HRI purchased the building in a preservation transaction that was finalized on Dec. 19.
“We are celebrating today because a creative partnership has allowed us to preserve an important housing resource in Harvard Square which will benefit current and future tenants of these units. This is a huge win in today’s Harvard Square housing market, where maintaining affordability is very difficult,” said Cambridge City Manager Robert W. Healy, who is also the managing trustee of the Cambridge Affordable Housing Trust and has worked to strengthen affordable housing during his 30-year tenure with the city.
“Preserving Craigie Arms was a priority for the city and could not have happened without the commitment of Harvard and is just the latest example of Harvard partnering with the city to achieve shared community goals,” added Assistant City Manager for Community Development Brian Murphy.
Craigie Arms was owned by a multipartner entity that was led by Bob Kuehn, an affordable-housing developer. Following Kuehn’s death, ownership of the property was left to 30 different investors who recently offered the property for sale. HRI was designated by the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development under the recently enacted expiring use preservation statute, known as Chapter 40T, which gives public agencies and affordable housing providers the time necessary to put together plans to preserve affordable housing before it can be sold to market buyers. With this time, the city, Harvard, and HRI put together the plan to preserve these units, and, after a competitive bidding process, the owners elected to sell property to HRI.
“All of this would not be possible without the city of Cambridge’s partnership and Harvard’s involvement,” said Peter Daly of HRI. “By working together we have preserved the homes of 25 individuals and families of low and moderate incomes at Craigie Arms.”
The city and Harvard have a long history of supporting affordable housing and a record of success in preserving and maintaining housing of all types for people of all incomes. An example of this success includes Harvard’s 20/20/2000 program, a $20 million, 20-year low-interest revolving loan program that has helped build and renovate 465 units in Cambridge. Harvard also created affordable units for working families during the development of housing for students in Riverside, and has sold more than 100 housing units at reduced prices to the city of Cambridge for use as affordable housing. In all, Harvard has helped to create and preserve over 600 units of affordable housing in Cambridge in recent years.
“Creating and maintaining affordable housing units can support the economic well-being and diversity of the communities around us. The support of affordable housing in Cambridge has been a long-term public policy goal for the city of Cambridge, and we’re pleased to be a partner with the city on this and other efforts to achieve that goal,” said Christine Heenan, vice president of Harvard Public Affairs and Communications.

© 2012 The President and Fellows of Harvard College
URL: http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2012/01/preserving-affordable-housing/

SourceHarvard Gazette

Rockport, other communities deal with threat to affordable housing posed by expiring mortgages

December 29, 2011
Rockport, other communities deal with threat to affordable housing posed by expiring mortgages
By David Rattigan, Globe Correspondent
Doris Nelson, 83, enjoys Pigeon Cove Ledges in Rockport, where she’s lived for nine years.
“It’s a very nice, clean place,’’ she said. “I’m very glad to not have to be packing up.’’
When the 30-unit senior housing property on Curtis Street changed owners on Dec. 1, it was something more than a typical real estate transaction.
With the building’s affordable housing restriction set to expire, the purchase by a Beverly-based nonprofit developer and operator protected the homes of the 34 elderly residents on fixed incomes who live there.
For affordable housing advocates, the Rockport transaction represented a positive outcome from a new threat. Mortgages are expiring on a large number of privately owned, publicly financed affordable housing developments, giving owners the option to instead offer rental housing for market rates, or sell the property to another entity that would do the same.
According to a report last spring by the public-private Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation, the situation will be repeated for thousands of units of affordable housing in the state over the next decade.
“Starting in the mid-1960s and continuing through the late 1970s, almost a million affordable rental housing units were produced nationwide through federally assisted mortgage programs that tied affordability restrictions to below-market-rate 40-year mortgages,’’ Bill Brauner, the corporation’s housing preservation program manager, wrote in the report.
“Already in Massachusetts, over 3,800 affordable apartments have reached the end of their 40-year mortgages with no other affordability restrictions,’’ he wrote. “Another 13,200 apartments in 110 projects will reach year 40 by the end of the decade.’’
There are examples in area communities. For instance, at Salem Towers in Malden, a $17 million recapitalization deal between for-profit New England Communities Inc. and nonprofit Beth Israel Senior Citizen Housing will preserve 80 units, and rehabilitate the building to provide better accessibility for elders with disabilities. In Beverly, 100 units at Jaclen Towers are being preserved through purchase by the for-profit Beacon Communities LLC.
Meanwhile, the 56-unit Fort Heath apartment complex in Winthrop ended its 40-year mortgage in October, and the owner has said it will become a market-rate building. In that scenario, as units become available, they can be rented as either subsidized or market-rate housing.
In addition to protecting the residents at Pigeon Cove Ledges, the Rockport property’s purchase by Harborlight Community Partners Inc. also protected a large percentage of the town’s affordable housing stock; the 30 units represent 22 percent of all affordable housing in Rockport.
With just 3.7 percent of its housing deemed “affordable,’’ Rockport is below the 10 percent threshold that protects a municipality from developers that seek zoning waivers under Chapter 40B, the state regulations governing affordable housing development.
By maintaining 10 percent, a town can more easily control its future and avoid unwanted development, but, as Rockport Housing Partnership board member Robert Visnick noted, there are other benefits.
“We’re looking to have diversity of property in Rockport,’’ he said. “We’d hate to see people who grew up here, or worked here, not be able to live here.’’
To preserve affordable housing stock, communities have turned to a variety of solutions, armed with regulations from Chapter 40T, passed into law in 2009, that provide procedures for owners considering selling their property – including notices to the local community starting two years before putting it on the market – and penalties for those who don’t.
“The passage of 40T was really a milestone goal’’ for preserving affordable housing in the state, said Deborah Goddard, chief counsel for the Department of Housing and Community Development. “I think we have a unique tool to put the value behind preservation.’’
Meanwhile, the Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation has created a database of information about the state’s 110 privately developed affordable-housing projects. The organization, which provides technical assistance, predevelopment lending, and consulting services, has facilitated communication and partnerships among those who have sought to preserve affordable housing.
“Vigilance alone won’t get it done,’’ said Roger Herzog, the organization’s executive director. “You need both vigilance and the ability to go and negotiate a new agreement with the owners.’’
Tina Cassidy, Beverly’s director of planning, said the city has worked to bring and maintain affordable housing at 11.14 percent.
An early example of a community trying to protect affordable housing stock came from Salem when the owner of the 10-story, 227-apartment Salem Heights complex decided to prepay its mortgage, with the intention of turning it into market-rate housing. The city went to court against the owner, and helped negotiated a 2003 deal that led to the property’s sale to the Preservation of Affordable Housing Inc., a Boston-based nonprofit, with an agreement to maintain affordable housing at Salem Heights for 100 years.
“I remember them being the first one around here,’’ said Cassidy, who since then has dealt with similar expiring-use issues at Apple Village and Fairweather Apartments, which between them have about 300 units. In the most recent case, Fairweather was also sold to Preservation of Affordable Housing.
“While we’ve come close to the bullet two times, we have not been shot,’’ said Cassidy, noting that Beverly continues to monitor its affordable housing projects.
The Pigeon Cove deal took 2 ½ years to complete, said Andrew DeFranza, executive director of Harborlight Community Partners, with the nonprofit receiving financial support from a variety of sources including Rockport’s Community Preservation Act program, the Rockport Housing Partnership, the North Shore HOME Consortium, and the federal Department of Agriculture. Including the purchase price, a planned rehabilitation, and other costs, the deal will cost $5 million, he said.
At one point, residents worried that Pigeon Cove might be redeveloped as market-rate condos, according to Louise Andersen, 91, who lives in a second-floor unit. When DeFranza told residents that the new owner would continue to operate as they had been, but rehab the building and install an elevator, Andersen was one of those residents who applauded

© 2012 NY Times Co.
URL: http://articles.boston.com/2011-12-29/news/30569679_1_affordable-housing-affordable-apartments-market-rate-housing

SourceBoston Globe

Selectmen Create Energy, Economic Advisory Committees

Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Selectmen Create Energy, Economic Advisory Committees
Both groups emerge after recommendations of the updated master plan
By George Morse
SEEKONK — An update of the town’s master plan has yet to be completed but a couple of its recommendations are already being implemented.
Last Wednesday night, Dec. 21, the board of selectmen voted to create an economic advisory committee and an energy committee. Each of the groups will include five members appointed by the board of selectmen on rotating, three year terms.
Currently, a few elements of the town’s master plan revision are in the works including land use, transportation and public facilities and services. Earlier this year, however, draft versions of the economic development and sustainable energy elements were released for public review.
Along with a set of goals, each element contains a set of recommendations. Both the economic development and sustainable energy elements recommended creating these committees as a way of achieving each area’s respective goals.
According to a posting on the town’s website, the purpose of the economic advisory committee is to “sustain economic development efforts from the town and serve as a liaison to the chamber of commerce.” Currently, Seekonk does not have its own chamber of commerce. Town planner John Hansen said one duty of the group will be to determine if Seekonk should pursue creating its own chamber or if membership in nearby groups centered in East Providence and Attleboro are sufficient.
Here is a rundown of the economic advisory committee’s complete duties:
• Create outreach materials for local businesses describing the costs and benefits of having a local chamber of commerce.
• Invite representatives from neighboring chambers of commerce to talk about their accomplishments to the Seekonk business community.
• Work with the BOS to have EAC members receive training in issues of economic development through the Massachusetts Economic Development Council (MEDC).
• Work with the planning board, in cooperation with the chamber of commerce and/or EAC, develop a marketing strategy for Seekonk that includes highlights of business-friendly approaches within the community for commercial and industrial districts.
• Develop a business outreach program that includes critical information in a variety of media such as web-based material, e-blast notifications, mass mailings, workshops, etc…
• Work with the BOS to identify a liaison within the EAC to the South Eastern Economic Development (SEED) agency in order to better connect Seekonk’s small business community with technical and financial support.
• Work with the BOS to present a written economic development strategy to the commonwealth that would help to leverage additional liquor licenses in the Route 6 area.
• Work with the planning board to research other models of development that are compatible with “large pad” sites including, but not limited to, Mashpee Commons, South County Commons, Patriot Place and Legacy Place.
• Communicate directly with property/industry owners to identify challenges to re-occupation, expansion or redevelopment in industrial districts.
• Work with the energy committee to continue to assess the feasibility for other non-retail uses of industrial lands including, but not limited to, renewable energy facilities.
• Work with the BOS to support the development of an industrial subcommittee within the EAC or chamber of commerce.
• Work with the planning board to identify areas within the community where the use of district improvement financing (DIF) could be used to leverage funding for necessary infrastructure upgrades.
• Identify a liaison to the Massachusetts Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation (CEDAC) to identify ways in which this organization can assist Seekonk with economic development and housing issues.
Meanwhile, the purpose of the energy committee is to “support various energy efficiency initiatives.” This group’s duties are as follows:
• Develop a public education and engagement campaign around energy efficiency and conservation.
• Sign up for the MassEnergyInsight program.
• Through the support of the energy committee, develop a municipal energy use baseline in MassEnergyInsight.
• Work with DPW to coordinate free energy audits at municipal buildings through the energy utilities.
• Work with the BOS to commit to reducing municipal energy use by 20 percent, and through the support of the energy committee, develop a Green Communities compliant energy reduction plan.
• Work with DPW to coordinate a street lighting audit with the electric utility, and consider conversion to LED lights.
• Develop a community energy use inventory and community-wide energy reduction strategy.
• Consider the implementation of a weatherization program.
• Provide education and outreach on energy efficiency and conservation, and promote energy audits.
• Consider implementation of a community energy efficiency competition or online rewards program in which residences are rewarded for energy savings.
• Continue to investigate opportunities (including appropriate locations as well as funding sources) to incorporate renewable energy on municipal buildings and lands.
• Provide education and outreach on renewable energy sources, and how home-owners and businesses can integrate these systems into their homes and businesses.
Mr. Hansen said the planning board is scheduled to review the three pending elements at a meeting in January. Following this, Mr. Hansen said the planning board will hold another meeting to review the entire master plan before taking a final vote to finish the project.
Mr. Hansen said he is excited to think about the future of the master plan with some of its recommendations already going into effect. He also said action at this point in the process is a “testament to the individuals” tasked as “responsible parties.”
“The planning board is pushing a lot of these concepts. The board of selectmen has bought into the idea as well, putting forward these two committees,” Mr. Hansen said.
“I’m excited to think about the future of this master plan now. It’s not going to sit there on the shelf and collect dust.”
Anyone interested in serving on either one of these new boards can contact the selectmen’s office at 336-2910.

© Copyright 2011 East Bay Newspapers
URL: http://www.eastbayri.com/news/2011/dec/27/selectmen-create-energy-economic-advisory-committee/#h13884-p1

SourceEast Bay Newspapers

More funding for housing

December 04, 2011

North
Somerville | BRIEFS

More funding for housing
By: Matt Byrne
A private-public community development agency has announced $700,000 in of new and increased loans that will fund the renovation of 31 affordable apartments and the construction of eight new units for homeless families in East Somerville. The Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation said $600,000 will go toward the construction of the new units, which will provide shelter for recently homeless families. The remaining $100,000 will help fund the refurbishment of the former Catholic parish site at Saint Polycarp Village, planned to house 31 one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments. The funding will be administered through the Somerville Community Corporation. “The city of Somerville is meeting the challenge of creating affordable housing even while it experiences positive growth,’’ Roger Herzog, executive director of the Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation, said in a prepared statement. “With these loan commitments, CEDAC is providing opportunities for quality affordable housing in the community. We’re happy to be assisting Somerville Community Corporation in their efforts to strengthen their neighborhoods.” The $100,000 boost to the Saint Polycarp project comes after an initial $5.2 million in financing to help the Somerville Community Corporation buy the 3.5-acre site in 2006. – Matt Byrne

© 2011 The New York Times Company
URL: http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/regionals/north/2011/12/04/more-funding-for-housing/uYyJN1OUiGwzAocLXNBHvK/story.htm

SourceBoston Globe

$700,000 in loans for affordable housing projects

November 30, 2011

5 Things to Know Today
By Chris Orchard

Local Connections
$700,000 in Affordable Housing Loans, and Safe Toys for Children
$700,000 in loans for affordable housing projects
The Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation announced last week $700,000 in loans for affordable housing projects in Somerville. The Somerville Community Corporation (SCC) received the loans, and most of the money will be used to build an eight-unit building in East Somerville that will provide permanent housing to formerly homeless households, according to an announcement from the Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation. Part of the loans will go toward the completion of Saint Polycarp Village Phase III, which will be home to 31 units of affordable housing. In October, the Somerville Community Corporation received subsidies and tax credits from the state for these projects.

Copyright © 2011 Patch.
URL: http://somerville.patch.com/articles/700-000-in-affordable-housing-loans-and-safe-toys-for-children

SourceSomerville Patch