Developers have finished work on Jackson Commons in Roxbury, making it the second building to be completed under the Jackson Square Redevelopment Master Plan.
Cambridge-based Prellwitz Chilinski Assoc. (PCA) worked closely with Urban Edge to design the renovation of Jackson Square’s 100 year-old Webb Manufacturing building, adding 37 mixed-income rental apartments as well as Urban Edge’s headquarters, a community learning center and retail space, all fully leased on opening day.
The Jackson Square Redevelopment Master Plan includes 360 units of housing and 80,000 square feet of retail, office space and community recreation facilities. Eight units are dedicated for homeless households, which will benefit from an on-site resource coordinator that will provide case management services to all building residents. Twenty-one units are dedicated for households below 60 percent of area median income (AMI), three below 80 percent AMI, and 5 below 110 percent AMI.
The Jackson Commons project is expected to receive a LEED Gold rating.
Tag: affordable housing
Walsh Announces $39M For Affordable Housing In Boston
Boston Mayor Martin Walsh yesterday announced nearly $39 million to support affordable housing developments in Boston.
The funding will create or preserve 1,194 housing units and is made possible through $27 million in federal and local resources through the Department of Neighborhood Development (DND) and $11.7 million in linkage funds through Boston’s Neighborhood Housing Trust.
The development budgets for all proposals will total over $614 million of public and private investment in Boston, with the city’s investment representing 6 percent of the total capital needed. Many of the proposals are seeking additional support from the state.
Plans for the funds include: leveraging more than $575 million in public and private investment in neighborhoods, creating an estimated 1,200 construction jobs and setting aside 196 units for homeless or extremely low-income families.
Housing projects to receive founding include the following:
• 28 Affordable Units at Waverly Abby in Allston-Brighton for single parents and transitional living opportunities for at-risk youth and families.
• 80 total units – including 26 affordable units – at Ropewalk, Frontier Enterprise Inc. in Charlestown. Plans include redeveloping two historic buildings located in the Charlestown Navy Yard. Four thousand square feet of museum space will also be created.
• 39 units – including 33 affordable units – at Harmon Apartments in Dorchester. All units will be handicapped accessible with specialized technology and services that will allow those with neurological disabilities to continue to live independently.
“It is imperative that we continue to support affordable housing in our neighborhoods, and this funding will help many of our families in need of safe housing stay in their homes,” Walsh said in a statement. “By investing in housing, we are supporting economic development and creating jobs that will revitalize Boston’s neighborhoods for future generations.”
Affordable Housing Advocates Excited, Wary As They Prepare For New Funding Source
Affordable housing advocates are gearing up to take advantage of a new source of funding, which they hope will be a long-term resource to help them build more housing for people with disabilities and extremely low incomes. But much work needs to be done by the agencies to prepare solid projects to be ready to go when funds become available, policy wonks warned today at a forum hosted by the Citizens Housing and Planning Association.
The federal Low Income Housing Trust Fund was created as part of the 2008 economic reforms; under the law, a small portion of the fees generated by the sale of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgages is to be put into the trust and distributed to each of the 50 states as a block grant. The creation of the trust fund was temporarily put on hold while Fannie and Freddie were getting back on their feet, but Mel Watt, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, authorized the launch of the program last year and the first grants are anticipated to be handed out next summer.
“My major message is, go buy a house with a conventional mortgage this year so you can up the funds available [from Fannie and Freddie] for the trust fund. You’ll be doing a service,” joked Shelia Crowley, president and CEO of the National Low Income Housing Coalition, a longtime advocate for the trust fund.
The vast majority of the funds are to be used to help create and operate rental housing for poor households and those with disabilities. Creating new housing for extremely low income households (those whose incomes are 20 percent or less of local median incomes) is an important priority for the agencies but had often proved a difficult goal to meet, since the gap between average rents in most area and what such households can afford is substantial. The Low Income Housing Trust Fund could be a crucial resource in meeting the goal, Crowley advised, since it is meant to be a permanent source of funds that won’t face the threat of cuts every year in the federal budget process, unlike most HUD programs.
“The process of getting federal funding for low-income housing is fundamentally broken because the appropriations process is broken. The best we’re going to do is prevent further loss,” said Crowley. “If we’re going to make any strides, we’re going to have to think outside the box.”
Crowley warned that having solid projects ready to go in the first year of the program will be crucial to ensuring its long-term success, since many in Congress are already skeptical of it. But, she said, the trust fund grants, especially in the beginning, will likely not be sufficient to fund large-scale projects on their own.
“We need to be thinking about how you all who know how to do housing development can come up with new and creative models to do this … the trust fund [should be] the flexible funds to bring those deals together,” she said.
Based on the coalition’s calculations, Massachusetts would be likely to receive about $13 million per year from the trust fund once the program is fully in gear. However, grants for the first year will almost certainly be less than half that. Final figures will not be available until early next year, since the amount of funding available will depend on the amount of fees generated by Fannie and Freddie in 2015.
States have wide latitude to use different programs to meet that goal. James Yates, senior associate at the Technical Assistance Collaborative, a nonprofit that analyzes housing policy, pointed to pilot programs in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Maryland and Illinois as potential models for how to fund rental housing for extremely low income households and permanent supportive housing for people with disabilities. North Carolina, for example, established its own long-term capital fund to meet this goal, which was initially capitalized with about ten year’s worth of funding. This created a cushion to enable projects to go forward even if the state reduced that year’s funding, Yates said. Illinois and Maryland have worked in partnership with a private philanthropy, the Weinberg Foundation, to help create long-term capital funds of about $100,000 to $125,000 per unit, enabling the housing agencies to fund the subsidies necessary for the housing for 30 years.
But existing state programs can only provide limited guidance on how to use the trust fund money, Yates warned, since creating more such housing has proven so difficult relatively few attempts have been made. “The [extremely low income] challenge is pretty daunting for states. Vouchers can’t really meet that need,” Yates said. “Using trust dollars, using a variety of sources, to meet that need is something we encourage.”
In Massachusetts, the funds will be administered by the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD). Put on the spot by a question from the audience, Associate Director for the DHCD Kate Racer said that the agency had not yet come up with a formal plan for how it wants to allocate any trust funds it receives since the project has been held up so long with red tape.
“We’ve been talking about it a long time but have been waiting for it to get a lot more real,” she said, explaining that DHCD Director Crystal Kournegay will almost certainly invite various affordable housing groups to meet with the agency to offer their ideas for the funds, and the department also plans to consult with other states to see how they’re using the money. Many of DHCD’s existing programs would also be eligible to be supplemented with the funds, also. But Kournegay has made clear that she’s very much in favor of using some of the trust fund money for supportive housing.
MassHousing, Dept. Of Housing And Community Development Award $13M To Affordable Housing Projects
MassHousing and the state Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) have closed on $13 million in Affordable Housing Trust Fund (AHTF) loans for affordable housing in six communities.
The AHTF financing will help create or preserve the affordability 670 rental apartments at 10 properties in Boston, Williamstown, Roxbury, Lowell, Springfield, Haverhill and Falmouth. The recipients include the following projects:
• $1.9 million for the 145 unit-RTH-Riverview development in Boston’s Longwood Medical Area. Roxbury Tenants of Harvard is building 60 units of affordable, rental housing for families and 85 homeownership condominiums, 43 of which will be affordable. The building will also include a 9,000-square-foot day care center on the first floor. DHCD is also providing $5 million from its housing finance programs.
• $1 million for the 40-unit Highland Woods in Williamstown. Berkshire Fund Inc. is building the units for seniors on land leased from Williams College. DHCD is providing $1.6 million from its housing finance programs.
• $1.7 million for the 102-unit Harrison Tower in Roxbury. Trinity Financial Inc. is refinancing and substantially rehabilitating the 40-year-old, 12-story building which is under long-term lease from the Boston Public Health Commission. DHCD is providing $1.7 million from its housing finance programs.
“The new wave of financing provided by the AHTF delivers a multi-faceted, multi-generational development approach that will facilitate revitalization in a wide range of communities for years to come,” Chrystal Kornegay, undersecretary for Housing and Community Development, said in a statement.
AHTF 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. They are used primarily to support private housing projects that provide for the acquisition, construction or preservation of affordable housing. MassHousing and the Department of Housing and Community Development jointly administer the AHTF.
Webster apartment developer ready to hand over senior center
The developer converting a former school into apartments for people 55 and older and a senior center will hand over the senior center to the town Wednesday for $1 per year for 40 years, a town official said.
Completed by Neighborhood of Affordable Housing of East Boston, the senior center is situated in the former gymnasium of the Sitkowski School at 29 Negus St. The former school is being converted into 66 units of affordable housing for adults age 55 and older.
The overall project is 99 percent complete, and Sitkowski School Apartments, which has 59 one-bedroom units and seven two-bedroom units with 12 different layouts, had 13 approved applications for move-ins as of late last week, town director of community development Carol Cyr said.
Building Inspector Theodore Tetreault III said the 85,000-square-foot building is about three weeks away from being issued a certificate of occupancy.
The contractor, Dellbrook Construction of Quincy, continues to work on walkways at the rear and side of the building, said Mr. Tetreault, who has issued a temporary occupancy permit.
After years of planning, the town selected Neighborhood of Affordable Housing to carry out the adaptive reuse project. Neighborhood of Affordable Housing made an $18.2 million investment, Ms. Cyr said.
The senior center, which has a 5,740-square-foot garden level and a 3,590-square-foot mezzanine, cost $1.2 million, she said.
Deborah Keefe, a former selectman credited by many for her continual behind-the-scenes work on the project, said the lease agreement for the senior center is for 40 years instead of 99 years because of banking restrictions.
Ms. Cyr said the financial and legal structures of the project were “an education beyond belief.”
Easements had to be given to Neighborhood of Affordable Housing, with the building connected to Town Hall.
The building served as both a high school and middle school and has been vacant since 2005. Ms. Keefe said she went to high school in the downtown building.
Dellbrook’s work over 13 months consisted of a substantial renovation to preserve original woodwork and repair and restore original wood floors. Each floor of the apartment building has a large communal lounge and laundry.
The project proponents will also seek a Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design silver certification.
In addition to the floors, the apartment building and its common areas will have original school closets, stairs, railings and subway tiles. Original portions of the bleachers were stripped, stained and restored for decorative features in both the center and apartment building.
Assessor Marc Becker said Neighborhood of Affordable Housing paid the town $150,000 for the building on Jan. 14.
It’s too early, he said, to estimate what the town would receive in residential property taxes from the project, given the various funding sources.
No one under 55 can live in the building, even if a spouse is, say 53, or if the registered occupant is taking care of his or her children or grandchildren.
Ms. Cyr said, “This isn’t really a good area for family housing. They have no place to go out and play. So this isn’t what we wanted here.”
Ms. Keefe credited the Redevelopment Authority for offering its services many years ago to see what could be done with the building.
Officials had considered using the school for municipal offices, but the costs for building it out for that purpose were too prohibitive, Ms. Keefe said.
At the time, selectmen gave the directive that the building should not be used for low-income housing, because the town has enough of it, and the board had a vision to enhance the downtown, she said.
Ms. Cyr said her office began putting together a request for proposals in March 2008, and after a year of organizing, opened bids in January 2009.
According to Ms. Keefe, the town received five “very good” proposals, but the review committee chose Neighborhood of Affordable Housing’s because the developer did the homework, visited the town and interviewed people.
“We wanted to see something done for the town in this building,” she said. “They bought onto that 100 percent.”
Ms. Cyr said, “We didn’t go for the best price on the building. We went for the best use for the town in the future.”
Ms. Cyr said Neighborhood of Affordable Housing had a leg up on other bidders because it was not looking for tax relief, while other bidders wanted tax increment financing or some sort of a buy-back.
Ms. Keefe said the town probably won’t hold an open house for the center until summer, because it still needs to outfit the center.
She said she hopes voters at the annual town meeting will designate about $120,000 from available money for furniture for the center.
“We don’t want to open the doors with no tables, chairs, lamps, office furniture,” she said.
The senior center has space designated for a health office, with the hope of contracting for the services of a podiatrist for seniors’ foot-care needs, as well as a small salon offering limited services to tap into the new market of residents.
Long term, the senior center, which has showers, is also set up to be an evacuation center.
“We need to talk about generators but that won’t happen right away,” Ms. Keefe said.
Meanwhile, Neighborhood of Affordable Housing’s goal is to finish the outside grounds by May 1, if weather allows.
All exterior features will be maintained or enhanced with the addition of new parking areas, landscape and streetscape improvements, according to the project description.
The project funding sources are: MassHousing ($1.75 million for permanent loan, $8.1 million for bridge loan, $2,006,047 for deferred payment loan and $1 million for affordable housing trust fund), Massachusetts Housing Investment Corp. ($6,078,013 for Federal LIHTC equity and $3,290,950 for federal historic tax credit equity), MAPFRE/Commerce ($1,691,000 for state historic tax credit equity), Selective Insurance ($2.7 million for State LIHTC equity), RBS Citizens ($10.1 million for construction loan), state Office of Housing and the Department of Housing and Community Development ($715,000 for HOME and $1 million for HSF) and Neighborhood of Affordable Housing ($355,173 for deferred fee).
WinnResidential, an arm of WinnCompanies, is managing the apartment building.
Boston Capital Invests in Veterans Development
Boston Capital is investing nearly $4 million in the construction of Patriot Homes, a 24-unit apartment community for individuals and families, with a preference for veterans in Boston.
Patriot Homes will feature two buildings, including the rehabilitation and adaptive reuse of a two-story former police sub-station and a new three-story building. Development amenities will include a community room with a kitchen and a common laundry.
The project is being developed by Caritas Communities and South Boston Neighborhood Development Corp.
Boston Capital is providing equity through the low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) program. The homes will be available to veterans, individuals and families earning no more than 60% of the area median income.
“Residents will benefit from the development’s location near the growing Seaport district and its close proximity to downtown Boston,” said Jack Manning, president and CEO of Boston Capital, a LIHTC syndicator and real estate investment and advisory firm.
The construction of Patriot Homes will generate nearly $2.6 million in local salaries and create nearly 30 new jobs in the Boston area. To date, Boston Capital has invested in more than 3,800 affordable apartments in Massachusetts.
MassDev. Awards $95M To Fund Six Boston Affordable Housing Projects
MassDevelopment has issued more than $95 million in tax-exempt bonds to six affordable housing development projects in Boston.
The bonds were issued on behalf of UW4 Limited Partnership, Trinity Northampton Phase Two Limited Partnership, Mandela Preservation LLC, Madison Botolph II Limited Partnership, Caritas Project Place Cortes LLC and Walnut Washington Apartments LLC. In total, the six projects will add 35 affordable units and preserve 533 existing affordable units in Boston’s housing supply. The projects include the following:
• UW4 Limited Partnership, sponsored by VietAID, received $7.7 million in bond proceeds to construct a 35-unit affordable multifamily rental housing development in the Four Corners section of Dorchester, that offers community space, outdoor sitting and play areas. All 35 units will be rented to households earning no more than 60 percent of the area median income, and nine units will be set aside for homeless families. Federal low income housing tax credits provided approximately $5.4 million in equity for the project.
• Trinity Northampton Phase Two Limited Partnership, sponsored by Trinity Financial, will use $18 million in bond proceeds to acquire and renovate Harrison Tower, a 102-unit, 12-story rental housing facility in the South End. All 102 units will be affordable to households earning no more than 60 percent and 70 percent of the area median income, seven units will be retrofitted to be fully handicapped-accessible and 13 units will be available to clients from the Boston Public Health Commission’s Homeless Bureau. Federal low income housing tax credits provided approximately $11 million in equity for the project.
• Mandela Preservation LLC, sponsored by Beacon Communities, received $40 million to acquire and renovate Mandela Homes, a 276-unit apartment community in the South End that features a computer learning center and conference space. All 276 apartments are affordable. Federal low income housing tax credits provided approximately $20 million in equity for the project.
• Madison Botolph II Limited Partnership, sponsored by Madison Park Development Corp., received $14.5 million in bond proceeds to acquire and renovate St. Botolph Terrace, a 52-unit multifamily rental housing complex in Back Bay. Fifty units will be rented to households earning no more than 60 percent of the area median income. Federal low income housing tax credits provided approximately $6.9 million in equity for the project.
• Caritas Project Place Cortes LLC, sponsored by Caritas Communities, used $5.25 million in bond proceeds to acquire and renovate a licensed lodging house located on Cortes Street, converting it into a 40-unit affordable housing development plus a unit for the building manager. All of the newly reconfigured rental units will be rented to households earning no more than 50 percent of the area median income. Federal low income housing tax credits provided approximately $3.6 million in equity for the project.
• Walnut Washington Apartments LLC, sponsored by Urban Edge, received $10.1 million in bond proceeds to acquire, renovate and preserve Walnut Washington Apartments, a 65-unit multifamily rental housing facility located in Roxbury and Jamaica Plain. All 65 units will be affordable. Federal low income housing tax credits provided approximately $6.1 million in equity for the project.
MassDevelopment also assisted the Department of Housing and Community Development with the approval of federal low-income housing tax credits totaling $53 million in equity for the projects.
“The development and preservation of 568 affordable housing units will help maintain and expand supply in Boston’s housing market,” MassDevelopment President and CEO Marty Jones said in a statement. “MassDevelopment is thrilled to work with local developers to offer a range of affordable housing options to Bostonians.”
MHNHS received funds for Parcel 25 project
The Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation (CEDAC) recently approved a $200,000 loan to the Mission Hill Neighborhood Housing Services (MHNHS) for its transit-oriented project at Parcel 25, according to a press release.
“Well-located community development projects make it easier for residents to commute to work and get around the city, which helps them to improve their quality of life and improve access to education, employment and other opportunities,” said CEDAC’s executive director Roger Herzog, according to the press release.
CEDAC is a private-public community development finance institution.
MHNHS plans a mixed-use redevelopment for Parcel 25, which is bordered by Tremont, Gurney and Station streets, across from the Roxbury Crossing MBTA Station. The former T-owned property is now vacant.
The 305,750-square-foot project will be done in three phases, and once completed, include 88 housing units, 10,000 square feet of retail space, 196,500 square feet of office space and 1,250 square feet of community space. The project will also have 201 surface and below-ground parking spaces.
Phase 1 of the project will have 40 units of affordable housing, four retail stores, community space and office and training space for two non-profits serving youth and families.
Parcel 25 is being developed along with Parcel 29, which is located across Gurney Street and will be the site of a senior home. Parcels 25 and 29 have been vacant since the 1960s, when the government proposed to extend I-95 through the area and began buying up and demolishing houses before community organizers halted the expansion.
Northampton City Council Approves $300,000 Community Preservation Act grant for Pleasant Street affo
The largest affordable housing project to be proposed in the city in years cleared a key hurdle Thursday night when the City Council approved a Community Preservation Act grant.
Some 25 people, including two former mayors, urged councilors to get behind a project that they believe will fill a critical need of providing homes for low-income families.
“We have a unique opportunity that we have not seen for a long, long time,” City Council President William H. Dwight said.
The Valley Community Development Corp. intends to develop a four-story, 69,700-square-foot building at the old Northampton Lumber site at the corner of Pleasant and Holyoke streets. The building would include 55 units of affordable housing in varying sizes and 5,300 square feet of retail space on the first floor.
While the $300,000 CPA grant will fund only a tiny portion of the $20 million development, the money is critical because it will be used to leverage low-income tax credits from the state. Being able to show community support for a project is a key part of securing those credits, CDC officials have said. The project has already won site plan approval from the Planning Board and a permit from the Central Business Architectural Committee.
The CPA grant allocation passed by a 7-1 vote, with Maureen T. Carney of Ward 1casting the dissenting vote and Ward 5 City Councilor David A. Murphy abstaining.
Similar to others who have spoken out against the plan, Carney said she supports affordable housing but hesitated to support a project that still faces significant opposition, specifically on the question of whether it is in harmony with the size and scale of other buildings in the area. She said she was disappointed that abutters were not brought into the discussion by the CDC earlier in the process, and she believes the project needs more scrutiny. Additionally, Carney said, the Planning Board’s decision has been appealed and she wants to wait until that is resolved before voting on the CPA money.
CDC Executive Director Joanne Campbell, who hugged many supporters after the vote, said earlier in the evening while waiting for the start of a rally for the project that she appreciated the community support. The American Friends Service Committee-led rally on the steps of City Hall drew few people because of cold weather, but many of those supporters showed up to speak at the council’s public comment session.
Jeff Napolitano, director of the American Friends, said Northampton is perceived as a progressive city when it comes to issues beyond its borders, but he urged the council to change that perception closer to home by approving the CDC project.
“The benefits of the project clearly outweigh the criticisms,” Napolitano said.
All of the councilors and the few who voiced opposition to the project during the public comment session agreed that affordable housing is a good thing for the city. Marianne L. LaBarge of Ward 6, in a five-minute speech, said she spent most of the last five weeks studying the issue and had come to the conclusion that the project should move ahead.
“We desperately need more places for ordinary people to live in our town,” LaBarge said.
In her comments, LaBarge said she respects the opinions of those who spoke against the project and did not believe they were against affordable housing, but she did not share many of their concerns about the building’s size, whether it blended into the rest of the neighborhood and its design. She noted that the building would be no bigger than other downtown buildings and would be smaller in size than another affordable housing project proposed by HAP Housing across the street.
LaBarge also noted that the project would actually increase the open space at the site, though she would like to see a larger playground area for children.
Many residents spoke of the need for affordable housing, noting that the need has only increased in the last few decades.
Sharon Moulton, of 48 Evergreen Road, said the lack of affordable housing in the city has been a concern she’s had since she helped found a local Habitat for Humanity chapter in the late 1980s. “The need is only more today than it was then,” she said.
Others noted that the city is woefully short when it comes to CPA funding for affordable housing projects, with Jennifer Dieringer, of North Street, noting that about 16 percent of total CPA dollars has gone to such purposes. That compares to 28 percent for historical and open space preservation and 26 percent for recreation.
“I believe tonight is one of the moments that will define your time on the council,” she said.
Former mayors Clare Higgins and Mary Ford also spoke in support of the project.
City Council Vice President Jesse M. Adams and other councilors who supported the measure said they agreed with most of what the public said. He noted that the city’s housing stock includes 12 percent affordable units, which is slightly higher than the minimum required by the state. But he said that’s not enough, especially given that many housing developments that are affordable now will not stay that way in perpetuity, like the Valley CDC’s project will.
“More affordable housing should be a continued goal,” Adams said.
Adams was responding to comments made by James “JP” Kwiecinski, who expressed several concerns with the project. Kwiecinski, an Easthampton city councilor who owns property on Pleasant Street near the project, noted that Northampton is doing a good job when it comes to development of affordable housing, and that it did not need to rush this project through. He said it did not fit into the neighborhood and lacked enough parking.
“I believe in good affordable housing projects but I don’t believe this is a good plan,” he said.
Nonprofit hopes to boost Salem’s Point neighborhood
A regional nonprofit has significantly expanded its ownership of affordable housing in Salem’s Point neighborhood through a flurry of recent acquisitions.
Since last July, the North Shore Community Development Coalition purchased 10 buildings encompassing 84 housing units, including eight buildings acquired last month. The Salem-based group now owns 247 affordable rental units in the Point, a neighborhood off Lafayette Street that the group is working with the city to revitalize.
As in all of North Shore’s purchases, deed restrictions will preserve the affordability of the 84 units, which the group purchased for $7.2 million.
The group is also stepping up its upgrading of properties, with plans to complete next month $7 million in renovations to 77 apartments it has owned since the 1990s on scattered sites on Peabody, Ward, and Harbor streets.
And in the next few years, the nonprofit plans major improvements to another 151 units. Those include 80 of the 84 units it recently purchased, according to Mickey Northcutt, the coalition’s CEO.
“We want to invest in the neighborhood to improve the quality of life not only for the residents in the properties we own, but for the neighborhood as a whole,” he said, noting that the group’s recent renovations have already begun spurring other residents to upgrade their homes.
Funding for the new acquisitions came from the Community Economic Development Assistance Corp., or CEDAC; the Local Initiative Support Corp.; the Boston Community Loan Fund; the Property and Casualty Initiative; and Salem, through its Community Preservation Act funds and federal block grants.
The coalition plans to use those sources for the estimated $23.2 million in future renovations, coupled with anticipated tax-exempt bonds and state and federal historic-tax credits. The tax credits are available because of the Point’s recent inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places.
CEDAC provided a $1 million loan to finance the coalition’s acquisition in October of a 17-unit studio apartment building on Harbor Street. CEDAC also approved a $100,000 pre-development loan to help North Shore renovate that building and a 10-unit building on Lafayette Street.
Sixteen of the 27 units will be for homeless young adults and four units for clients of the Department of Mental Health, with North Shore providing support services.
“The Harbor-Lafayette project is a good example of a community development organization working hand-in-hand with state agencies to provide solutions for homeless youth,” Roger Herzog, CEDAC’s executive director, said in a prepared statement.
The other acquisitions include a four-unit building the coalition purchased in July that it will turn into town houses; five buildings with 29 units acquired Dec. 5; and 35 units in three buildings bought Dec. 29.