Tag: affordable housing

Rent aid ending, Fenway tenants fret: Advocates for poor see affordability crisis

Rent aid ending, Fenway tenants fret
Advocates for poor see affordability crisis
By Meghan E. Irons, Globe Staff
Richard Webster lives steps away from a Whole Foods Market, the train station, and the hospital, where he goes for checkups.
He is one of a few of East Fenway’s low-income residents who had found a haven at Burbank Apartments, an island of government-subsidized housing in the neighborhood for 40 years.
But in April his landlords ended their rent subsidy agreement with the federal government, dealing Webster and other tenants a blow. Rents have since climbed to $1,150 for a studio to $2,400 for a two-bedroom. And now Webster, disabled and on a fixed income, wonders whether he can continue to stay there.
“I may have to move out,’’ he said.
The end of rent subsidies at the 171 apartments in East Fenway has touched a nerve among tenants over the neighborhood’s affordable housing stock, triggering protests, city intervention, and a lawsuit seeking to keep subsidized units at Burbank. And it is highlighting what some say is an affordable housing crisis playing out across the state as private developers end their federally subsidized mortgages with the government.
“This is a huge problem,’’ said Kathy Brown, a coordinator with the Boston Tenants Coalition. “There is such a shortage of affordable housing. And the thought of losing more units — units that were there just months ago — is very concerning.’’
The Burbank landlords, William and Robert Kargman, said through a spokesman that while they are no longer offering Section 8 housing at the property, they have offered tenants federal “enhanced vouchers’’ so they can continue to stay there or use them elsewhere if they move. Tenants must meet income rules to qualify, and their rents would be government-subsidized.
“Anyone in the building is encouraged to stay,’’ said David Ball, spokesman for the Kargmans, who own First Realty Management Corp.
But Fenway tenants and housing advocates worry about the affordability of the apartments once tenants leave. They contend that as tenants move out, those units will be rented at market rate, far out of reach for the elderly, disabled, or low-income families who had relied on affordability at Burbank.
The Kargman family, the premier developer of affordable housing in the state, was among dozens of private developers who participated in a federal 40-year program that offered low interest rates — 1 percent to 3 percent — in exchange for providing Section 8 and low- and moderate-income housing.
But those deals are expiring. And as a result, Massachusetts could lose 10,000 affordable housing units over the next decade, according to a study released in March by the Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation, which tracks the mortgages.
While tenants acknowledge the Kargmans are not legally obligated to continue affordable housing, they argue that the withdrawal from rent subsidy in the Fenway is a violation of the Massachusetts discrimination laws. The move unfairly affects families with children and families of color, as well as the elderly and disabled, the suit added.
But Ball said that the Kargmans have gone “above and beyond’’ to accommodate Burbank renters, and that the brunt of Fenway’s housing burdens should not be placed on one developer.
“The Kargmans have fulfilled the terms of their 40-year agreement with the federal government,’’ said Ball. “They’ve gone out and secured the enhanced vouchers to keep people in the building to continue to stay there… . What else is expected from someone who has met those obligations? What more can they possibly do?’’
Fenway residents and city officials say the Kargmans pose a particular challenge, and not just in the Fenway. Of the 1,081 affordable housing units the city has lost in the past five years, 1,069 belong to the Kargmans, said Sheila Dillon, the mayor’s housing adviser.
Ball disputes the city’s figures, saying the Kargmans eliminated 518 rent-subsidized apartments at developments in East Boston and Roslindale. Three other developments have gone market-rate. Burbank Apartments represents nearly 7 percent of Fenway’s affordable housing stock, city officials and advocates for the poor say. They worry that depletions of subsidized units in the neighborhood will ultimately lead to higher-end tenants moving in and lower-income renters being driven to poorer parts of the city.
“If you are poor and/or working class in this area, you are going to be priced out and move further into the city until you are priced out and move out of the city,’’ said City Councilor Michael Ross, who represents the Fenway.
They also contend that the vouchers offer no guarantees to tenants, who could be forced to leave if their income or household changes.
“The Kargman family has had a history of providing affordable housing and that is positive,’’ said Sarah Horsley, an advocate with the Fenway Community Development Corporation, a plaintiff in the lawsuit. “But their decisions and choices are having a huge impact on low- and moderate- [income] people in Boston … and where they can afford to live.’’
Dillon said the mayor has pressed to keep affordable housing in all of Boston’s neighborhoods. And while the city has worked to preserve such apartments throughout the city, she said it is particularly troubling when affordability is lost in wealthier communities.
“When we lose affordable housing in high-income neighborhood areas, it is very hard to replace those units,’’ said Dillon. “It means our neighborhoods aren’t as rich and diverse as they need to be.’’
In March, the tenants filed for a court injunction to block the Kargmans from ending rent subsidy. They lost their bid for an injunction, but their lawsuit is going forward.
The lawsuit names seven plaintiffs, including En Ci Guan, who makes $8 an hour at a restaurant. Guan pays 30 percent of her income in rent, the suit said, but she fears that with the end of rent subsidy at Burbank she will have to pay more.
Webster, who has a rent voucher, never thought he would have to leave Burbank. In his 25 years there, he’s seen more students move in and more of his disabled friends leave. The neighborhood, he adds, is in high demand.
“I have no problems with the students,’’ Webster said. “But what about the rest of us?’’
Meghan Irons can be reached at mirons@globe.com.

© 2011 NY Times Co.
URL: http://articles.boston.com/2011-05-09/news/29525727_1_affordable-housing-tenants-and-housing-advocates-rent-subsidy

SourceBoston Globe

HOME Program 20th Anniversary Door Knocker Awards

SourceHUD

A New Model Deal: ‘0ld Law’ Section 202 Preserved Creatively

SourceTax Credit Advisor April 2011, Volume XXIII, No. 4

Amherst’s Olympia Oaks affordable housing project receives needed design work loan

Amherst’s Olympia Oaks affordable housing project receives needed design work loan
By Diane Lederman, The Republican

AMHERST – While plans to build to a 42-unit affordable housing project are before the Zoning Board of Appeals, the agency developing the project recently received a loan that will help it proceed with development work that will help lead to additional funding.

The Boston-based Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation awarded the Olympia Oaks project a loan of $95,500. HAPHousing, the Springfield-based nonprofit housing assistance agency, is working with the Northampton-based Valley Community Development Corp. on the project.

The community development finance company provides technical assistance, pre-development lending and consulting services to non-profit organizations involved in housing developments, among other projects.

Olympia Oaks on Olympia Drive is intended to provide affordable rents for people who earn 60 percent of the area’s median income.

HAP is currently seeking a comprehensive permit for the project from the Zoning Board of Appeals. The next hearing date is Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in Town Hall.

Rudy Perkins, HAP project manager and staff attorney, said the loan allows HAP to continue with design work that will enable the agency to apply for funding for the project. “It gets us in a position where we can go forward,” he said. He said the town has been very generous with the pre-development work, but the money is not endless.

The town, which has continued to support the project, has contributed community block grant and community preservation money, including $340,000 in pre-development costs.

HAP will be able to apply for tax credits that would contribute a good portion of the projected $9 million to $10 million project cost. If approved, the project could begin in the spring of 2012, and some units could be ready at the end of 2012, Perkins said earlier this year. Most likely, the units would be ready in 2013.

The town took the 27-acre site, 13.5 acres of which is suitable for housing, in the late 1980s by eminent domain and had planned to develop a project in conjunction with the University of Massachusetts, which owns land nearby. UMass decided not to proceed, so in 2004 the town secured a $50,000 appropriation to prepare for development

SourceThe Republican (MassLive.com)

Housing project awarded $95K

Housing project awarded $95K
By Scott Merzbach
Staff Writer
A 42-unit affordable housing project planned on town land off East Pleasant Street is being provided $95,000 to cover some of the predevelopment costs.
The Community Economic Development Assistance Corp., a state community development finance institution, announced Tuesday that Olympia Oaks, a joint project of HAPHousing Inc. and Valley Community Development Corp., is one of two recipients of money. The other is Winter Gardens, a project in Quincy, which is getting $175,000 in loan funds.
“Projects such as Olympia Oaks and Winter Gardens are important because they ensure that residents in those communities have access to quality affordable housing,” said Roger Herzog, executive director of CEDAC, in a statement. “These funds allow each of them to take another step closer to construction.”
Construction costs are expected to be around $7 million, and when infrastructure is added in, the total project cost will be $10 million.
Together, the Olympia Oaks and Winter Gardens projects will provide an additional 66 units of affordable housing for residents in the state.
HAP is seeking a comprehensive permit from the Amherst Zoning Board of Appeals under the state’s Chapter 40B affordable housing law. The nonprofit agency has entered a 99-year ground lease with the town to use a portion of the 27-acre property for constructing the rental units, which will be for both families and individuals.

Amherst Bulletin. Copyright © 2007
Hyperlink: http://www.amherstbulletin.com/story/id/202925/

SourceAmherst Bulletin

New loans help Quincy affordable-housing project gain momentum

New loans help Quincy affordable-housing project gain momentum
By Jessica Bartlett, Town Correspondent
QUINCY – Quincy’s Winter Garden development will receive an additional $175,000 in loans from the Community Economic Development Assistance Corp. to help in the pre-development stage of the affordable-housing project – a crucial step to getting it off the ground.
Winter Gardens, a 24-unit affordable-housing project run by the Neighborhood Housing Services of the South Shore, has already received $25,000 from CEDAC in addition to substantial funding from the state and federal governments.
This additional funding will not only solidify the project, said Roger Herzog, executive director of CEDAC, but provide much needed services and jobs to the community.
“We are pleased to be providing additional affordable-housing options and to work with non-profit community-based developers that have identified the needs of their neighborhoods and are addressing them,” said Herzog. “When you consider the additional long-term positive impacts of these developments, such as job creation and economic development, it is clear that these types of projects go beyond just housing — they help to strengthen the entire community.”
The development will be located near the Quincy Shipyard, on land where a dilapidated single-family home now sits. Soon to take its place will be the two-dozen affordable rental homes, a project that Herzog says will shape the community.
“Projects such as … Winter Gardens are important because they ensure that residents in those communities have access to quality affordable housing,” he said.
CEDAC is a unique service for non-profits, said Robert Corley, the executive director of the Neighborhood Housing Services of the South Shore, and loans like this will enable the project to get on its feet.
“It provides us financing to put everything in place before we start construction, and when we close on our financing, it will be repaid in full. But it’s a unique resource for non-profits, as there aren’t a lot of people who will lend you money in the pre-development phases,” Corley said.
According to Corley, the money will be used for architectural drawings and engineering, though the money can be used for any pre-development purpose.
In addition to the Winter Gardens development, Neighborhood Housing is also working on building a single-family home for returning disabled veteran families.
“To have a fully accessible single-family home in the Quincy neighborhood is something we’re working on now. There aren’t a lot of single-family homes handicap-accessible…but as far as our larger developments, Winter Gardens is it for right now,” Corley said.
Neighborhood Housing hopes to begin construction on the rent-controlled units by July, with completion slated for July of the following year.
In addition to providing $175,000 to Winter Gardens, CEDAC will also provide $95,500 in funding to Olympia Oaks affordable housing development in Amherst to assist in the pre-development stage of construction.
A public-private company, CEDAC provides community development financing to non-profit organizations throughout the state.

© 2011 NY Times Co.
Hyperlink: http://www.boston.com/yourtown/news/quincy/2011/03/cedac_helps_quincy_affordable.html

SourceBoston Globe

Affordable Housing Fights Loom As Some Units Near Expiration Date

Expiring Use

Affordable Housing Fights Loom As Some Units Near Expiration Date
How The So-Called ‘40-Year Problem’ Is Creating Big Headaches Today
By Colleen M. Sullivan, Banker & Tradesman Staff Writer
A fight in Boston’s Fenway neighborhood to preserve the affordability of a local apartment block may only be the opening round in a statewide war between landlords and tenants over thousands of affordable housing units set to have their subsidies expire in the next few years.
The Burbank Apartments on Haviland Street in the Fenway make up 173 of the more than 29,000 Massachusetts units affected by the so-called “40-year problem.” Beginning in the 1960s, the federal government offered developers cheaper mortgages if they agreed to ensure apartments built using the funds were offered at below-market rates for the duration of the mortgage – usually 40 years.
Most of the Massachusetts properties developed using the subsidies were built between 1972 and 1976, and will pay off their mortgages within the next few years, leaving it up to owners to decide whether to continue to maintain affordable units or convert apartments to prevailing market rates. A new report by the Community Economic Development Assistance Corp. (CEDAC), a quasi-state agency monitoring affordable housing in Massachusetts, suggests many landlords are willing to take that leap – potentially eliminating as many as 10,000 affordable units in the course of just a few years.
“We’re always concerned about this issue, because it’s so hard to replace affordable units, especially in high-cost neighborhoods,” said Shelia Dillon, housing advisor to Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino. “Those opportunities just don’t come along again.”
Project Vs. Tenant-Based
The roughly 29,000 properties affected by the 40-year problem represent about one-third of the state’s existing affordable units. The problem threatens to lower the ratio of affordable to market-rate properties in cities and towns across the state, an important benchmark in determining whether developers may bypass local zoning ordinances when constructing housing under Chapter 40B, a state statute meant to encourage new affordable housing development.
Starting in the 1990s – when many of the affected property owners became eligible to pre-pay mortgages and leave the program – Congress authorized HUD to create a number of new subsidies allowing landlords to receive market-rate rents while also maintaining affordability.
These programs were initially successful in convincing landlords to keep the units affordable. But that may be changing.
“After the HUD changes, we went through a period of about 10 years where we were losing very, very few [affordable units]. People had a false sense of complacency, I think, that that period of almost negligible lost units would continue,” said Bill Brauner, housing preservation program manager for CEDAC. “But we’re in a different world now, and the indications from the Year 40 report is that we are looking at a greater number of lost units if significant changes aren’t made.”
Central to the problem has been a federal shift in emphasis from “project-based” subsidies –which require a particular apartment to be subsidized for a period of time – to “tenant-based” subsidies, which allocate subsidies, often in the form of vouchers, to individuals based on income and other factors. While some project-based subsidies are still available, tenants of landlords who elect to opt out of a HUD program usually receive vouchers. Such vouchers have been secured for the Burbank apartments.
“In the process of converting this property from a subsidized to a market-rate development, the company has secured HUD enhanced vouchers for every unit,” David Ball, a spokesman for Burbank Apartments’ ownership, said in a statement. “This is an expansion of affordable housing in Boston, not a retrenchment.”
But the vouchers carry their own problems, affordable housing advocates contend.
“There’s two critical problems with changing from an apartment based subsidy to a purely voucher based. It’s going to be trickier and harder for the [current] tenants to qualify, and it’s only going to be available to current tenants who qualify, not future tenants,” said Dharmena Downey, executive director of Fenway Community Development Corp. “So the affordability gets moved, and thus it’s lost in this neighborhood.”
Tough Row To Hoe
Those reasons compelled her group to file suit to prevent the Burbank Apartments from going market-rate. The group, along with the Burbank Apartment Tenants Association and the Massachusetts Coaliton for the Homeless, is also arguing that converting the units will disproportionately impact minority groups and the elderly, and is therefore a form of discrimination.
Several affordable housing advocates said they were unaware of any similar suit by a community development group. There has been at least one case, involving the Ardemore Apartments in Wellesley, in which a group of tenants sued to prevent a landlord from converting to market rate, but that case involved a property built according to restricted zoning regulations that required the property to remain affordable.
“It’s a pretty difficult row for them to hoe, because this was based on a contractual obligation between [the owners] and HUD,” and basic contract law principles entitle parties to rely on the provisions of a legal contract, including the expiration date, to be enforced, according to Jeffrey Turk, a partner at Braintree-based real estate law firm Marcus Errico Emmer & Brooks. “A lot of people were buying these properties and investing in these properties based on knowing that the affordability provisions [in a few years] would be lifted.”
A win for the CDC and its allies in the Burbank case would drastically alter the affordable housing landscape in the commonwealth. And even if victory for the Fenway group is a longshot, the existence of the dispute may foretell more contentious battles to come as more properties near their expiration date.
A task force already exists to monitor the intentions of landlords as projects near their affordability expiration dates, and a statutory provision passed in 2009 allows the state to acquire such properties to preserve affordability. But allocated funds have yet to be tapped, and in an era of fiscal constraint, any further spending is a tough sell.
“The state has provided a lot of leadership,” said Roger Herzog, executive director of CEDAC. “But we really need some federal help to make this work.”

To read the full CEDAC report, click here.

SourceBanker & Tradesman Week of Monday, March 28, 2011 edition front page above the fold

Report: Mass. could lose 10,000 units of affordable housing

Report: Mass. could lose 10,000 units of affordable housing
By Ann Kenda
A report from the Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation says Massachusetts could lose almost 10,000 units of affordable housing over the next decade.
The report predicts a crisis in housing affordability when dozens of federally subsidized mortgages expire and owners are then allowed to convert the units to market rate housing. Affordable housing is reserved for low and moderate income families at rates they can afford.
“We know that the loss of these existing affordable rental units will exacerbate the crisis in affordable housing, both in Massachusetts and across the country,” said Roger Herzog, executive director of CEDAC, in a written statement. “The Commonwealth has done quite a bit in recent years to preserve affordable housing. The passage in 2009 by the Massachusetts Legislature of legislation to ease the challenges of expiring use, which was focused on finding effective ways to preserve publicly assisted affordable housing, has given us some tools to monitor and address the problem. But there are additional solutions that need to be contemplated on the federal level.”
Currently, families in affordable housing pay an average of $700 a month in rent. CEDAC says it’s predicted that those rates will at least double without invention, putting them out of reach for many working families.
© 2011 American City Business Journals, Inc. and its licensors.
URL: http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/news/2011/03/16/report-mass-could-lose-10000-units.html

SourceBoston Business Journal

Mayor Menino Celebrates Additional Housing, New Retail at Hyde Square’s Blessed Sacrament Site

Mayor Menino Celebrates Additional Housing, New Retail at Hyde Square’s Blessed Sacrament Site
November 1, 2010
by Massachusetts RealEstateRama
November 1, 2010 – (RealEstateRama) — Mayor Thomas M. Menino today joined the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Development Corporation (JPNDC), New Atlantic Development Corporation (NADC), Harvard University officials, and community members in celebrating the new Doña Betsaida Gutiérrez Housing Cooperative, located at the corner of Centre and Creighton Streets. The mixed-use building, named for a long time Jamaica Plain activist, is the latest completed phase of affordable housing development at the $50 million Blessed Sacrament parish site.
Today’s ribbon cutting ceremony also marked the formal start of the third phase, which includes the renovation of the 13,700 square-foot former convent into 28 Single-Room-Occupancy units. Upon completion in early 2011, the campus will boast a total of 81 new housing units and over 7,500 square feet of retail space, totaling $28 million. Among other attributes, residents will benefit from an outdoor plaza for community gatherings and 145 off-street parking spaces.
“Today, we’re celebrating the evolution of the Blessed Sacrament parish site, and the new life that this redevelopment brings to the streetscape, the Hyde Square neighborhood, and the community at large,” said Mayor Menino. “The progress that the Doña Betsaida Gutiérrez Housing Cooperative demonstrates would not be possible without the tremendous commitment of JPNDC, New Atlantic, and their partners. But I especially want to commend the neighbors for their dedication to bringing new, quality, affordable housing to Jamaica Plain.”
In 2004, the Archdiocese of Boston announced the closure of the 115-year-old Blessed Sacrament parish in Hyde Square, prompting parishioners, residents and small businesses to work with the City and local organizations to develop a suitable plan for its reuse. Under the leadership of JPNDC and NADC, more than 1,400 signatures were collected in support of affordable housing and other uses that would benefit the Jamaica Plan community. The development team subsequently acquired the church and the 3.2 acres on which it sits in 2005.
The Doña Betsaida Gutiérrez Housing Cooperative boasts 36 units of affordable rental housing, 12 of which are already occupied, and 7,600 square feet of ground-floor retail space that is expected to house at least one new restaurant. Of the new units, 20 will be marketed to households at or below 60% of Area Median Income (AMI); eight of the units will be marketed to households at or below 30% of AMI; four of the units will be set-aside for participants of the Community Based Housing program through the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission, and the remaining four units will be set aside for formerly homeless residents.
Construction of the $15 million mixed-use building began last fall, following completion of the development’s first phase, Creighton Commons, through which the former parish rectory was renovated into 16 units of affordable homeownership housing.
The development has been made possible, in part, by a City contribution totaling more than $4.3 million, including $1.2 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds. Mayor Menino credited this substantial city investment to the leadership of Senator John Kerry, Congressman Michael Capuano, and Congressman Stephen Lynch, calling Massachusetts’s delegation instrumental in Boston maintaining a strong economy.
Blessed Sacrament is also one of the largest Boston-based recipients of funds made possible by the Harvard 20/20/2000 Initiative; a total of $1.3 million in low-interest loans through both Boston Community Capital and the Local Initiative Support Corporation supported the site acquisition as well as construction financing for Blessed Sacrament’s Phase I. The ribbon cutting was also an occasion to recognize the overall impact of the 20/20/2000 initiative, which celebrates its tenth year this year.
“Supporting the supply of affordable housing in Cambridge and Boston is just one of the many ways that Harvard is working to improve our local communities,” said Harvard President Drew Faust. “We are pleased to join with the leadership of both cities on the 20/20/2000 Initiative, which has helped to finance nearly one out of every six units built in Cambridge and Boston and provided many local working families with homes.”
Harvard 20/20/2000 was launched in 2000, in response to a growing need for affordable housing following the end of rent control in the 1990s, during which Boston and Cambridge both witnessed skyrocketing housing costs while federal and state resources declined. Leaders in Boston and Cambridge made increasing the supply of affordable housing a priority and Harvard responded with the initiative that included $10 million of low interest loans to non-profit housing agencies in each city coupled with $1 million in direct grants to local agencies to explore innovative approaches to affordable housing development. To date, 4,350 units of affordable housing in neighborhoods of Boston and Cambridge have been supported with 20/20/2000 funds.
Additional funding was made available by: Boston Community Capital; Local Initiatives Support Corporation; Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development; Affordable Housing Trust Fund; the Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation; MassDevelopment; Massachusetts Housing Partnership; Property and Casualty Initiative; US Bank, and the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative.

URL: http://massachusetts.realestaterama.com/2010/11/01/mayor-menino-celebrates-additional-housing-new-retail-at-hyde-squares-blessed-sacrament-site-ID0278.html

SourceMassachusetts RealEstateRama

Senior Living at Prouty Open House a Success

Senior Living at Prouty Open House a Success

May 15th, 2010

Nearly 300 people hailing from Spencer, other Central Massachusetts communities beyond came to Senior Living at Prouty for an Open House held on May 14. The well-attended event sponsored by Newton-based MHPI, Inc, included tours of the converted school as well as remarks from a number of special guests.
The day was the culmination of six years of hard work on the part of many as MHPI, Inc. converted the historic school building, which dates back to 1888 into 36 units of affordable housing for very-low income seniors. Along with its development team, MHPI worked tirelessly to preserve many of the timeless elements of the building while still managing to equip it with a host of modern amenities. The building represents MHPI’s first of hopefully many forays into Central Massachusetts.
Funding partners for the project, which cost approximately $8 million include the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development, MassHousing and the Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation.
“The pride I feel is undoubtedly shared by so many people here today,” MHPI President Sheldon D. Bycoff said. “This project has truly been one that recognizes the dire need of housing for the very low income elderly. To be able to transform a fabulous historic setting into a place for residents to call home is my mind an incredibly gratifying experience.”
Amongst the speakers addressing the standing-room only crowd were Bycoff, United States Congressman Richard E. Neal and newly-appointed Housing and Urban Development Regional Director Richard A. Walega. Also taking to the stage were State Senator Stephen Brewer, Department of Housing and Community Development Director of Housing Programs Andrew Nelson and Donald Berthiaume, Jr. the Chair of the Spencer Select Board.
Studio and one-bedroom apartment units are still available on a first-come/first-serve basis. To request an application, please contact Jane Karoway, Occupancy Specialist at 617-431-4924 or via email at jkaroway@mhpi.net.

Hyperlink: http://mhpi.net/2010/05/15/senior-living-at-prouty-open-house-a-success/

SourceMHPI.net