Tag: affordable housing

Lower-cost units remain in Hyde Park

Lower-cost units remain in Hyde Park

By Jeannie Nuss, Globe Correspondent | May 9, 2010

Mayor Thomas M. Menino told dozens of residents of Blake Estates in Hyde Park yesterday that their affordable housing complex will remain affordable until 2030.

“We’re going for 20 years of affordability right here at Blake Estates,’’ Menino said to an outburst of applause from the crowd.

Menino’s announcement came after negotiations with the property’s owner, Beacon Residential Properties, which agreed to extend the affordable housing contract with the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. The current Section 8 contract was due to expire this year for the 263-unit housing complex on Hyde Park Avenue that houses elderly and disabled people. Under the contract, seniors pay no more than 30 percent of their income toward rent.

Rosetta Wilson, a 75-year-old grandmother of eight and great-grandmother of three, has been living in Blake Estates for 10 years.

“I’m ecstatic,’’ Wilson said after yesterday’s announcement. “I don’t want to go to a nursing home or assisted living. I like to cook what I like to cook. I don’t want anyone to plan my meals for me.’’

Menino talked about his personal connection to the area, which is where he grew up.

“We work hard together. We don’t allow people to come in here and say, ‘Oh we’re gonna throw you out,’ ’’ Menino said. “We’re never gonna throw you out.’’

City Councilor Rob Consalvo called the extension a “great victory’’ for Hyde Park.

“All of you at Blake Estates are so important to the fabric of our neighborhood,’’ Consalvo said. “You are our neighborhood.’’

“You can live here and understand that you’re not going anywhere, and we’re not going anywhere,’’ he added. Still, Roger Herzog, the executive director of the Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation, called attention to the difficulties that planners face in maintaining affordable housing and praised the mayor’s work.

“Mayor Menino, for his entire term as mayor, has really been a natural leader in making sure that places like Blake Estates stay affordable,’’ Herzog said.

SourceBoston Globe

Capping carbon and rent

Green building funds from the Obama administration may do more than help cut energy costs and shrink our carbon footprint — they could also be instrumental in preserving tens of thousands of affordable housing units now at risk.

Almost 17,000 Massachusetts apartments could move from “affordable” to out-of-reach over the next several years thanks mainly to expiring HUD and MassHousing subsidized mortgages first signed in the 1960s and 1970s. Increasingly, housing activists believe that green building funds may be one way to cushion the blow.

On April 14, affordable housing developers, policy advocates and green building experts brought together from across the country by a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation forum gathered in Boston to determine the best path forward to both cut energy costs and carbon production at our older housing stock, and to use those savings to preserve lower rents.

Virtually every month, somewhere in Greater Boston, Worcester or the Springfield area, apartment complexes built with federal or state assistance turn 40 — and with that anniversary, the mortgages that contain the use restrictions requiring owners to maintain the housing’s affordability to low- and moderate-income tenants expire. As the mortgages mature, many owners will have the option to retire their debt, end all affordability restrictions on the property and reposition their property as market housing.

Read more: Capping carbon and rent – Boston Business Journal:
http://boston.bizjournals.com/boston/stories/2010/04/26/editorial2.html

SourceBoston Business Journal Op-Ed

Six housing programs get funding

Six housing programs get funding
By John Laidler
Globe Correspondent / January 31, 2010

An infusion of state and federal assistance is providing a major boost to six affordable housing proposals in the region.
The six are among 17 affordable housing plans selected to receive a combined $153.9 million in resources awarded by the Patrick administration this month.
“We were thrilled,’’ said Madeline Nash, real estate director for the nonprofit Coalition for a Better Area, in Lowell, which was awarded financing help to construct 23 affordable rental units on the former site of two blighted buildings it bought and razed last year in Lowell.
The coalition will receive $1,888,000 in state subsidies and $499,000 in federal tax credits for the project, the latest in a series it is carrying out to revitalize the Moody Street neighborhood.
“We are very excited about the opportunity to create new and exciting housing in this neighborhood and we see it as an essential component to this multiyear effort,’’ Nash said, estimating the project would get underway in September.
The 17 projects earning state awards will create or preserve 1,305 rental homes, 1,147 of which will be affordable to low and moderate households, including 144 transitioning to permanent housing from homelessness, according to the state.
The $153.9 million includes $131.4 million to produce 1,050 rent al units, 926 of them affordable. The financing will come in the form of federal and state tax credits – which will be sold to private investors – and funds allotted from various other state and federal programs.
The remaining $22.5 million will come from federal stimulus funds that are being used to jump-start affordable housing projects that received tax credits but have been stalled due to lack of equity in the tax credit market. The “tax credit exchange funds’’ were awarded by the state to three projects that will produce a combined 225 rental units, 221 of them affordable.
The nonprofit Caleb Foundation was awarded $4 million in tax credit exchange funds for its project to build 34 affordable rental units on the site of a dilapidated warehouse in Gloucester. The project marks the third and final phase of an overall redevelopment of the former LePage Glue factory complex.
Rob Bernardin, Caleb’s director of acquisitions, said that the state award will replace the unsold state tax credits that proved “the one stumbling block in our financing package.’’
Bernardin said construction is expected to begin by the end of the winter.
Through its development entity, Peabody Supportive Housing, LLC, EA Fish Companies was awarded financing for its project to restore the former Saunders school building in Lawrence and convert it to 16 affordable units for families transitioning from shelters. The award provides $1.3 million in state subsidies and $347,982 in federal tax credits.
Larry Oaks, a senior manager for the Braintree-based development firm, said the financing is “critical’’ for the project, now set to begin this spring.
“We’re delighted,’’ he said. “We are looking forward to hopefully opening the doors to this community in early 2011.
House of Hope, a Lowell nonprofit, received $557,324 in state funds to support its initiative to provide five units of affordable rental housing in Lowell for families transitioning from homelessness. The group, which also operates a shelter for homeless families on Merrimack Street, opened the transitional housing last year in a house it purchased on Varnum Avenue.
The state money will enable House of Hope to repay a temporary loan from the Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation it received last year to purchase the site, and to carry out renovations to the building exterior, said the group’s executive director, Deb Chausse.
The YMCA of the North Shore, and the Beverly Affordable Housing Coalition were jointly awarded $3.3 million in state subsidies, and $643,500 in federal tax credits to help build 33 affordable units in Beverly.
The project is the first phase of a two-phase initiative to raze a group of homes on Mill and Grant streets and replace them with 65 units of affordable housing, according to Christopher Lovasco, chief operating officer of the YMCA of the North Shore.
The YMCA, which manages 200 affordable rental units in the region, also received $8,139,940 in tax credit exchange funding for a planned 48-unit affordable rental housing project on Route 1A in Ipswich, next to the Ipswich YMCA.
“We can finally close on the project and begin construction,’’ Lovasco said.
© Copyright 2010 Globe Newspaper Company.

SourceBoston Sunday Globe

Somerville leads the way with new green affordable housing at St. Polycarp

Somerville leads the way with new green affordable housing at St. Polycarp

A green roof, triple-paned windows that block out highway noise and the creative revitalization of an underused lot made Somerville’s newest affordable housing project a poster child for the state.
State and federal officials congratulated Somerville for its commitment to affordable housing at the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the Saint Polycarp Village apartments on Monday June 8, 2009.
Standing next to Mystic Avenue and speaking over the traffic noise of I-93, Congressman Mike Capuano congratulated Mayor Joe Curtatone and the Somerville Community Corporation for a project well done.
“This project is the best representation I can remember of bringing a community back together, building it as a place for people to live and to raise their families in, and to make life better for them,” said Capuano as he recalled how I-93 divided the neighborhood and took out 600 homes in the city. “This particular project, to me, represents the healing of one of the many wounds that society put on its own sisters and brothers years ago. This is a wonderful project.”
He also recalled his days on the Somerville Community Corporation board and expressed admiration for those who work tirelessly for housing projects. “The point is that this organization attracts and retains people who are committed to this city and to this world.”
With this project offering 24 new affordable housing units, the site of the former Saint Polycarp parish in Somerville is moving one step closer to being transformed into mixed-use village. All of the units are affordable to families earning less than 60 percent of the Area Median Income, including four units reserved for clients of the Department of Mental Health and two units reserved for formerly homeless individuals. There is 6,000 square feet of commercial space on the first floor and two of the three units available have already been leased out.
Recalling the recent opening of Somerville’s new VNA apartments and the renovated Capen Court, state Department of Housing and Community Development Undersecretary Tina Brooks also added her voice in praise of a city that’s doing what few others are achieving in tough times.
“Not many communities embrace affordable housing the way you do and it is so critically important now,” Brooks said to the mayor at the ribbon cutting. “A lot of units are off the market because of foreclosure, people are losing their homes, they desperately need affordable rentals and you are encouraging that to happen and you are doing it in the context of a community perspective. So you are really building a lot of stability in this community that I hope serves you well in years to come.”
This smart-growth redevelopment project has revitalized a neglected and underutilized parcel of land at the corner of Temple Street and Mystic Avenue, converting it into a vibrant community that includes new housing, commercial space, a church, a transitional home for single mothers and their children, a GED program and open space.
“We’re excited to be moving forward on the creation of Saint Polycarp Village apartments,” said Danny LeBlanc, CEO of the Somerville Community Corporation that developed it. “Especially during these hard economic times, we’re pleased to be able to see this project through to completion and to be providing some critically needed affordable rental housing.”
The building features solar panels for common area electric loads, solar thermal panels for hot water, and the city’s first affordable green roof that was built by Apex Green Roofs and a group of students from an engineering class at the Prospect Hill Academy.
Iric Rex of Mostue and Associates that helped design the project said that it was rewarding to work on a project that had so many community partners and sustainable design features. “The result is a very responsible building, improving the site and the neighborhood, while integrating a combination of cutting-edge energy-efficiency features,” he said. “The tenants and local community alike will benefit from the new urban green spaces created around the building, and the healthy, beautiful interior environment.”
“It has been a pleasure to work on an affordable housing project that encompasses so many new green technologies. We have been very fortunate to build in a community like Somerville that is forward-thinking and ambitious with its projects,” added John Curtis, president of Curtis Construction Company that built the project.
Mayor Curtatone said this is a perfect example of what Somerville can do with good partnership and that this is the first of many good projects underway.
“It takes a village to build a village,” added LeBlanc.
Saint Polycarp Village Apartments received investor financing through the Federal Low Income Housing Tax Credits during a time when very few deals of this type were being financed. Additional funding came from the State of Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), Mass Housing, Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MTC), Mass Development, Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation (CEDAC), Massachusetts Housing Partnership (MHP), Bank of America, Bank of New York Mellon, First Sterling, the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston, LISC, the Home Depot Foundation, Enterprise Foundation, US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and the City of Somerville.
“This is one development that gives us great hope regarding affordable housing,” said Roger Herzog from CEDAC.
Saint Polycarp Village apartments is the first of at least two phases of new construction on the site. Plans for a second phase of new construction include 29 affordable rental units centered around a green space and adjacent to a playground. This is currently in the funding phase and is expected to be complete by 2011.
Information from a press release was used in this report.
________________________________________
Copyright © 2009 GateHouse Media, Inc. Some Rights Reserved.
Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted.
________________________________________
Stable URL: http://www.wickedlocal.com/somerville/news/x986603021/Somerville-leads-the-way-with-new-green-affordable-housing-at-St-Polycarp

URL to Photo Album (26 pictures): http://www.wickedlocal.com/somerville/news/x986603021/Somerville-leads-the-way-with-new-green-affordable-housing-at-St-Polycarp?view=pop&photo=0

URL to Tina Brooks on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlPkMR2k7nc

URL to building tour on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2emzJVCZ4K0

SourceWicked Local Somerville

A vision for affordable housing in Needham

A vision for affordable housing in Needham
By Rich Gatto
GateHouse News Service
Posted Jan 23, 2008 @ 03:35 PM
Needham —
GUEST COMMENTARY

With the recent groundbreaking ceremony at High Rock Homes, the long-awaited birth of new housing opportunities in Needham is now upon us. Like expectant mothers and families, we have been preparing for months and waiting, not always patiently, for the day of delivery. This exciting moment represents both the success of a vision for a new way to expand affordable housing opportunities, and a glimpse at what the future might hold for our community.
The new development at High Rock Homes consists of 22 new two-family duplex-style homes to be completed this summer. Of the 40 new living units created, 20 will remain as rentals under the management of the Needham Housing Authority; the other 20 units will be two- and three-bedroom condominiums for sale at below market prices — ranging from $150,000 to $290,000. Families with annual incomes between $40,000-$90,000 will be eligible to buy these homes, and those with Needham connections such as having family, working or going to school here will be among those receiving preference in the lotteries that will be held.
The 20 new homeowners who will be served by this project represent one small slice of those who have contributed much to the town, but who have been priced out during the rapid growth of real estate values during the recent years. Think only of our teachers, firemen, police and public works employees, and you have the idea. Imagine then the seniors and retirees who would like to downsize their living quarters and remain in Needham, or the young singles who have been raised here and are just entering the workforce. Also include those who are living with special needs, who require handicapped-accessible units. As this larger picture of community needs for affordable housing options comes into focus, we realize that the work to achieve real results is just beginning.
The good news is we now have a blueprint for addressing these needs — a program which aims to create housing opportunities consistent with the shared goals and values of our town. Last June, the town adopted the Affordable Housing Plan, which was five years in the making. It includes a menu of actions to be planned and carried out that, in their combined effect, will build community and invigorate the town in ways that will benefit us all. Ideas for creating new affordable housing such as the rezoning of downtown Needham to allow residential units on upper stories, the improvement and expansion of senior apartments at the Linden/Chambers complex, and the use of designated town-owned parcels for appropriate housing development are included in the plan. The preservation of existing units that face potential “expiring use,” such as those at Nehoiden Glen, is equally important. A consistent and collaborative effort will be required from an array of town agencies and citizens to make this plan into reality; in fact, it is just this kind of persistence and cooperation that has led us to the creation of High Rock Homes.
During our 10-year history, Needham Opportunities Inc., has matured from a small group of volunteers with a vision of expanding affordable housing options to a nonprofit housing corporation with staff and some precious funding. As part of our mission “to promote, preserve and develop affordable housing in partnership with the community of Needham,” we are now positioned to assist the town in carrying out the Affordable Housing Plan. Many generous and energetic people have played a part in this growth. We are grateful and encouraged by the breadth and depth of support NOI has received from people of goodwill all throughout the town.
Needham Opportunities Inc., through its Board of Directors, invites all who believe in this community building effort to join with us in a commitment to achieving real results for our working families, our seniors, our young people and those living with special needs. Among all the good reasons to value this work, let us remember the best reason of all: we strive to treat our neighbors as we would like to be treated, and to provide for all the opportunities that we enjoy ourselves.
Rich Gatto is the executive director of the nonprofit housing corporation Needham Opportunities Inc., and a former Needham Housing Authority commissioner. He can be reached at 781-444-0503 or by e-mail at gattoagency@verizon.net.

SourceWicked Local - Needham