MassDevelopment Puts $208K Toward Downtown Lawrence Mixed-Use Project

The nonprofit Lawrence CommunityWorks (LCW) has been awarded a $208,000 grant from the Brownfields Redevelopment Fund to go towards the Duck Mill/Union Crossing Phase II redevelopment in Lawrence.

The funds will be used for cleanup and adaptive reuse of the five-story Duck Mill (formerly a cotton and wool manufacturing facility) located on the North Canal in downtown Lawrence. When completed, the 2.2-acre site will consist of 10,000 square feet of commercial space and 73 units of affordable rental housing.

“MassDevelopment is pleased to partner with LCW in its efforts to redevelop the Duck Mill, thereby increasing affordable housing and sparking economic activity in a Gateway City,” MassDevelopment President and CEO Marty Jones said in a statement. “The money from the Brownfields Redevelopment Fund over the last five years has helped this project revitalize a part of the heart of Lawrence.”

In total, MassDevelopment has provided $338,510 for the second phase of the Union Crossing redevelopment. Additional funding has come from state and federal historic tax credits, state and federal low-income housing tax credits, HOME funds and several other housing program funds.

SourceBanker & Tradesman

Congressman, Officials Inaugurate Saint Polycarp Affordable Housing Project

June 25, 2012
Congressman, Officials Inaugurate Saint Polycarp Affordable Housing Project
Rep. Michael Capuano joined city and state officials Monday to officially open Saint Polycarp Village Phase II, which has 29 units of affordable rental housing.
By Chris Orchard

Rep. Michael Capuano, Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone and a slate of other officials conducted a ribbon-cutting ceremony Monday to officially open Saint Polycarp Village Phase II, a $10 million section of Saint Polycarp Village.
Saint Polycarp Village is a $30 million affordable housing community in Winter Hill, built along Mystic Avenue by the Somerville Community Corporation.
The community, now close to being finished, sits on the former Saint Polycarp Parish land once owned by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston.
Phase I of the project, with 24 rental units, was completed in 2009, and Phase II, which Capuano was celebrating Monday, opened in February and has 29 rental units.
Construction on Phase III of the project, the final phase, will begin this fall and should be complete by 2013, according to Danny LeBlanc, CEO of the Somerville Community Corporation. When it’s done, the affordable housing community will have 84 units of affordable rental units along with green space, retail space and a playground. The development also preserved the Saint Polycarp Church structure.
“I think most people have forgotten the connection between the federal government and their daily lives,” Capuano said Monday, adding it’s hard to forget that connection at a place like Saint Polycarp. “Almost every penny [of these projects] starts at the federal level,” he said.
Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone, also speaking at the ribbon-cutting ceremony, said the project has “transformed the neighborhood … it’s really nice to see this transformation.”
The two joined Undersecretary Aaron Gornstein of the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development at Monday’s ribbon-cutting.
Other speakers included Ward 4 Alderman Tony Lafuente—who said, “It’s wonderful to see what’s happened in this block. I remember it as a block of overgrowth”—Tom Gleason of MassHousing, Victor Sostar of First Sterling Financial, Clark Ziegler of the Massachusetts Housing Partnership, Mike Rosenberg of Bank of America, Roger Herzog of the Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation and Bob Van Meter of Local Initiatives Support Corporation.

Copyright © 2012 Patch. All Rights Reserved.
URL: http://somerville.patch.com/articles/congressman-officials-inaugurate-saint-polycarp-affordable-housing-project-photos#c

SourceSomerville Patch

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.
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SourceBoston Globe

Loan to aid affordable housing project planned in Jackson Square

Loan to aid affordable housing project planned in Jackson Square
By Matt Rocheleau, Town Correspondent
JAMAICA PLAIN – A plan for a 36-unit affordable rental housing development in Jackson Square has received a financial boost.
The Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation has made a $100,000 loan to the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Development Corporation to help get the project toward a shovel-ready stage.
The affordable housing units will be built at 75 Amory Avenue. That project, and the roadway it will sit on, will be constructed as part of the 14-building, multi-phase, quarter-billion-dollar, mixed-used Jackson Square Redevelopment Initiative.
The 75 Amory Ave. project will be the JPNDC’s first housing development within that larger initiative at the crossroads between Jamaica Plain and Roxbury. It is anticipated to break ground in late 2012 or early 2012, said JPNDC spokeswoman Sally Swenson.
“We’re very pleased to be able to support their new venture in Jackson Square,” said CEDAC executive director Roger Herzog by phone Tuesday.
He said the organization was one of five that combined to provide $1.5 million in funding to Jackson Square Partners to aid in the overall planning of the grand redevelopment proposal. The JPNDC, along with Urban Edge and the Hyde Square Task Force, comprise Jackson Square Partners.
CEDAC, a 33-year-old, public-private community development finance agency that supports nonprofit agencies, announced the financial support last week as part of a total of $3.8 million in loan commitments for 12 affordable housing developments.
“Projects such as these are critically important to communities and residents across the Commonwealth, especially in those areas that are lacking access to quality affordable housing,” added Herzog in a press release. “The pre-development funds provided by CEDAC allow each of these non-profit developers the opportunity to help strengthen their communities by creating or preserving affordable homes for those in need.”
E-mail Matt Rocheleau at mjrochele@gmail.com.
© 2011 NY Times Co.
URL: http://www.boston.com/yourtown/news/jamaica_plain/2011/06/loan_to_aid_affordable_housing.html

SourceBoston Globe