Gripped By Housing Crisis, Boston Developers Look for Federal Help to Tackle Affordability

Boston developers and policymakers are desperate for more affordable housing tools in the city, but the biggest help may hinge on lawmakers in Washington, D.C.

“I think the biggest challenge is the limited resources,” The Community Builders Vice President of Development Andy Waxman said. “We have a lot of high-quality affordable housing developers, and if there were more resources, we could all get more projects done.”

A leading tool in Boston’s affordable housing toolkit, the Inclusionary Development Policy, led to the creation of 546 new units of affordable housing in 2018, or 21% of the program’s overall production since it was implemented in 2000. While Boston Mayor Martin Walsh was pleased by the news, he and members of the private and public sector speaking Tuesday at Bisnow’s Boston Affordable Housing Conference agreed changes in policy and development practices are crucial in moving Boston’s affordability needle.

“We have members of Congress coming out of the woodwork with affordable housing legislation,” Housing Advisory Group Executive Director David Gasson said.

Gasson and Boston Capital President and CEO Jack Manning are working on reforming the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (to be renamed the Affordable Housing Tax Credit if the new legislation is passed). The LIHTC offers 9% and 4% tax credits for affordable housing projects, with the higher rate typically reserved for new construction and the lower rate for rehabilitation or new construction projects financed with tax-exempt bonds.

The problem is the credits have often fallen short of the 4% and 9% figure and fluctuated due to market interest and borrowing rates of the federal government, according to a February report by the Congressional Research Service. One goal of the bill, expected to be introduced by U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA), would freeze the 4% rate at its actual level. Doing that alone would, at a conservative estimate, create 65,000 more affordable units.

Low-Income Housing Tax Credits generated in each state are based on population. Originally, the rate was $2.40 per capita. Congress has since provided a 12.5% increase through 2021, and there is a potential for the rate to increase by 50% in the new bill. But Gasson indicated the 4% fix is the top priority.

“This is a gigantic change for our industry and the people that need affordable housing,” Manning said.

Both Manning and Gasson claim to have bipartisan support in both federal legislative chambers.

Along with Cantwell, Sen. Todd Young (R-IN), Sen. Johnny Isakkson (R-GA) and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) are supportive of the bill, according to Manning. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA 12th), Rep. Richard Neal (D-MA 2nd) and Rep. Kenny Merchant (R-TX 24th) have also supported the bill. More are expected to join.

“There are Republicans clamoring to jump onto the bill, and it hasn’t even been introduced yet,” Gasson said with a laugh.

Beyond federal policy, panelists indicated Boston leaders and developers are doing more at the local level to rein in costs.

Walsh indicated his proposed 2020 city budget includes a historically high level of city funding for the creation and preservation of affordable housing in Boston. After citing a long list of economic accomplishments under his watch, Walsh said there were plenty of initiatives in the works to tackle affordable housing, including an increase in the affordable housing requirement for market-rate developers in the IDP.

“I’m painting a rosy picture here, but there’s still a lot of work we need to do to continue to move forward,” Walsh said.

Forward thinking in the planning and development stages is also crucial to making affordable housing a realistic goal in Boston. Construction costs have gotten so high that Preservation of Affordable Housing Managing Director for Real Estate Development Rodger Brown said his team has looked overseas for building technologies to move a project forward. Instead of stick-frame construction, the developer utilizes modular and panelized materials.

Others are looking for ways to streamline the approval process because it is easy for a project to go over budget simply due to the quick timeline of building costs rising. It can cost a developer around $450K to build a single residential unit in Boston today, and Dellbrook JKS President and CEO Mike Fish said building costs are rising at an average of 5% each year.

“The biggest challenge we see is when we price a project, and then they have to wait four years,” Fish said. “Costs just continue to go up.”

SourceBisnow Boston

44 New Affordable Housing Units Built In Bourne

Bourne, which has the largest percentage of affordable housing units compared to market-rate homes of any town on the Upper Cape, recently celebrated the construction of another 44 affordable units.

The latest additions are townhouse units in the development known as High Meadow Townhomes in Monument Beach. It is the third and final piece of a development roughly 10 years in the making.

The High Meadow Townhomes development is just off Clay Pond Road. It consists of 44 two- and three-bedroom townhouses for families and seniors. It is one-third of the development that started with the Residences at Canal Bluffs, 28 affordable apartments that opened in 2009. That was followed by Clay Pond Cove, 45 individual, family and senior affordable apartments which opened in 2012.

With the addition of High Meadow Townhomes, Bourne now has 641 units in its inventory of affordable homes. Town Planner Coreen V. Moore said that brings Bourne’s total affordable homes percentage to 7.4. The state has set a goal of 10 percent for Massachusetts cities and towns. Bourne has the highest percentage of affordable units on the Upper Cape and is third behind Orleans and Barnstable across the Cape, she said.

Local and state officials took part in a grand opening, ribbon-cutting ceremony at the development on October 5. Among the attendees were US Congressman William R. Keating (D-MA 9th District), state Senator Viriato M. (Vinny) deMacedo (R-Plymouth), and state Representative Randy Hunt (R-Sandwich).

“There is nothing more important than being able to provide someone with a roof over their head and a safe and a warm place to go that is affordable,” Senator deMacedo said.

Congressman Keating noted the great need on Cape Cod for affordable housing, particularly for younger people who are getting started on their careers.

“There’s a great need for people who fill out a whole demographic pool—younger people, people who are starting families, people that we need to meet the job needs we have in this area and grow our economy forward,” he said.

Groundbreaking on High Meadow Townhomes occurred in July of last year and culminated with the ribbon-cutting ceremony on October 5. The three-phased project was a collaborative effort between Housing Assistance Corporation (HAC) and Preservation of Affordable Housing (POAH).

HAC reported it received more than 200 applications for the 44 units at High Meadow last summer. Tenants are expected to begin moving into their townhomes next month, HAC officials said.

JANEY, Inc. of Boston served as the general contractor for the $14.1 million project. Funding was provided with $7.6 million in low-income housing tax credit from Boston Capital, as well as a $3.3 million loan from MassHousing. Additional funding was provided by Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation (CEDAC), the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), Barnstable County HOME Consortium, Rockland Trust, and MassHousing’s Opportunity Fund.

The Canal Bluffs site was, at one time, slated to be home to a computer technology company, which ultimately decided not to develop the property. Businessman William Zammer of Mashpee bought the land and eventually sold the 19 acres to HAC to develop as rental housing. HAC then partnered with POAH on the project.

The new units have been equipped with EPA-approved Energy Star appliances, including a refrigerator, oven and dishwasher. Each unit has vinyl plank flooring, ample closet space, central air conditioning, and washer/dryer hook-ups. The site also features laundry facilities, out-of-unit storage, and 64 parking spaces, which comes to approximately 1.5 spaces per unit.

During construction of Clay Pond Cove, a wastewater treatment plant was built. It serves all three buildings as well as the abutting retail shopping center, which once housed Grand Union supermarket.

SourceThe Bourne Enterprise

Ribbon Cutting Celebrates Completion of Mixed-Housing Development in Bourne

Congressman Bill Keating (D-MA 9^th District) joined local elected officials in Bourne on Friday morning to celebrate the completion of High Meadow Townhomes with a ribbon cutting ceremony.

The apartment homes mark the end of the third and final phase of a mixed-income residential development for the town containing 117 affordable, workforce and market rate apartments.

Keating began his remarks by speaking about how workers had to clear the high density of heavy boulders that previously took up the land the town houses now stand on.

“This is a day to look back, remember the boulders that were there, and remember that we together moved those boulders and created something that will unite us all and bring us closer together,” said Keating. “If we’re going to go forward and try to do everything at the local level, and the state level, and use the resources at the federal level, as well as have non-profits here regionally all working together, municipal leaders all working together, we can take those boulders that look like great challenges. Working together we can move them and move forward for progress to create what’s here now.”

The project’s third phase was made possible by $7.6 million in 9-percent low-income housing tax credit equity from Boston Capital and a mortgage from MassHousing.

“We love this community. It’s a community where my wife Tevis and myself, we live here, we’re neighbors. This is going to make this community stronger and it’s going to make the Cape stronger because there’s a bigger need,” Keating stated. “These 44 town houses and the 117 homes and residences that will be here for people will be a success story that will drive not only drive a more successful Bourne community, but something we need on Cape Cod as well. As we all know, there’s a great need in our region for housing.”

Residents of the first two phases also turned out for the ceremony alongside project supporters and funders. Current Canal Bluffs resident and High Meadow Townhomes lottery applicant Melissa Harris delivered a speech at the event.

Fifth Barnstable State Representative Randy Hunt also spoke at the ribbon cutting, and explained the ever-growing need for housing on Cape Cod.

“We could do this project ten times over in next year on Cape Cod and it would not satisfy the demand that’s here. So, what I’m hoping for is that we can accelerate this some because there is such a huge need,” said Hunt. “We get the fact that it takes a lot of people to make these things happen. We also get the fact that it’s super important that we have housing available on Cape Cod that’s affordable, not only affordable from a traditional sense but also in workforce housing. Some of the units here are going to be rented out in accordance to those rules.”

Other notable speakers included State Senator Vincent deMacedo, State Representative Randy Hunt, Housing Assistance Corporation CEO Alisa Galazzi, Assistant Undersecretary of the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development Susan Terrey, and Director of Housing Development at Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation, Sara Barcan.

SourceCapeCod.com

Completion of High Meadow Townhomes Adds 44 Units of Mixed-Income Housing in Bourne

In July 2017, Congressman William R. Keating (D-MA 9th) joined local and state officials and affordable housing supporters for a groundbreaking ceremony to kick-off the third and final phase of a mixed-income housing project that has brought a total of 117 new units to the town of Bourne in less than a decade.

A little more than a year later, the Congressman returned to Bourne to celebrate the completion of that project, High Meadow Townhomes, a newly-constructed 44-unit building that is a blend of two- and three-bedroom townhomes for families and seniors in a residential community off MacArthur Boulevard.

“These residences will be a success story that will drive not only a more successful Bourne community, but something we need on Cape Cod as well, said Congressman William Keating (D-MA). “There is a great need in our region for housing – for younger people, people who are starting families, [workers] who are needed to fill the jobs in this area and grow our economy forward.”

High Meadow Townhomes represents the final installment of a development that started with the Residences at Canal Bluffs, consisting of 28 affordable apartments completed in 2009, and Clay Pond Cove, consisting of 45 individual, family and senior affordable apartments completed in 2012.

The demand for this type of housing was witnessed this summer when HAC received more than 200 applications for the 44 units at High Meadow. It is expected that tenants will begin moving into their townhomes later this month.

“The completion of High Meadow Townhomes is vitally important to meeting the need for more rental housing on Cape Cod,” said HAC CEO Alisa Galazzi. “With over 200 people applying for these townhomes, it’s apparent there’s a huge demand for this type of housing. I’m proud that our agency was able to partner with POAH to help address this critical need to make a meaningful impact in the lives of these 44 families.”

“This development is the perfect example of what great things can happen when federal and state resources are combined with local support and private investments to create not just buildings, but a real housing community,” said POAH President and CEO Aaron Gornstein.

Long before the project began, the site was intended to be used as an office building for a dot com company that decided not to develop the parcel. Businessman William Zammer of Mashpee purchased the property, eventually agreeing to sell the 19 acres of land to HAC to develop as rental housing.

HAC partnered with POAH to create the phased-in housing to help Bourne address the shortage of rental housing in its community.

The two nonprofits took a thoughtful approach to the environmentally-sensitive nature of the site which is in close proximity to the Phinneys Harbor watershed. During the second phase construction of Clay Pond Cove, a wastewater treatment plant was built that serves all three buildings as well as the abutting retail shopping center which once housed Grand Union supermarket.

POAH Communities, which oversees the management of the Residences at Canal Bluffs and Clay Pond Cove, will serve in a similar capacity for High Meadow Townhomes.

Project Description

JANEY, Inc. of Boston served as the general contractor for the $14.1 million project which was made possible through $7.6 million in 9% low-income housing tax credit from Boston Capital along with a $3.3 million loan from MassHousing and funding from Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation (CEDAC), the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), Barnstable County HOME Consortium, Rockland Trust, and MassHousing’s Opportunity Fund.

High Meadow consists of a mixture of 2- and 3-bedroom townhomes that are equipped with Energy Star appliances including: refrigerator, oven, and dishwasher. All units have vinyl plank flooring, ample closet space, central air conditioning, and washer/dryer hook-ups. The site has 64 outdoor parking spaces (approximately 1.5 per unit), on-site laundry, and out-of-unit storage.

SourcePOAH