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Photo courtesy of WinnCompanies
A $66 million renovation project will update a 535-unit Mission Hill public housing complex following a recapitalization that transfers ownership to a tenant coalition.
The 31-month renovation project at Mission Main will include energy efficiency upgrades, replacements of kitchens, bathrooms and appliances and installation of free high-speed Internet. Common area updates include 10 new playgrounds and renovations to the community room and family resource center.
WinnDevelopment and the Mission Main Tenant Task Force developed the 32-building, 535-unit complex in 1998, replacing the original 1940 public housing development on a 15-acre site at 60 McGreevey Way.
The recapitalization includes WinnCompanies, Boston Financial Investment Management, Citizens Bank and local, state and federal government agencies. MassHousing provided WinnCompanies with construction and permanent financing.
The Boston Housing Authority ground-leased the property for 99 years, while the Tenant Task Force becomes the new majority owner of the property which contains 445 income- and rent-restricted and 90 market-rate units.
The Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development allocated federal low-income housing tax credits under a program that enables public housing agencies to leverage public and private debt and equity for improvements to public housing.
“The Rental Assistance Demonstration program is the most powerful tool HUD provides to communities to be able to preserve and improve affordable properties and address the backlog of deferred maintenance,” HUD New England Regional Administrator Juana Matias said in a statement.
WinnCompanies’ social impact arm, Connected Communities, will work with the Tenant Task Force on social programs to improve health and economic mobility of residents.
And Citizens Bank’s Economic Opportunity Fund provided $1 million to provide free high-speed Internet to all residents, along with training programs and equipment upgrades for the community learning lab.
