Binnal House, Gardner, MA

MassHousing recently provided $9.25 million in financing to an affiliate of the nonprofit Retirement Housing Foundation (RHF) for the preservation and renovation of 134 units of affordable housing at Binnall House in Gardner.

Binnall House is home to senior citizens and residents with disabilities who will now see the affordability of their units extended for at least 15 years.

The Binnall House refinancing is the first in the country in which a Housing Finance Agency (HFA) has completed a transaction through the Federal Housing Administration’s (FHA) Housing Tax Credit Pilot Program. The Tax Credit Pilot Program allows borrowers to use federal low-income housing tax credits and an affordable fast-track mortgage product insured by the FHA. MassHousing is also the only HFA among 52 FHA-approved Tax Credit Pilot Program lenders.

Binnall House is an 8-story building located at 125 Connors St. in Gardner and consists of 118 one-bedroom apartments and 16 two-bedroom apartments for residents age 62 and over. Property renovations are planned as part of the transaction including building and unit upgrades as well as accessibility improvements.

As a condition of the MassHousing financing, RHF plans to renew the federal Section 8 Housing Assistance Payment Contract on 133 apartments at Binnall House for 20 years and include the remaining term of the current HAP contract, which expires in 2023. One apartment is occupied by a property manager. The use of the tax credits will extend affordability at Binnall House for at least 15 years.

MassHousing has financed or administers six rental housing communities in Gardner involving 719 units and provided 365 home mortgage loans in the city totaling $33.5 million in financing.