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With affordable housing developers nervous about losing what was a key source of financing thanks to the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, nearly the entire Massachusetts congressional delegation is urging the bank’s buyer to follow through on SVB’s commitments to affordable housing projects.

Raleigh, North Carolina-based First Citizens Bank bought SVB last week after the FDIC auctioned off the defunct bank following its failure March 10. SVB and Boston Private Bank, which SVB had bought in 2021, were some of the most prolific banks financing affordable housing developments in Massachusetts, via construction lending or the purchase of low-income housing tax credits.

According to the office of Rep. Stephen Lynch, who represents the South Shore and Dorchester, at least 18 affordable housing developments initially financed by SVB are under construction in 10 cities and towns across the state, totaling more than 700 homes for low-income residents and nearly 120 homes for extremely low-income residents. I

In a letter co-signed by Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey and every other member of the state congressional delegation other than Springfield Rep. Rich Neal, Lynch and Boston Rep. Ayanna Pressley urged First Citizens to follow through with the remaining balance of those projects’ construction loans.

“It is clear that SVB had extensive investments and partnerships in the affordable housing sector that should be continued,” the letter says.  “In the middle of a worsening affordable housing crisis, it is critical that there is a continuation of these activities under new ownership to avoid the disruption of local affordable housing development pipelines and initiatives.”

In addition, the letter says if First Citizens fails to follow through on the $75 million package of affordable housing investments SVB pledged following its acquisition of Boston Private, “there may be a serious disruption to the pipeline of affordable housing and community development projects that are critical to low-income households throughout Massachusetts where there is a shortage of more than 190,000 units that are affordable and available to them throughout the state.”

In a statement Friday, First Citizens said that it has already had some discussions with “community leaders” and that more discussions were planned, but wouldn’t comment on SVB’s $75 million pledge.

“First Citizens Bank is proud of its 125-year strong track record of supporting the communities where we live and work. We take seriously our commitment to invest in and support our communities through affordable housing and other community development initiatives,” the statement said. “Since the March 27 acquisition of Silicon Valley Bank, we’ve already talked with key Boston community leaders. Other discussions with more groups and government officials are scheduled for the days ahead. We want to take an informed and thoughtful approach to doing what’s right to strengthen the Greater Boston area.”

The uncertainty around how SVB’s role in Massachusetts’ constellation of affordable housing financiers has had developers and advocates concerned since the bank’s collapse in March. The FDIC had committed the bridge bank that temporarily took control of SVB between March 10 and March 27 to honoring the latter’s loan contracts, including those for affordable developments in process. But given tight timelines inherent in any project using low income housing tax credits, developers who had planed to sell those credits to SVB have expressed concern about being able to source financing.