MassHousing and the state Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) have closed on $11.5 million in Affordable Housing Trust Fund (AHTF) loans for residences in Boston, Cambridge, Chicopee, Lawrence, Mashpee, Springfield and Stow.
"Affordable housing is always in high demand across Massachusetts," Aaron Gornstein, undersecretary for Housing and Community Development, said in a statement. "The Affordable Housing Trust Fund is one tool that we have for creating more affordable and accessible housing for young families and individuals and meeting Governor Patrick’s production goal of 10,000 new multi-family units a year in the Commonwealth."
The AHTF funds will be used to create, rehabilitate and preserve the affordability of 1,506 apartments in seven communities.
"Several of these developments will additionally be part of major neighborhood revitalization projects and the AHTF funding has played an important role in completing the financing packages needed to get these projects underway and completed," MassHousing Executive Director Thomas Gleason said in a statement.
Planned projects for the funds include the following, all of which have started construction or renovation:
• $1.5 million for the 129-unit Quincy Heights in Dorchester. Dorchester Bay Economic Development Corp. and the Quincy Geneva Housing Corporation plan to rehabilitate 80 existing apartments and construct 49 replacement apartments. MassHousing provided $30.4 million in financing and the project also received $20.5 million through HUD’s Choice Neighborhoods grant program.
• $2 million for the 94-unit Outing Park Apartments in Springfield. The First Resource Development Company is completing a substantial rehabilitation of the apartments located in nine historic buildings. The project also received $550,000 in financing from DHCD.
• $1.9 million for the 967-unit Georgetowne Homes in Hyde Park. Beacon Communities LLC of Boston has acquired and is rehabilitating the property. MassHousing provided an Agency record $171.2 million in financing for the project.
• $1 million for the 134-unit Ames Privilege Apartments in Chicopee. HallKeen Management plans to renovate 94 apartments currently occupied on the property and completely rebuild 40 units that have been vacant since 1988 when the city condemned a wing of the property. The housing is located within a historic former Civil War foundry building. MassHousing also provided $8 million in financing for the project.
