MassHousing will provide $26.5 million in financing to preserve affordability for senior citizens at the 236-unit Sherwood Village apartment community in Natick.

As a condition of the loan, Fairway Estates Limited Partnership, an affiliate of Cornerstone Corporation, which owns Sherwood Village, will seek to extend its federal Section 8 Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) contract and the affordability on 235 apartments for the longest term possible – typically 20 years – when the current HAP contract expires in February 2014.

Sherwood Village, which was built in 1984, has now been refinanced through MassHousing’s Section 8 Proactive Preservation Program, which seeks to extend affordability at MassHousing-financed developments where Section 8 HAP contracts are due to expire. MassHousing’s original loan matures on June 1, 2014.

"Sherwood Village is an important source of affordable housing for senior citizens in Natick and this MassHousing financing will ensure it remains affordable for those seniors for the long term," said MassHousing Executive Director Thomas R. Gleason in a statement.

Located at 145 Mill St. in two, four-story buildings, all 236 apartments at Sherwood Village are one-bedroom units. As part of the refinancing, a number of capital improvements are expected including 504/ADA upgrades, intercom panel system upgrades, refurbishment of pumps connected to common area sprinklers and some minor HVAC work.