An architectural rendering of the Newburyport Crossing Phase III development. Image courtesy of MINCO Development / via the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities
The state is assigning $15 million more from its Momentum Fund to three mixed-income housing developments that will create 192 new apartments in Milton, Middleton and Newburyport, Gov. Maura Healey announced last week.
The fund takes equity positions in projects using money allocated by Healey’s 2024 housing bonding bill. The three projects awarded last week, which have already received local approvals, will use the equity financing to move into construction more quickly.
“Massachusetts needs more homes, and we need to make it faster and less expensive to get them built,” Healey said in a statement. “The Momentum Fund helps us do both by lowering financing costs, unlocking private investment and moving permitted projects into construction so more families, workers and communities can find reasonably priced homes.”
The Residences at Quarry Hills, in Milton, will get $2.5 million in public equity financing to support a 40-unit mixed-income rental community. It’s the second development in Milton to get Momentum Fund dollars, and it’s being developed by Falconi Properties, HP Homes and Agora Properties.
MINCO Development will get $6.5 million in public equity financing to support the third phase of its Newburyport Crossing development, expected to create 92 mixed-income rental homes adjacent to the Newburyport MBTA Commuter Rail station.
Finally, Villebridge Real Estate Development’s Residences at Middleton Corner will use $6 million in public equity financing to support a 60-unit mixed-income rental community in Middleton’s town center.
“The Affordable Homes Act gave us new tools to turn housing plans into homes people can afford to live in,” Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll said in a statement. “These projects in Milton, Newburyport and Middleton show how strong partnerships among the state, local communities and private developers can deliver more homes where residents need them.”
The Momentum Fund was created by Healey under the Affordable Homes Act. The fund offers low-cost capital to help already permitted housing projects begin construction if they contain a mix of affordable and market-rate housing. MassHousing, which administers the fund for the state, aims to support the creation of more than 1,000 new units of multifamily housing with $50 million of state investment capital. So far, $50 million of Momentum Fund money has been pledged to equity investments that would support the development of 627 mixed-income rental homes, including 140 affordable homes.
The public dollars don’t get invested until after developers complete construction and land takeout financing for their apartment development, with the intent of de-risking both the construction loan and the permanent loan by creating some margin for error in the building’s financial performance.
“The Momentum Fund is an innovative, first-in-the-nation tool built for this moment,” Housing and Livable Communities Secretary Juana Matias said in a statement. “By leveraging public investment to attract private capital, we can help permitted housing projects move forward despite challenging financing conditions, accelerate the creation of mixed-income homes, and establish a revolving source of funding that will continue supporting housing production across Massachusetts.”
MassHousing previously committed Momentum Fund equity financing to the Residences at East Milton in Milton, a 92-unit mixed-income rental development by and to Claremont Grafton, a 233-unit mixed-income rental development. The fund has also partnered with the city of Boston’s similar Housing Accelerator Fund to pledge a total of $10.5 million in public equity funding to 20 Malcolm X Boulevard, a 110-unit new construction project located in Roxbury. Boston’s fund has already made a $50 million pledge to one of the buildings in the redevelopment of the Bunker Hill public housing redevelopment from Leggat McCall Properties and the Boston Housing Authority.
