Boston-based Preservation of Affordable Housing (POAH) received top honors in Affordable Housing Finance (AHF) magazine’s 2013 Readers’ Choice Awards. The nonprofit received the nation’s best developments of 2012-2013 award for its acquisition of an 841-unit affordable housing portfolio in Massachusetts.
POAH will receive the award at a Nov. 22 luncheon at the conclusion of the AHF 2013 Affordable Housing Developers’ Summit in Chicago.
AHF recognizes projects that involve "adding to the affordable housing stock, community revitalization, creative problem-solving, outstanding social services and cost-effective and innovative design and construction," according to a press release
POAH’s winning portfolio consists of six properties, or 841 apartments, that house seniors and low- and moderate-income families. Of these units, 537 are in downtown Boston, 208 are on Cape Cod and 96 are in Hudson. The portfolio purchase, which used tax exempt bonds as well as federal and state low income housing tax credits, constituted one of the largest affordable housing preservation transactions ever supported by Massachusetts and MassHousing. POAH acquired portfolio from the State Street Development Management Co. when it went out of business.
The properties consist of Blackstone Apartments, Franklin Square House and Kenmore Abbey in Boston, King’s Landing in Brewster, Machado House at Peter’s Grove in Hudson and Rock Harbor Village in Orleans.
In order to finance the transaction, POAH received 20-year extensions on the Section 8 contracts that were nearing expiration and made significant improvements at each site. POAH also resolved several complicated issues including mitigating the potential risk of a Section 8 overhang, where Section 8 rents are higher than low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) rents.
"An acquisition of this magnitude and complexity required the support of a wide range of partners – from investors to public sector partners to municipalities and their support helped us ensure that these apartments will remain affordable for decades to come," Rodger Brown, POAH’s managing director of real estate development, said in a statement.
