Image by Market Square Architects | Courtesy of MassHousing
The third development to land an investment from Massachusetts’ Momentum Fund is now in the books.
The state is taking a $9 million equity position in Claremont Companies’ 233-unit, two-building development planed for a large site in Grafton’s Chapter 40R transit-oriented development district.
Filings with the Grafton planning board, which OK’d the project in August 2024, show that 20 percent of the development’s units will be set aside as affordable housing for renters making up to 80 percent of area median income.
Amenities detailed on the plans include a pool, a dog park, a playground, fire pits and grills plus a two-story space marked in plans submitted to the town as an amenity space without further descriptions.
The two buildings come with 383 car parking spots split between surface and detached garages, plus a ramp down to Grafton’s station on the MBTA’s Worcester commuter rail line.
“Claremont has been providing quality housing to Massachusetts residents for over 57 years. We are very grateful for Governor [Maura] Healey’s program to assist more construction for the needed housing shortage in the Commonwealth,” Claremont Companies’ Chairman and CEO Patrick Carney said in a statement provided by MassHousing, which is administering the Momentum Fund.
MassHousing has now committed $37 million of its $50 million in financing from Healey’s Affordable Homes Act, passed by the legislature last summer. Other recipients include a 170-unit Allston apartment building and a 92-unit Milton development, plus a $13 million legislative earmark for The Davis Companies’ big 1234 Soldiers Field Road project in Brighton. It’s set up as a revolving fund that will loan out more money once its initial investments are paid back by takeout financing, but before then it could get a second infusion of cash from unspecified big nonprofits looking for a return on their savings, state officials have said.
The Claremont project is the first the fund has financed outside Greater Boston.
“MassHousing is thrilled to support the development of Claremont Grafton, bringing new housing to a smart growth location, and providing more housing choices to households who live and work in Worcester County,” MassHousing CEO Chrystal Kornegay said in a statement. “Momentum equity has now accelerated construction on nearly 500 new homes. Thanks to the Healey-Driscoll Administration’s Affordable Homes Act, we are putting innovative finance to work at scale, and working collaboratively to address the state’s housing needs.”
The fund’s dollars, which are being doubled by an infusion from the city of Boston’s cash reserves courtesy of Mayor Michelle Wu for Boston-specific projects, are meant to go towards larger, so-called “mixed-income” projects to help close gaps in their capital stacks created by high interest rates and construction cost inflation.
For each project, MassHousing is also partnering with commercial brokerage Berkadia to secure permanent financing from Freddie Mac.
