Gateway Cities like Lawrence that are within bearable commuting distance of Boston’s core have seen demand for their houses soar as Boston homebuyers seek to avoid the hellish traffic and transit problems gripping the region.
MassHousing has closed on a total of $28.8 million in financing for the creation of a new, 180-unit affordable housing community in Lawrence, where Reed Realty Advisors will turn a section of the former Pacific Mills cotton complex into new mixed-income housing for households with a range of incomes.
City officials and developers know that Fitchburg is unlikely to become the next Somerville, the once hard-scrabble city that’s now one of the hottest and hippest places to live and work in Massachusetts.
In Massachusetts’ Gateway Cities, where borrowers’ loan applications may have more blemishes than those seen in the affluent suburbs, credit unions are often in a better position than larger lenders to help those would-be homeowners realize their goals.
Can a former mill town on the New Hampshire border become a proving ground for developing new office buildings and market-rate housing in Massachusetts’ economically disadvantaged Gateway Cities?
