Michael Mattos
President and executive director, Affordable Housing and Services Collaborative Inc.
Age: 44
Industry experience: 15 years
Michael Mattos’ organization finds overlooked properties that can be repurposed as affordable housing and refreshes aging housing complexes to extend their useful life. The president of Braintree-based Affordable Housing and Services Collaborative since 2013, Mattos has led the 20-year-old nonprofit’s efforts to expand and preserve affordability throughout Massachusetts. The agency was founded with support from the late developer Edward A. Fish, and has completed more than 30 projects spanning 2,500 units, along with 179 supportive housing units for formerly homeless veterans.
Q: How does AHSC approach project planning amid uncertainties about funding sources for affordable housing?
A: The way we approach our project is always to fit the parameters to the state funding and federal Low-Income [Housing] Tax Credits. That’s the primary source of equity for our projects. That way, we don’t have too much of a gap. But a lot of times, there are resources in cities such as Community Preservation Act and affordable housing trust funds. We will gap-fill with the local resources, but the primary staple of affordable housing is DHCD. With the stimulus, we hope there will be an increase in spending.
DHCD usually has one round per year and then a mini-round in the spring, so we have two projects we’re preparing to enter in this round. One is an occupied renovation, and the other is a scattered-site development in Boston. In Stoneham, we’re looking at a new development including demolition of an older building and new construction. We’ve started the conversation with the owners, but haven’t gone to the next step. Our philosophy in general is to try to form partnerships. You can do more collaboratively and working with others, because there’s so many folks out there doing what we are going to do. Rather than compete, we can work together and create better projects that way.
Q: Your organization is upgrading Powdermill Village, a Westfield property including a building that was damaged in a 2018 fire. How did that affect the timeline and scope of the project?
A: Powdermill Village is 248 units and 12 buildings on 16 acres. It was a property that had a ton of old debt and I called it “death by a thousand paper cuts.” It needed so much capital investment that it was beyond a simple refinance and repositioning. We were looking to capitalize that when the fire happened and the insurance proceeds helped cover the building that was done first, and we utilized that building as a hospitality suite to help with on-site relocation. It was unfortunate circumstances and we had it under agreement, but hadn’t actually closed. The fire occurred when we were waiting for our financing commitment from the Department of Housing and Community Development. The project is still ongoing and we expect completion by the end of November.
Q: How heavily do you rely on properties offered by public agencies as part of your site searches?
A: The project we have now in Taunton, [40 units of senior housing] at the Walker School, was the result of winning the RFP. We joint-ventured with Taunton Revitalization Inc., the housing authority’s nonprofit. I grew up in Taunton and it was a special project for me. We’re working on a proposal for 252 units over three phases for the Chelsea Soldiers’ Home, and we’re hopeful to hear on that by the end of summer. We’re awaiting a response from DCAMM [the state Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance].
So, we do a fair amount of requests for proposals with state and local bodies, but a lot of our sites come from private owners who have a troubled asset and they’re looking to do something with it. We did a project up in Haverhill that was just an abandoned building. I met the owner for coffee, and three years later the building had 62 units for families in downtown Haverhill.
The other thing that tends to happen is a lot of nonprofits have been struggling financially, and over the past few years we’ve acquired a partnership and repositioned their assets to set them up for long-term affordability and success. In Dorchester, we acquired 614 Columbia Road and 392 Columbia Road, which have 91 units. They have capital needs and some old debt that needs to be restructured. We’re going to reposition and refinance them and do an occupied renovation. In July, we received zoning approval to convert the Zelma Lacey House in Charlestown from assisted living to independent living for seniors. It will be 48 units and 100 percent affordable. We will convert units into one-bedrooms with full kitchens so people can live independently.
Q: What is ACHS’s relationship with Peabody Properties?
A: The organization was founded with assistance from Edward Fish, and over the years the organization had grown to the point where they needed full-time staff and I came in to do that. I had worked at Peabody Properties, so I was aware of the organization. We’ve been doing multifamily projects for the last eight years, and we still work with Peabody as strategic partners. We’re not affiliated legally, but it makes sense because they’re a great management company for multifamily.
Mattos’ Five Favorite Musicians and Bands
- Bob Dylan
- Oasis
- JonPardi
- Dwight Yoakam
- The Band
