Jamaica Plain and Roxbury-based community development corporation Urban Edge has been awarded a $325,000 affordable housing grant to rehabilitate apartments in Roxbury and Jamaica Plain.
Urban Edge Limited Partnership (UELP) Apartments, a scattered-site, 82-unit multifamily affordable rental housing development, will benefit from the grant, according to a statement.
Urban Edge is one of 115 local NeighborWorks organizations nationwide to receive $34.9 million in Capital Funding for the Rehabilitation of Affordable Housing (CFRAH) grants to rehabilitate or finance the rehabilitation of affordable housing, including in smaller and rural communities with affordable housing needs.
"Rehabilitation of existing multifamily housing benefits many – residents who will enjoy improved housing conditions, owners who will benefit from lower operating expenses, communities that will see increased property values and a cleaner environment, and people put to work by the construction dollars," said Chrystal Kornegay, Urban Edge’s president and CEO. "We applaud and thank the Congress and NeighborWorks for their wise investment in Urban Edge and the other grant recipients."
The grants enable Urban Edge and other local small- and medium-size nonprofit businesses to develop, or continue to fund:
• Revolving loan funds for rehabilitation lending for owner-occupied property;
• Rehab of residential rental housing currently owned by local NeighborWorks organizations;
• Rehab of residential rental housing that is newly acquired or will be acquired by local NeighborWorks organizations;
• Rehab of single-family homes that will be acquired or have been recently acquired by local NeighborWorks organizations and will be sold to homeowners.
In addition to enabling nonprofit small businesses to acquire and rehab properties, the $35 million in grant funding will also jump start local economies through the creation of more than 1,000 jobs, and produce in excess of $300 million in economic activity.
The funding will allow Urban Edge to upgrade the apartment’s main building systems, envelopes and structural integrity and address related capital needs. Urban Edge will employ the same integrated green development approach at UELP Apartments used in every Urban Edge project, which is guided by the LEED and green communities rating systems and the organization’s sustainability goals. This rehabilitation will build on Urban Edge’s experience with other projects and will provide opportunities for educating residents about sustainable living practices while promoting meaningful resident engagement.
