Built on former state hopsital site; project built with 40B; agency made loan commitment too
Posted on September 20, 2007
FOXBOROUGH, September 20 --- It's not often that a suburban town and its housing authority tackle the challenge of developing affordable housing but that's exactly what state and local leaders celebrated on September 19 when the Foxborough Housing Authority (FHA) officially
opened 18 new affordable rental apartments built on the grounds of the former Foxborough State Hospital.
Developed by the FHA, the new housing on Baker Street consists of 18 new two and three-bedroom apartments in seven new buildings. All units will be affordable to families below 50 percent of median income, which in Foxborough is no more than $42,050 for a family of four. The project also includes the renovation of an existing home on Baker Street into two more units, which are expected to be ready for for occupancy by January, 2008.
The Massachusetts Housing Partnership (MHP) provided early technical assistance to the housing authority as well as $2.68 million in long-term first mortgage financing and a $750,000 deferred payment second mortgage. Further funding for the $4.7 million project was provided by the state Department of Housing and Community Development, the state's Affordable Housing Trust Fund and the Massachusetts Housing Investment Corporation.
The state's Department of Capital Asset Management was key to the project's affordability, selling the 4.8 acre site to the FHA for $1 in 2004. The Town of Foxborough cleared the way for the project, approving a Chapter 40B comprehensive permit that allowed the multi-family project to be built on the state hospital site.
"The town and the housing authority should be commended for its dedication in finding a way to create more affordable housing for its residents," said Rita Farrell, a senior advisor for MHP, who worked closely with the FHA during the project. "It took great leadership and perseverance to see this project through and by doing this, Foxborough illustrated to the rest of the state the potential of developing housing on surplus state land, and also how housing authorities can be involved in preserving and creating more housing."