Long-term financing from MHP; City, CDC praised for its housing efforts
Posted on June 10, 2009
SOMERVILLE, June 10, 2009 --- Just seven months after celebrating the start of construction, the Somerville Community Corporation (SCC) once again brought together leaders from the public and private sectors to celebrate the grand opening of Saint Polycarp Village, a 24-unit affordable rental housing development that was built due in part to financing from MHP.
Speakers ranging from Congressman Michael Capuano to state Undersecretary for Housing Tina Brooks to Mayor Joseph Curtatone praised the SCC and the city for making sure that Somerville remains affordable. “We’re not just building units, we’re building new neighborhoods, recapturing neighborhoods of the past and building new neighborhoods so that Somerville remains an affordable place for everyone to work and play,” said Mayor Curtatone during opening ceremonies held on June 8.
Featuring one, two and three-bedroom apartments
Built on the corner of the former Saint Polycarp Church grounds, all 24 units will be affordable to households below 60 percent of median income, which in Somerville is $51,480 for a household of four. Four units have been set aside for clients of the Department of Mental Health and two units are for formerly homeless individuals. The project features six one-bedroom units, 12 two-bedroom units and six three-bedroom units on the second, third and fourth floors. The ground floor has three commercial spaces, two of which have been leased.
MHP is providing a $2.3 million long-term financing commitment from its bank-funded loan pool. Additional funding is being provided by the state through the award of low-income housing tax credits, as well as the state’s Housing Stabilization Fund, the Affordable Housing Trust Fund and the Facilities Consolidation Fund. First Sterling Financial was the tax-credit syndicator and Bank of New York Mellon was the tax-credit investor.
The project also received funding from the federal government, City of Somerville HOME funds, the Local Initiative Support Corporation and a construction loan from Bank of America. Acquisition financing was provided by the Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation (CEDAC).
Saint Polycarp also received funding from HomeFunders, a collaborative of local private philanthropic organizations whose mission is to fight homelessness by supporting the creation of rental housing for homeless and extremely low-income (ELI) families. HomeFunders second-mortgage financing is offered by CEDAC and MHP as a way for developers to make units more affordable. This funding helped SCC reserve two of the units for formerly homeless individuals. MHP recently received an additional $4 million from HomeFunders to be used to make units more affordable. For more information, click here.
MHP is a privately-funded, state non-profit housing organization that uses funds from the banking industry to provide long-term loans for affordable rental housing at highly competitive interest rates. Since 1990, MHP has made over $610 million in loans and commitments for the financing of over 15,000 units of rental housing, most of it affordable and on a smaller scale that’s in character with communities. In Somerville, MHP has now provided over $17 million in loans and commitments for the financing of 274 units of rental housing.
Long-term support for Somerville Community Corp.
This is the second time MHP has provided financing to SCC for affordable housing. MHP has also provided SCC with production capacity grant funding so it can pursue and advance specific affordable housing developments. “MHP has not just supported us with financing for projects like this, but in many other ways that has helped keep our organization going,” said SCC Executive Director Daniel LeBlanc.
“Saint Polycarp is an example of what can happen when we support community development corporations and smaller projects that fit the character of the neighborhood,” said Clark Ziegler, MHP’s executive director. “In this economy, many projects like this are stalled and we have to find ways to get them moving. Saint Polycarp gives us hope that there are ways to get these projects done.”
The building also has a complete array of energy-conservation techniques designed to achieve energy conservation. For more information about MHP and this project, contact Loan Officer Joshua Lappen at 617-330-9944 x338.