Posted on October 18, 2012
QUINCY, Oct. 18, 2012 --- There was no shortage of superlatives at the grand opening of Winter Gardens as speaker after speaker praised Neighborhood Housing Services of the South Shore (NHS) for tearing down a rundown home and replacing it with an attractive three-story apartment building featuring 24 units of affordable rental housing for families.
"As everyone knows, we have an affordable housing crisis," said Arthur Jemison, deputy director of the state Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD). "That's why the Patrick Administration appreciates the work of community development corporations like NHS for all they do to try to solve it."
The $8.5 million development was financed primarily with federal low-income housing tax credits awarded by DHCD, with the privately-funded Massachusetts Housing Investment Corporation as the tax-credit investor. DHCD also provided $1 million in HOME Funds and $538,000 from its Community Based Housing Program, which provides funding for the development of housing for people with disabilities, including elders. The state also provided $1 million from its Affordable Housing Trust Fund.
The Massachusetts Housing Partnership used its $1.1 billion bank-funded loan pool to provide a $1 million long-term loan commitment. Since 1990, MHP has used its private funds to provide over $816 million in loans and commitments for the financing of over 18,000 units of rental housing.
"This is an absolutely miraculous transformation," said Megan Mulcahy, senior loan officer for MHP. "NHS took a bleak site and made it into 24 attractive and environmentally-friendly apartments that will provide good homes for families for years to come."
Two more key funders were The City of Quincy ($725,000) and Bank of America, whhichprovided the construction financing.
Winter Gardens, located on Winter St. in the Quincy Point neighborhood, is notable for its inclusion of affordable apartments families. Of the 24 homes, 18 will have two bedrooms and three will have three bedrooms. All 24 apartments will be affordable to households earning below 60 percent of area median income, which in Quincy is no more than $58,680 for a family of four.
NHS President Normand Grenier and NHS Executive Director Rob Corley served as master of ceremonies. Corley used the occasion to announce that NHS will be changing its name to NeighborWorks of Southern Mass., which is a reflection of the nonprofits recent work in the Brockton and New Bedford areas.
Also speaking at the grand opening were Quincy Mayor Thomas P. Koch, State Senator John F. Keenan, MHIC Executive Director Joe Flatley and Barbara Fields, regional administrator for the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development.
For more information about this development and MHP financing, contact MHP Senior Loan Officer Megan Mulcahy at mmulcahy@mhp.net.