Posted on June 25, 2012
Speaking on June 25 at the grand opening of the second phase of affordable housing development at the former church site, Lafuente said "it's wonderful to see what's now happening on this block" and he praised Somerville Community Corporation for being proactive for acquiring the site and turning it into more affordable housing opportunities for the residents of Somerville.
Saint Polycarp Phase II consists of 29 rental homes affordable to families below 60 percent of area median income, which in Somerville is no more than $58,680 for a family of four. The attractive three-story apartment building features three one-bedroom, 20 two-bedroom and six three-bedroom apartments. Two of the units are handicapped accessible.
The grand opening of Phase II comes three years after SCC completed Phase I, which features 24 affordable rental apartments. SCC is now in the process of razing the adjacent parochial school and developing that site into 31 affordable rental units. The site also includes a church building owned and occupied by a Haitian missionary church congregation and a former rectory which houses a women's transitional housing program owned and operated by the Cambridge-based CDC Just-A-Start, Inc.
"What Somerville Community Corporation is doing is transforming an entire block into a new neighborhood," said Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone.
MHP has used its bank-funded loan pool to provide permanent long-term loans and financing commitments for all three phases. It provide a $2.3 million first mortgage for Phase I, a $1.6 million loan commitment for Phase II and a $1.6 million loan commitment for Phase III.
"We're in it all the way with Saint Polycarp," said Clark Ziegler, MHP' executive director. "We've financed over 18,000 units of affordable rental housing all over the Commonwealth and we can honestly say that the people of Somerville are enormously blessed to have a nonprofit as effective as Somerville Community Corporation and a city that supports affordable housing."
The majority of the financing for Saint Polycarp Phase II was providedthrough federal low-income housing tax credits awarded by the state Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), with First Sterling Financial as the tax credit investor. DHCD and the state also provided additional financial support through the Affordable Housing Trust Fund, the Housing Stabilization Fund and the Community Based Housing Program, which supports the creation of handicapped accessible units. Bank of America is providing construction financing while the City of Somerville provided $720,000 in federal HOME funds and $250,000 from its own housing trust.
Master of ceremonies at the grand opening was SCC Executive Director Danny LeBlanc. The event was attended by many local leaders, including Congressman Michael Capuano and State Representative Denise Provost.
For more information about MHP's financing options, contact MHP Loan Officer David Hanifin at 617-330-9944 x338 or dhanafin@mhp.net.