Lawrence-based non-profit begins construction on 108 Newbury St.
Posted on September 18, 2013
LAWRENCE, Sept. 18, 2013 --- In its ongoing mission to help families and build strong neighborhoods, the non-profit Lawrence Community Works recently celebrated the start of construction of 18 affordable rental homes in the North Common section of the city.
When complete, the development at 108 Newbury St. will feature eight two-bedroom and 10 three-bedroom apartments in one four-story building. Fourteen of the homes will be affordable to families at 60 percent of median income and four will be affordable to families at 30 percent of median income.
The development is being built on the former site of the city's Italian American Civic Association. It is located between LCW's headquarters and its most recent affordable rental housing development, Union Crossing, which involved the adaptive reuse of the old Southwick Mill into 60 affordable rental homes. The development at 108 Newbury Street is also across the street from another LCW development, Scarrito Homes, a 10-unit affordable condominium for first-time homebuyers.
"Non-profits are crucial to having a successful city and the City of Lawrence is very fortunate to have a partner like Lawrence Community Works," said Jim Barnes, the city's community development director at groundbreaking ceremonies on Friday, Sept. 13.
The Newbury St. project is being financed primarily with federal low-income housing tax credits awarded by the state Department of Housing and Community Development, with the Massachusetts Housing Investment Corp. (MHIC) as the tax credit investor. Additional financing is being provided by the City of Lawrence, MassDevelopment, the state's Affordable Housing Trust Fund, the state's Housing Stabilization Fund, NeighborWorks America and TD Bank North.
MHP is using its bank-funded loan pool to provide a $460,000 long-term loan commitment. This is the third LCW project MHP has financed. Previous developments financed by MHP are Union Crossing and Farnham Court (11 scattered site units).
MHP has now provided LCW with over $3.5 million in first- and second-mortgage loans and commitments for the financing of 89 rental units, all of them affordable. In Lawrence, MHP has now provided over $13 million in first and second-mortgage loans for the financing of 15 developments totaling 490 units, 455 of the units affordable.
MHP Board of Directors Vice Chair Vincent Manzi, a Lawrence native who has practiced law in the city for many years, praised LCW's reputation as being a key ingredient in the city's ability to attract public and private investment for affordable housing and economic development. A member of the MHP board since 1985, Manzi said that wasn't always the case.
"In my first years on the MHP board, I often wondered why we weren't doing much in Lawrence and finally one day somebody told me that Lawrence was like a black hole in that you'd put money in and it would never come back," he said. "That's not the case anymore and a big reason for that is Lawrence Community Works, which not only does bricks and mortar projects like this but also has a range of youth and asset-building programs that helps families. LCW is one of the premier non-profits in the state."
The groundbreaking event was emceed by Armand Hyatt, LCW's general counsel. Hyatt said the development is currently being called 108 Newbury St. but will likely be renamed by the grand opening.
For more information about this development and MHP financing programs, contact MHP Senior Loan Officer Amanda Roe at 617-330-9944 x273.