Casa di Anna housing honors Lawrence's rich immigrant tradition

LAWRENCE, June 13, 2014 --- Lawrence Community Works (LCW) used the grand opening of Casa di Anna to not only celebrate the completion of 18 new rental homes in the city's North Common neighborhood but also to remind everyone of the city's long history as a place where immigrants have come to build better lives.

LCW named the housing after Anna di LoPizzo, an Italian immigrant textile worker killed by police during the infamous "Bread and Roses" labor strike of 1912. LCW did this to honor LoPizzo, who lived in the neighborhood, and all the working people who have given Lawrence its rich immigrant history.

"Lawrence Community Works was born out of the realization that this is an immigrant city and an urban renewal plan back in the 1980s that proposed to ban low-income housing in this neighborhood," said Armand Hyatt, an LCW board member at the June 13 grand opening. "LCW was created to fight this idea and it's why LCW continues to champion affordable housing in this city."

Built on the site of the former Italian American Citizens Association, Casa di Anna features eight two-bedroom and 10 three-bedroom rental apartments, all affordable to families below 60 percent of median income. The attractive three-story building is a few blocks from LCW's new headquarters and near other LCW housing developments, including  Reviviendo Family Housing, Scarito Homes, Union Crossing and the soon-to-be developed Duck Mill at Union Crossing.

"Growing up in Lawrence, this is a neighborhood where I used to hang out in and play," said Vin Manzi, vice chair of the Massachusetts Housing Partnership board of directors. "Then, in the 1980s, my law office was here and I saw that this neighborhood was in decay and that the pride was gone. Then LCW came along and began the hard work of bringing it back. We're proud of the work LCW has done and we are looking forward to doing more projects with them in the future."

Casa di Anna was financed primarily with federal low-income housing tax credits awarded by the state Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), with addtional state funding coming from the state's Housing Stabilization Fund, the Affordable Housing Trust Fund and MassDevelopment's Brownfields Redevelopment Fund.

The Massachusetts Housing Investment Corp. was the tax-credit syndicator. TD Bank was the construction lender. MHP is providing a $460,000 long-term loan from its bank-funded loan pool. Addtional financial support came from the Life Initiative and the City of Lawrence.

LCW Executive Director Jess Andors was master of ceremonies at the event. Speakers included U.S. Rep. Niki Tsongas, Mayor Dan Rivera, state Rep. Marcos Devers, Susan Schlesinger of the Life Initiative, Rebecca Frawley of DHCD and Concepcion Leonardo, a single mother from Santo Domingo who will be living in one of the new apartments with her three children and her mother.

"Thank God and LCW for this blessing," said Leonardo. "Before this, I was stressed out and not sleeping because I was worried that I could not find an apartment I could afford. Now, I feel like my problems have been solved."

For more information about this development and MHP's financing options, contact MHP Senior Loan Officer Amanda Roe at aroe@mhp.net.