Posted on June 9, 2014
SOMERVILLE, June 9, 2014 --- The Somerville Community Corp. celebrated the final phase of its eight-year effort to transform a former church site into a new neighborhood with the grand opening of Saint Polycarp III.
Built on the site of the former Saint Polycarp School, Phase III features 31 affordable rental homes in a three-story L-shaped building that sits on a small rise slightly above Phases I and II, creating a small courtyard that also includes a Haitian Church and a shelter for teen-age mothers. All told, SCC developed the property into 84 units of affordable housing.
"We want to be able to build neighborhoods where people can live, work and play, and be able to hang onto our identity of being a city for everybody, which isn't easy given that the Greater Boston housing market is under tremendous pressure," said Mayor Joseph Curtatone at grand opening ceremonies on June 9. "What the Somerville Community Corp. has done is extend the life of a great neighborhood."
SCC also helped resident Maria Salermon and her two children stay in Somerville. Faced with the propsect of moving after the new owner of her apartment building would not accept Section 8, she was able to obtain an apartment at Saint Polycarp and keep her two children in the Somerville schools, where they are comfortable and have friends.
"I love Somerville because they are supportive of the Latino community," said Salermon. "Thank you to Somerville Community Corp. for allowing me to stay in Somerville in a home I can afford."
Saint Polycarp III was financed primarily with federal low-income housing tax credits awarded by the state Department of Housing and Community Development. First Sterling Financial was the tax credit syndicator and BNY Mellon was the construction lender and tax credit investor.
The state provided addititional funding through the Affordable Housing Trust Fund, the Housing Stabilization Fund and the Community Based Housng Fund. The City of Somerville provided $705,000 in federal HOME funds and $95,000 from its affordable housing trust fund.
As it did in phases I and II, MHP used its bank-funded loan pool to provide a $1.62 million long-term loan commitment. All told, MHP has provided a total of $5.6 million in loans and commitments for the three phases of Saint Polycarp, as well as $250,000 in organizational support during the eight years in which the property was acquired and developed.
"It's an absolute privilege to work with the Mayor, his team and the Somerville Community Corporation," said Clark Ziegler, MHP's executive director. "The mayor understands that we have a major affordability problem in Greater Boston and an equally big supply problem and he's trying to do something about it."
Additional supporters of Saint Polycarp include the Community Economic Developmetn Assistance Corp., which provided a $7 million acquisition loan, the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development, Home Funders, MassDevelopment, Bank of America, the Federal Home Loan Bank, the Local Initiatives Support Corporation and the Enterprise Foundation.
SCC Executive Director Danny LeBlanc served as master of ceremonies. Speakers included U.S. Rep. Michael Capuano, state Rep. Denise Provost, state Undersecretary for Housing Aaron Gornstein, regional HUD administrator Barbara Fields, Bob Van Meter of Boston LISC, Michael Mrozinski of BNY Mellon, Ann Soja of First Sterling, Roger Herzog of CEDAC, Tom Gleason of MassHousing and Susan Nohl of the Metropolitan Boston Housing Partnership.
For more information about Saint Polycarp and MHP's financing options, contact Senior Loan Officer David Hanifin at dhanifin@mhp.net.