Posted on October 7, 2015
SOMERVILLE, Oct. 7, 2015 --- After talking about what Somerville Community Corporation's latest development will mean for Union Square, Mayor Joseph Curtatone went off script for a moment to recall some of the happiest days of his life on this very site.
He told the audience of lenders, residents and local leaders that he went to elementary school here when it was the Charles G. Pope School and he recalled playing whiffle ball for hours in the school yard. He pointed to bricks still painted gray about 20 feet up on the school wall and told everyone any ball hit higher than those gray bricks was a home run. "This was our Fenway Park," he said.
But there was a point to the mayor's digression. When he played whiffle ball there, Somerville was a working class town with working class kids and although the Pope School he went to as a child will be torn down, the mayor is happy it will soon be replaced by 35 affordable apartments for working class families like the ones he remembers from his elementary school days.
"We have a goal of building 9,000 units in 15 years and a significant portion of these will be affordable," said the mayor at groundbreaking ceremonies on Sept. 17. "As Somerville becomes more expensive, we're trying to maintain our eclectic mix. We want to preserve the individual businesses and continue to be a place where people come to live, work and rise up like we did."
Union Square Apartments will be located on the former Pope school site, which in later years became the Boys and Girls Club. At 181 Washington St., it is just blocks from Union Square and the proposed new Green Line extension. When complete, the new four-story 35-unit building will feature commercial space, nine one-bedroom, 22 two-bedroom and four three-bedroom apartments, all affordable to families at or below 60 percent of area median income, which is $59,100 for a family of four. Eight apartments will be set aside for families earning at or below 30 percent of area median income, three of which will be for families with disabilities and two for homeless families.
MHP is supporting Union Square with over $2.3 million in long-term financing from its bank-funded loan pool. This is the sixth time MHP has made a loan to SCC for affordable housing development. Separately, MHP has provided SCC with a $25,000 grant to work with the city on new planning and zoning guidelines that will enable the city to add affordable housing as it grows.
"SCC has benefitted tremendously from MHP in more ways than I can count," said Dan Leblanc, SCC's executive director.
MHP Executive Director Clark Ziegler praised SCC and the city for working together to make affordable housing happen in one of the city's hottest neighborhoods. "This development was anticipated by local zoning," said Ziegler. "We need to find ways to encourage smart developments like this."
The development is being financed primarily with federal and state Low Income Housing Tax Credits awarded by the state Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD). DHCD provided additional funding through its Housing Stabilization and Community Based Housing programs, as well as its Affordable Housing Trust Fund, which is administered by MassHousing. Eastern Bank provided the construction loan and First Sterling Financial was the tax credit investor. Additional financing was provided by the Community Economic Development Assitance Corp. (CEDAC) and the City of Somerville.
Leblanc served as master of ceremonies for the groundbreaking at the mayor's former field of dreams. Also speaking were Ward 3 Alderman Bob McWatters, SCC board member John Cater, state Rep. Denise Provost, state Undersecretary for Housing Chrystal Kornegay, CEDAC Executive Director Roger Herzog, MassHousing Executive Director Tom Gleason, Chris Scoville of Eastern Bank and Maureen Catallo of First Sterling.
For more information about this development and MHP's financing options, contact Senior Loan Officer David Hanifin at 617-330-9944 x338.