Posted on October 25, 2018
BOSTON --- MHP used its private bank financing and other capital sources in 2018 to preserve and stabilize affordable housing while also making long-term permanent loans to support the state’s efforts to add new housing.
In fiscal year 2018, MHP committed $222 million for the financing of 1,750 apartments. This was the most financing dollars MHP has ever provided in a single year, surpassing its previous high of $113 million in 2014.
Of the units financed, 897 were affordable at or below 60 percent of area median income. Also in FY18, MHP closed 18 loans totaling $182 million for the financing of 1,563 apartments, 1,009 of which were affordable at or below 60 percent of area median income.
MHP uses three primary funding sources – it’s one-of-a-kind bank-funded loan pool, Fannie Mae and the Federal Housing Administration Programs, including Treasury Risk Share. All told, MHP has provided over $1.2 billion for the financing of over 25,000 units of rental housing. For more information, check out this overview of MHP’s financing programs.
Here’s a quick roundup of MHP’s commitments and closings in fiscal year 2018:
Boston
Dorchester - Using its bank-funded loan pool, MHP closed on a $3 million permanent loan to the Codman Square Neighborhood Development Corp. for Whittier-Lyndhurst-Washington (WLW), a 44-apartment neighborhood stabilization effort in the city’s Codman Square neighborhood.
WLW involved the purchase and rehab of a distressed nine-unit brick building; development of eight units on a vacant lot at 472 Washington St.; rehabilitation of 14 public housing units at the former Whittier School on Southern Ave.; and three new buildings and 13 units on two vacant lots next to the Whittier School. Prior to its loan, MHP provided technical assistance to evaluate the public housing and recommended that it be preserved in conjunction with the development of the adjacent vacant lots.
Jamaica Plain – MHP closed on a $1.8 million permanent loan for 75 Amory Avenue, a new 39-unit, four-story apartment building within walking distance of the Jackson Square MBTA station. The development is 100 percent affordable to households earning 60 percent or less of Area Median Income. Seventy-five percent of the apartments are family-sized, with 19 two- and 10 three-bedroom units.
Lower Roxbury – MHP closed on a $6.3 million, 40-year, fixed-rate Treasury Risk Share loan to the Commonwealth Land Trust. The financing supported CLT’s efforts to repair and preserve affordability of 70 apartments that provide stable homes and on-site case management services to the formerly homeless and many of Boston's most vulnerable citizens. These homes are spread across nine historic, brick walk-up buildings in the Roxbury/South End neighborhood near the Ruggles MBTA station and Northeastern University.
Roxbury – MHP has committed $2.8 million in long-term financing to The Community Builders for the development of The Clarion, a new mixed-income 39-unit apartment building that will be built on several vacant parcels at the corner of Quincy Street and Blue Hill Avenue. MHP is financing the Clarion with a 40-year, low-interest, fixed-rate loan through its Treasury Risk Share Program. The development will consist of one four-story building with almost 6,000 square feet of ground floor commercial space and 15 one-, 21 two- and three three-bedroom apartments on the upper floors. Twenty-seven apartments will be affordable at 60 percent of area median income, five units will be affordable up to 100 percent AMI and seven will be rented at market rate.
Roxbury - Using its Treasury Risk Share Program, MHP provided a low-interest, 40-year $18 million loan commitment to Urban Edge for the preservation of Wardman Apartments, an 88-unit apartment complex of four brick buildings in Egleston Square. The property offers a range of affordable housing options, featuring 22 one-, 34 two-, 22 three- and 10 four-bedroom apartments.
South End – Working in partnership with the Massachusetts Housing Investment Corp., MHP committed $5 million from its bank-funded loan pool to provide construction and permanent financing to Tent City Corporation for the historic renovation and preservation of 30 affordable apartments in Boston’s pricy South End neighborhood. The loan will support the renovation of six four-story brownstones which hold five apartments each. Built in the 1800s, the brownstones are located between Dartmouth and Clarendon Streets near Copley Square. The apartments will remain affordable – 28 apartments at 50 percent of area median income and two at 80 percent AMI.
Metro Boston
Brookline - Using its Treasury Risk Share funding source, MHP provided Hebrew Senior Life with a $32.3 million low-interest 40-year loan commitment to preserve the affordability of 212 apartments for seniors in the Coolidge Corner area of Brookline. The 12-story Marilyn and Andre Danesh Family Residences consists of 64 studios, 118 one- and 30 two-bedroom units with 127 affordable up to 100 percent AMI.
Norwood - MHP provided the Jefferson Investment Company LLC and KKR Real Estate Partners America II with a $58.5 million loan for the acquisition of One Upland, a 262-unit mixed-income apartment complex. The financing came through Fannie Mae’s MBS Program and closed in October, 2017.
Reading – Using its Treasury Risk Share Program and its ability to provide an interest rate lock prior to permanent closing, MHP committed $3.4 million in permanent financing to developer Michael Sullivan and Equitable Reading Housing for the redevelopment of a former school building into 20 mixed-income apartments. MHP also provided the Project Eligibility Letter, which a developer needs from a financing organization to apply to the town for a Ch. 40B comprehensive land use permit.
Wayland – Using its bank-funded loan pool, MHP closed on a $12.23 million permanent loan to Ronald Simons and Bodwell Pines Corp. for Commonwealth Residences, a 52-apartment mixed-income development built with a Ch. 40B comprehensive land-use permit. Thirteen apartments are affordable to families at or below 80 percent AMI. MHP also provided a Project Eligibility Letter, which is what a developer needs from a financing organization to apply to the town for a Ch. 40B permit.
North of Boston
Haverhill – MHP committed $3 million in first mortgage permanent financing to help Coalition for a Better Acre (CBA) redevelop a long-vacant former four-story Gerson Furniture building into 44 affordable apartments for veterans and their families.
Haverhill – MHP closed on a $7 million loan to the Planning Office of Urban Affairs for the revitalization of the former Woolworth’s Dept. Store site into a mixed-use development 80 mixed-income apartments and an office building, all overlooking the Merrimack River. Known as Harbor Place, the development was recently recognized by the Urban Land Institute with a 2018 Jack Kemp Award for innovation in affordable and workforce housing development.
Lawrence – MHP closed on a $3.3 million loan to Lawrence Community Works for the redevelopment of the former Duck Mill into 73 affordable apartments. The development is LCW’s latest effort to bring safe, decent housing to Lawrence, in this case turning the 125,000 square foot Duck Mill into seven one-, 37 two-, and 29 three-bedroom apartments for families, all affordable at or below 60 percent of area median income.
SE Mass
Attleboro – Continuing its support of Winn Development’s efforts to turn abandoned mills all over Massachusetts into community assets again, MHP has committed $1.85 million in private bank financing to support the transformation of the four-story Mechanic Mill into 91 mixed-income one- and two-bedroom apartments for residents 55 and older, with 56 affordable to households at or below 60 percent of area median income. Prior to Winn’s effort, the building was home to a few small businesses but was mostly empty. In its heyday, it was a jewelry factory specializing in religious metal ware.
Fall River - Using its Treasury Risk Share Program, MHP provided a low-interest, $3.5 million 40-year fixed-rate loan commitment to Nebel Management Corp. for the preservation of the Hudner Building, a classic three-story brick building with 39 mixed-income apartments for seniors 60 and older in downtown Fall River.
Norton – MHP provided Jones Street Investment Partners with a $38.4 million loan for the acquisition of East Main Street Apartments, a 188-unit mixed-income apartment complex. Financing for this acquisition also came through Fannie Mae’s MBS Program and closed in March, 2018.
Raynham – Using its bank-funded loan pool, MHP committed $8.7 million in permanent financing for Riverview Meadows, a new 60-unit mixed-income development located within a mile of Route 24. The apartments are located next to Riverview Meadows Phase 1, a 91-unit development built by Douglas A King Builders in 1987 and refinanced by MHP in 2014. For Phase II, MHP also provided Douglas King with a Project Eligibility Letter, which a developer needs to apply to the town for a Ch. 40B permit.
Taunton – MHP used its Treasury Risk Share Program to provide a low-interest, 40-year $4.2 million loan commitment to an affiliate of Peabody Properties for the acquisition of Robertson on the River, a 64-unit affordable housing development. The financing stabilizes a property that had been originally developed by the non-profit Weir Corporation in 2004.
Cape Cod
Eastham - Using its Treasury Risk Share Program, MHP committed a low-interest, 40-year $4.4 million permanent first mortgage loan to Pennrose LLC for the new construction of 65 mixed-income apartments serving households between 30 and 120 percent of area median income. The project will consist of 18 three-story buildings centered around two common green spaces interconnected by walking paths. The site has been vacant for 15 years and is owned by the town, with a 99-year ground lease extended to the developer. The development is also receiving $1.1 million in Community Preservation Act funds from the town and another $200,000 from Wellfleet and Orleans.
Hyannis – MHP continued its tradition of providing permanent financing for new housing built with federal tax credits, providing a $2.6 million loan for Village Green Phase II, a 60-unit 100 percent affordable housing development on land near an industrial park and about a mile east of the Cape Cod mall.
Provincetown – Continuing its support of small-scale development of year-round housing on Cape Cod, MHP closed on a $1.9 million permanent loan to Community Housing Resources, which developed a former horse stable property near Race Point Beach into 23 mixed-income apartments. Called Stable Path, the new neighborhood is spread out over 10 townhouse buildings on 2.3 acres.
Wellfleet – MHP financed another small-scale loan, using its bank-funded loan pool to make a $640,000 loan to Community Housing Resources for Gull Pond, which features six apartments affordable to households at or below 60 percent AMI.
Yarmouth Commons – MHP committed $3.8 million in long-term financing to support Dakota Partners’ development of a former motel site into 69 apartments affordable to households at or below 60 percent AMI. The development is noteworthy in that the town created a motel conversion bylaw to promote the reuse of such properties and then supported the effort with $2 million in local funds from its local affordable housing trust.
Central Mass.
Fitchburg – The power of local support, private and public financing, and a developer with an outstanding record of breathing new life into old mills is epitomized in the redevelopment of Fitchburg Yarn Works. Developed by WinnCompanies with federal and state low-income and housing tax credits, the development features 57 market-rate and 39 affordable apartments – 29 at or below 60 percent AMI and 10 for households below 30 percent AMI. The property, which sits along the Nashua River about a mile from downtown, opened in 2017 and MHP supported the effort with a $2.5 million loan from its bank-funded loan pool.
Leominster – MHP will be part of the state’s efforts to turn Leominster’s long-vacant former high school into an asset again, committing $500,000 from its bank-funded loan pool to support the development of the property into 39 affordable apartments. To be known as the Carter School, the 114-year-old building will be redeveloped by NewVue Communities, a Fitchburg-based housing nonprofit.
Uxbridge – Continuing its long tradition of supporting small loans that fit the community, MHP used its private bank funds to provide a $250,000 loan commitment to support the transformation of the historic Blanchard School into 25 mixed-income apartments. The old wooden school and an attached new wing is being developed by a local group – the Virginia Blanchard Memorial Housing Association – in partnership with developer Jon Juhl. The Community Economic Development Assistance Corp. provided early funding. The development is being built with a Ch. 40B comprehensive land use permit, with the state Department of Housing and Community Development serving as the subsidizing agency.
Western Mass.
Amherst – MHP used its Treasury Risk Share Program to provide a $21 million loan commitment to Beacon Communities to support the development of 130 mixed-income apartments within a $47.5 million mixed-use project. Known as North Square at the Mill District, the development is being built on land leased to Beacon by the Cowl family, a long-time local family that runs a lumber business and owns commercial properties adjacent to where the housing will be built. Plans call for 26 of the 130 apartments to be affordable to families earning up to 50 percent AMI. There will also be 22,000 square feet of new commercial space.
Chicopee – Once again, MHP used its Treasury Risk Share Program to provide low-interest, 40-year, $13.25 million permanent loan to Dimeo Properties, Inc. for the preservation and rehabilitation of MacArthur Terrace, a 222-unit affordable apartment complex featuring 42 wood-frame, two-story garden and townhouse style residential buildings.
Springfield – MHP closed on a $2.35 million permanent loan to help preserve 127 affordable apartments. Owned by Garden Park Management, a longtime owner of apartments in the city, the homes are spread out over three brick buildings – two in the South End neighborhood and one eight miles away in Orchard Park. The funding source for this loan was MHP’s $1.2 billion bank-funded loan pool.
Springfield – MHP closed on a $2.7 million permanent loan to Better Homes Inc. to support the rehabilitation and preservation of E. Henry Twiggs Estates, Phase 1. The story behind this loan is when a lender backed out just prior to construction closing, MHP stepped up, took out its pencil, and quickly provided Better Homes Inc. with a permanent loan commitment from its bank-funded loan pool. The commitment – coupled with federal and state tax credits other state subsidies and bond financing from TD Bank – enabled Better Homes to renovate 75 affordable scattered site apartments located on eight streets in the Bay and Upper Hill neighborhoods. The homes are named after E. Henry Twiggs, a Springfield City Councilor and longtime activist, public servant and civil rights leader.
Springfield - MHP used its Fannie Mae's MBS Program to provide WinnCompanies with a $2.4 million loan for the preservation of 92 affordable apartments at Museum Park, a six-story apartment building in the Quadrangle neighborhood of museums just above downtown. The refinancing preserved the affordability of three studios, 78 one-bedroom, and 11 two-bedroom apartments for over-55 households and younger disabled households.
For more information about this development and MHP’s financing options for multi-family rental properties big and small, visit MHP's rental financing home page or email MHP’s David Rockwell at drockwell@mhp.net or Nancy McCafferty at nmccafferty@mhp.net