Posted on May 14, 2019
BOSTON --- The Massachusetts Housing Partnership (MHP) is pleased to announce the launch of its Green and Healthy Housing Programs, which provide lower interest rates and additional financial incentives for owners who invest in increased energy efficiency and healthy building design for their residents.
The new MHP programs provide permanent first mortgage financing for both new and existing affordable housing developments using any of MHP’s capital sources including bank financing, Fannie Mae, or FHA Risk Sharing. MHP underwrites and services all of its loans regardless of the capital source.
“For over a year, we’ve been talking with our borrowers, energy efficiency experts, and financial partners about how we can incentivize more green and healthy housing,” said Mark Curtiss, MHP’s Managing Director. “We think that with the right combination of interest rate incentives, additional financial incentives like free energy audits and rebates on commissioning work, and free benchmarking to track energy savings, we can encourage more owners to realize the benefits of going green.”
MHP’s three Green and Healthy Housing Programs are:
- Green Building Certification Financing (GBC) – Designed for new and existing multifamily projects, GBC offers reduced interest rates, reimbursement for commissioning costs up to $15,000, and free energy performance benchmarking services for the first two years after the closing of the loan. See term sheet for more details. (Note: MHP incentives for pursuing Passive House certification line up nicely with new Passive House incentives offered by MassSave).
- Green Retrofit Financing (GRF) – GRF offers increased loan proceeds, free energy audits, reduced interest rates, and free benchmarking services for the refinance and rehabilitation of multifamily projects that invest in property improvements that reduce energy and water consumption by a combined 30 percent. See term sheet for more details.
- Healthy Housing Financing (HHF) – HHF offers reduced interest rates and reimbursement for the costs of obtaining healthy housing certification from the Fitwel® multifamily certification program. See term sheet for more details.
One of the unique aspects of MHP’s new programs is that it is partnering with the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) Boston to provide free energy audits to affordable housing owners who are considering making green and healthy enhancements to their properties. Funding for these audits is coming from the Comprehensive Energy Audit Matching Grant Program offered by LISC through a grant from the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center.
“LISC is proud to partner with MHP as it sets the pace for lenders in the green and healthy space,” said Karen Kelleher, LISC Boston’s Executive Director. “We know owners are eager to build and maintain more efficient, healthy, and resilient affordable housing – but are always stretching scarce subsidy. By offering financial incentives for green measures such as audits, benchmarking, and commissioning, MHP is driving better outcomes for owners and residents alike. We encourage owners to take full advantage of these creative programs.”
For more information about these new programs, contact David Rockwell at 857-317-8550 or drockwell@mhp.net or MHP Senior Relationship Manager Nancy McCafferty at 857-317-8556 or nmccafferty@mhp.net.