Work is underway to bring much-needed affordable and workforce housing to Cape Cod, Mass., a region with an affordable rental housing gap of 4,441 units, according to the Cape Cod Commission.
To help with the housing shortage, Philadelphia-based owner and developer Pennrose has broken ground on the 65-unit Village at Nauset Green in Eastham, which has the lowest percentage of affordable housing on the Cape. The development will provide mixed-income housing in 18 garden-style townhomes clustered around two common green spaces on a vacant parcel owned by the town.
The development will provide 39 low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) units for households earning no more than 60% of the area median income (AMI), eight Sec. 8 and three Sec. 811 units restricted for households at 30% of the AMI, and 15 units for households earning between 61% and 90% of the AMI.
Amenities for the development, which is expected to be completed in January 2020, will include a pocket park, a community building, a playground, a walking path, and an on-site management office.
Hunt Capital Partners facilitated $9.3 million in federal LIHTC equity financing from investor JPMorgan Chase through its proprietary fund, Hunt Capital Partners Tax Credit Fund 26, for the $23 million development. Village at Nauset Green also received $4.4 million in state LIHTCs awarded by the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD).
Additional financing includes a $1.5 million permanent workforce housing loan from MassHousing through its $100 million Workforce Housing Initiative, over $1.55 million in direct affordable housing funding from DHCD, $4.42 million in permanent financing from the Massachusetts Housing Partnership, $1.5 million in Community Preservation Corp. (CPC) funding from the town of Eastham, and $200,000 in CPC funding from the towns of Orleans and Wellfleet. Bank of America Merrill Lynch is providing the construction loan.
“This desperate need for affordable and workforce housing on the Cape has fostered true collaboration among state, local, and federal levels to make this development possible,” said Charlie Adams, regional vice president with Pennrose.
MassHousing executive director Chrystal Kornegay added that too many working families on Cape Cod struggle with high housing costs. “In partnership with the town of Eastham, Pennrose, and our public and private financing partners, we are transforming a vacant lot into a dynamic new housing community and helping ensure that the Outer Cape remains a great place to live, work, and raise a family.”
Additional Partners include NEI General Contracting as the general contractor, The Architecture Team as the project architect, and Pennrose Management Co. as the property manager.
