MassHousing has announced closing on $16.8 million in financing to help create 48 units of affordable housing for seniors in Boston's Charlestown neighborhood.
The financing will help nonprofit Affordable Housing and Services Collaborative (AHSC) and Peabody Properties to take on the adaptive reuse of the Zelma Lacey House, a former assisted-living community.
“This was a true collaborative effort to transform an underutilized property into new affordable apartments where senior citizens will live independently in Charlestown near the heart of downtown Boston,” said MassHousing executive director Chrystal Kornegay. “MassHousing was pleased to work with AHSC and the other development partners who saw the opportunity to create this new housing resource that the seniors will be able to afford in one of the city’s most expensive neighborhoods for rental housing.”
MassHousing is providing the development team with a $2.9 million construction and permanent loan and a $13.9 million bridge loan. Other financing sources include $14.6 million in low-income housing tax credit equity and $2.1 million from the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), $2 million from the Affordable Housing Trust Fund, which MassHousing manages on behalf of DHCD, and a $1 million sponsor loan. Boston Financial Investment Management was the housing credit syndicator.
“AHSC is honored to once again be partnering with Peabody Properties on the redevelopment of the former Zelma Lacey House into a newly branded property to be called The Charlestown, which will include 48 affordable units of independent living for elders with a coordinated resident service model. We are extremely grateful for support from MassHousing, DHCD and the city of Boston for this important project,” said AHSC executive director Michael J. Mattos.
The development will consist of nine studio apartments, 38 one-bedroom apartments and one two-bedroom apartment. Thirteen of the apartments will be subsidized with a federal Section 8 Housing Assistance Payment contract with seven of those units restricted to households earning up to 30% of the area median income (AMI) and six units restricted to households earning up to 50% of the AMI. An additional unit will be restricted to a household earning up to 50% of the AMI, and 34 units will be restricted to households earning up to 60% of the AMI. The AMI for Boston is $112,400 for a household of two.
The general contractor will be NEI General Contracting, the architect is The Architectural Team, and the management agent will be Peabody Properties.
