Sixty apartments at Mercantile Wharf in Boston’s North End neighborhood will remain affordable for residents for decades to come, under a new agreement.
Co-owners LIHC Investment Group and Belveron Partners announced reaching a deal with the Boston Housing Authority and MassHousing to preserve the affordable apartments at the 122-unit mixed-income community.
Located steps from Faneuil Hall and the Boston Common, Mercantile Wharf was subsidized through the state’s Section 13A mortgage program in the 1970s, which allowed property owners to secure low-interest loans in exchange for providing below-market rents to tenants.
In 2018, the provisions governing Mercantile Wharf expired, putting it at risk of losing its affordability since vacant units could be re-rented at market rate. Instead of allowing that to happen, LIHC Investment Group and Belveron Partners have agreed to a preservation plan that will protect all eligible existing households and ensure those homes are available for low-income tenants in the future.
“Rising rents in this part of Boston have forced many longtime residents to move elsewhere; however, that will not be the case at Mercantile Wharf,” says Charlie Gendron, principal, LIHC Investment Group, which has partnered with the city on several occasions to preserve at-risk properties. “Prioritizing the preservation of communities like Mercantile is an effective way of maintaining the mixed-income, diverse neighborhoods that made Boston the great city that it is today.”
“Over four decades ago Boston pioneered mixed income-affordable housing with Mercantile Wharf, and this extraordinary history of inclusion continues today," adds Paul Odland, founder, Belveron Partners. "Thank you to this entire community for allowing us our part in a historic commitment to another lifetime of preserving these homes.”
Under the terms of the agreement, 48 very low-income households at Mercantile Wharf will be covered by a new project-based Section 8 contract, guaranteeing their homes will remain affordable for at least the next 20 years. The housing vouchers stay with the property so regardless of how a unit becomes vacant, it is reserved for incoming tenants earning no more than 50% of the area median income (AMI). The Section 9 program limits the amount a tenant pays toward rent to 30% of their adjusted gross income.
Ten low-income households—those with incomes between 51% and 80% of AMI—will receive tenant-based rental assistance from the Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program (MRVP) in addition to two more households that opted into the mobile MRVP program. Households with mobile MRVP vouchers will pay approximately 40% of their adjusted gross income toward rent.
“Preserving affordability in housing is a top priority for my administration, and I am so proud that with the support of many partners involved we have been able to secure long-term housing affordability for tenants at Mercantile Wharf,” says Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh. “I want to thank all partners involved for their support and assistance in keeping these units affordable for residents in the North End.”
Mercantile Wharf is the third housing development at an expiring 13A property to secure support from the Boston Housing Authority. More than 4,200 low and moderate-income apartments throughout Massachusetts were financed in the 1970s through the Section 13A program.
