The year 2012 has been all about breaking records at MassHousing.
Over the last 10 months we
- Closed the books on our best fiscal year ever
- Closed our single-largest transaction for affordable multi-family housing
- Shattered our previous record for homeownership lending
Let me start with our record year in Fiscal 2012, which ended June 30.
All told, we finished just shy of $1 billion in lending with $967.8 million in financing for affordable housing. That included a fiscal-year record of $569.9 million in loans to 2,600 low- and moderate-income borrowers for home purchases, refinancing or home improvement.
That record homeownership total was largely the result of our new loan product that does not require mortgage insurance, even for borrowers making downpayments as low as 3%. The MassHousing Mortgage with No MI is the most popular loan program we have ever offered. Since its rollout in January of this year, our homeownership lending has quadrupled and as the calendar year approaches its end, we expect to reach $1 billion in homeownership lending.
Let me say that again. We expect to do $1 billion in homeownership lending alone in calendar 2012.
But our record-breaking success is not limited to just homeownership lending. Last summer we completed the largest single affordable housing transaction in our history when we lent $168 million to Preservation of Affordable Housing, Inc. (POAH) to acquire six affordable multi-family developments from State Street Development and preserve them for the long term. The 841 apartments, 537 of which are located in Boston, had the potential of converting to market rates or condominiums and being lost from the state's inventory of affordable housing once their existing mortgages expired.
POAH will maintain affordability at the Blackstone Apartments, Franklin Square House, and Kenmore Abbey, all in Boston, and Machado House at Peter's Grove in Hudson, Rock Harbor Village in Orleans, and King's Landing in Brewster, for at least 40 years.
One project that has received a lot of accolades is Curtain Lofts in Fall River, a former mill building converted to apartments for resident over age 55 by WinnDevelopment. MassHousing provided $2.2 million in financing for the project, which received an award from Preservation Massachusetts that cited Curtain Lofts as "a great example of how our mid-sized cities can rehabilitate their existing historical fabric to meet current and future needs while preserving an important part of the past."
Some of our recent loan closings include:
- $10.1 million to preserve affordability at BF Faulkner Tower in Somerville, a 130-apartment community for senior citizens. Walnut Hill Tower Associates, which owns the property, will extend the HUD Section 8 Housing Assistance Payment contract on 129 of the apartments there for the longest term possible—typically 20 years—when the current HAP contract expires in June 2018. The BF Faulkner Tower was refinanced through MassHousing's Proactive Preservation Program (PPP), which seeks to extend affordability at MassHousing-financed developments where Section 8 HAP contracts are due to expire.
- $2 million in permanent financing for the newly constructed 97-unit Ocean Shores Apartments for residents over age 55 in Marshfield. Beacon Communities LLC developed Ocean Shores under chapter 40B on the site of a former drive-in movie theater.
- $4.4 million in permanent construction, bridge and Affordable Housing Trust Fund financing for the 70-unit Cheriton Heights Senior Housing in West Roxbury. The American Arabic Benevolent Association and The Community Builders are developing Cheriton Heights under the HUD Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly Program.
- $5.8 million in financing for the newly constructed 72-unit Maple Ridge Apartments in Tyngsboro, developed by Dakota Partners, Inc.
- $6.7 million to preserve affordability at the 91-unit Dorchester House Apartments for seniors in Dorchester. Dorchester Housing Associates, an affiliate of EAF Associates, will extend the Section 8 HAP contract to keep affordability there for at least 20 more years.
- $9.1 million to preserve affordability at the 100-unit Wait Street Apartments for seniors in the Fenway. Wait Street Associates refinanced the property through MassHousing's PPP program and will extend the Section 8 HAP contract for 20 more years.
- $6.1 million for the acquisition, renovation and preservation of affordability at the 45-unit Lucerne Gardens in Dorchester. Trinity Financial has completed extensive renovation of the property and will keep the housing affordable for the long term.
Finally, I am pleased to report that four affordable housing developments financed by MassHousing have applied to participate in our new Energy Advantage Program we began last spring in partnership with Boston Community Capital.
In April, we sent a term sheet and a request for proposals to management companies with existing MassHousing mortgages and which have documented high energy costs. BCC is analyzing current energy usage at the properties, determining a scope of work and will select and oversee contractors.
Like you, I am encouraged by the improving economics in the housing market. MassHousing will continue to provide the necessary capital for homebuyers and homeowners as well as developers and owners of affordable rental housing.
Thank you for your continued interest in, and support of MassHousing.
--Thomas R. Gleason, Executive Director, MassHousing