By Tom Farmer
Corporate Communications, MassHousing
The ribbon is cut at Feldman Seaside Apartments
WINTHROP – A brand new apartment community for senior citizens has been completed in Winthrop and is being hailed as a development that should be replicated elsewhere.
The ribbon was recently cut on the Feldman Seaside Apartments, which offers 40 apartments and support services for Winthrop seniors. MassHousing provided $1 million for the project from the Affordable Housing Trust Fund. Additional financing was provided by the state Department of Housing and Community Development, First Sterling, Bank New York Mellon, Eastern Bank and the North Suburban Home Consortium.
The housing was built adjacent to Temple Tiferth Israel, which leased some of its property to the development team so that the housing could be built. The Temple will use some of the proceeds to make needed renovations there.
"I've been told your strategy of finding underused land to build senior housing can be a national model. That's something we can all be proud of here in our community," said House Speaker Robert DeLeo at a recent event to celebrate the opening of the Feldman Seaside Apartments. "I want to commend the folks at the Temple who made the brave but wise decision to preserve their community by opting to share it. I know how important community and independence are as we age. The Feldman Seaside Apartments were built with these tenets in mind."
The property was developed by the Chelsea Jewish Foundation and Affirmative Investments of Boston. Of the 40 apartments, 37 will be affordable to lower income residents and three will be rented at market rates. There are 36 one-bedroom apartments and four two-bedroom apartments.
"Days like today are marked by three words for me: congratulations, thanks and hope," said MassHousing Executive Director Thomas R. Gleason. "Congratulations to the people who were so instrumental in putting this together. Thanks to everybody who cares about affordable housing for taking a stand and saying we want to do more of that. And hope because for me, being in the public sector, we have an obligation to give back. If we would all take care to put a little more focus on the generation that came before us and the generation that came after us we would be in a much better place."
The community is named after Gerry and Judy Feldman, who have been benefactors of the Chelsea Jewish Foundation.
The contractor was Dellbrook Construction and the architect was Davis Square Architects.
"This is great news for the town to have 40 new units for seniors so that they can have quality housing," said Sen. Anthony Petruccelli.