MassHousing Blog

Gov. Baker announces New $100 million MassHousing fund for workforce housing as ULI study highlights need for new units

Gov. Baker, right, announces MassHousing's $100 million Workforce Housing fund as, from left, DHCD Undersecretary Chrystal Kornegay, MassHousing Executive Director Tim Sullivan and MassHousing Chairman Michael Dirrane look on

On May 11, Governor Charlie Baker announced a new $100 million MassHousing fund for the creation of workforce housing. The fund will increase rental housing opportunities for households earning 61% to 120% of area median income (AMI), who may have incomes too high for subsidized housing but are priced out of affordable market rents as housing costs in Massachusetts continue to rise.

The following week, the Urban Land Institute released a study co-sponsored by MassHousing titled "Building for the Middle: Housing Greater Boston's Workforce" that makes the case for building new units for middle-income residents.

"Making more affordable housing options available to working Massachusetts families is essential to economic growth and development in communities throughout the Commonwealth," said Governor Baker. "These working middle-income families are the foundation of our economy and talented workforce, and the creation of this $100 million fund by MassHousing will advance opportunities for them to thrive and prosper."

"MassHousing recognizes that many middle-income households are struggling with housing costs and the Agency felt it was important to create this fund for workforce housing," said MassHousing Executive Director Timothy C. Sullivan. "We are committed to working with Governor Baker to increase affordable housing opportunities for low-, moderate-, and middle-income residents of the Commonwealth."

A rendering of Gateway Residences on Washington Street in Lynn

The announcement was made in Lynn near the future site of Gateway Residences on Washington Street, a 71-unit, mixed-income development receiving financing for 10 workforce housing units under the new initiative for moderate-income residents, and additional funding from the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) for low-income units.

"This new workforce housing fund is the latest in a series of steps we've taken to advance housing production for all the Commonwealth's residents," said Housing and Economic Development Secretary Jay Ash. "Housing production is economic development, and by expanding the range of housing options for middle-income residents, we will unlock new economic growth across Massachusetts."

"The Commonwealth's partnership with MassHousing is a great example of how the state can leverage significant outside resources to multiply the impact of our contributions in key policy areas to maximize the return on our investments," said Secretary of the Executive Office for Administration and Finance, Kristen Lepore. "The creation of this fund, when coupled with future strategic capital investments by the state, will induce additional private investment in the Massachusetts economy while providing critical support for hardworking middle-class families."

MassHousing's $100 million Investment for Workforce Housing:

• Targets individuals and families with incomes of 61% to 120% of AMI
• Provides up to $100,000 of subsidy per workforce housing unit to create 1,000 new units of workforce housing statewide
• Leverages strategic opportunities to use state-owned land
• Consists of newly constructed units or refinancing of a housing community where new units of workforce housing will be created
• Remains consistent with development financing in MassHousing's enabling statute ensuring that in addition to the workforce housing tier, at least 20% of the units in a financed development will be affordable to households at or below 80% of AMI
• Ensures workforce housing units will be deed restricted as affordable to households with incomes between 61% and 120% AMI for an extended period of time, generally 30 years or longer

Latest "Green Corner" Sustainability Initiative Panel: Are you Ready to Respond to a Disaster?

MassHousing's Manager of Design and Construction Diane Georgopulos (far left) moderates the Green Corner panel

On May 4, MassHousing hosted the latest in a series of "Green Corner" panel discussions entitled Proactive Planning for Resilience and Sustainability as part of an ongoing conversation about integrating sustainability values into the construction and rehabilitation of affordable housing. Panelists included Laurita Kaigler-Crawlle and Celina Barrios-Millner from the office of Boston's Chief Resiliency Officer, Atiya Martin); Alma Balonon-Rosen of Enterprise Community; and Samuel J. Bell of GZA GeoEnvironmental Inc. The event was moderated by Diane Georgopulos of MassHousing.

The panel discussed the need for multifamily housing properties to implement preventative and mitigation strategies in order build capacity to withstand the negative effects of global climate change, including increased intensity of storms or rising sea levels.

Kaigler-Crawlle and Barrior-Millner discussed the significant efforts the City of Boston has exerted to engage residents to explore how the day to day obstacles in their lives could potentially be overcome to create a more resilient community in the face of a disaster. The approach the City has taken emphasizes the existing social and economic conditions of a neighborhood as a key determinant of resiliency and builds from that understanding to establish more effective disaster planning strategies.

Bell spoke on the necessity of making the translation of how the residents' context compares with the technicians' context and the vital role such translation serves in designing mitigation strategies and delivering essential services during storm events. Bell is an urban planner working with engineers. He spoke about how necessary it is to build that bridge of understanding of the day to day context of residents in a community and impart that understanding to the professional consultants in their technical assessment of that community.

Balonon-Rosen of Enterprise Community spoke about how multi-family housing organizations can develop comprehensive disaster staffing plans to protect buildings, engage residents and continue business operations in the event of an incident such as a hurricane, earthquake, tornado, flood, fire, power outage, hazardous spill or act of terrorism.

Enterprise has developed a Disaster Staffing Toolkit based on the Incident Command System (ICS), a planning framework used by federal, state and local first responders to help with command, control and coordination of disaster response. You can read an overview of the Disaster Staffing Toolkit to understand the importance of developing a disaster staffing plan.

By using the toolkit to develop a disaster staffing plan, your organization will be able to:

• Assign an Emergency Preparedness Coordinator (EPC) to manage the plan's implementation
• Minimize building damage and ensure quick return to service
• Support the safety, preparedness and recovery of residents
• Maintain key business operations throughout a disaster

Resiliency is a popular topic these days as noted by Boston Globe Columnist Alex Beam in a recent column he wrote featuring Dr. Atyia Martin. Stay tuned for the next Green Corner panel in the fall where we will discuss micro units.

MassHousing's Thaddeus Miles Honored by the Robert F. Kennedy Children's Action Corps

Thaddeus Miles, fifth from right, was joined by MassHousing staff members at the 2016 Embracing the Legacy Awards

MassHousing's Director of Community Services Thaddeus Miles was recently honored by the Robert F. Kennedy Children's Action Corps for his many years of innovative work in helping to build safe, vibrant and engaged communities across Massachusetts.

Miles was presented with an Embracing the Legacy Award during a ceremony at the John F. Kennedy Library. Miles was honored for making positive impacts on the lives of some of the most vulnerable members of the population by raising awareness, fighting against social injustices and advocating for those who do not have a voice.

Also receiving awards were Joseph E. Corcoran, founder and chairman of the Corcoran Jennison Companies and the American City Coalition, Francine T. Sherman, Clinical associate Professor and Director of the Juvenile Rights Advocacy Program at Boston College Law School, and the band the Dropkick Murphys.

Related Links

• Boston Globe story about the event
• Boston Globe column about Thaddeus Miles
• Lowell Sun interview with Miles

(Photo courtesy Robert F. Kennedy Children's Action Corps)

 

$6.6M FHA-insured 223(f) loan will preserve affordability for seniors in Fall River

MassHousing has closed a $6.6 million FHA-insured 223(f) refinancing loan to an affiliate of John M. Corcoran and Company for The Academy, an 85-unit senior development in Fall River.  As a condition of the MassHousing financing, the owner extended the federal Section 8 Housing Assistance Payment Contract on all 85 units for 20 years.

The loan was made through MassHousing's MAP/Ginnie Mae execution in partnership with underwriting partner CBRE. It provides lower interest rates and a faster review process while preserving and extending affordability for hundreds of low-income senior citizens and families.

Built in 1980, The Academy is located at 102 South Main St. in Fall River and has 6 efficiency units, 73 one-bedroom units and 6 two-bedroom units.

HAPHousing: Serving western Massachusetts for more than 40 years

Another in an occasional series of profiles of MassHousing's many business partners

A ribbon-cutting at Parson's Village, a housing development in Easthampton sponsored by HAPHousing

HAPHousing is the largest non-profit developer of affordable housing in Western Massachusetts and for more than 40 years, has provided a wide array of housing assistance and services to tenants, homebuyers, homeowners and rental property owners. It also collaborates with other community-based organizations to create affordable housing and to revitalize urban neighborhoods.

Originally established to provide innovative forms of assistance to families seeking to rent decent, safe housing, HAPHousing has assisted more than 20,000 households each year.

Parsons Village in Easthampton is a "net-zero” property that used energy-efficient and sustainable building practices

MassHousing has been a longtime partner with HAPHousing in developing and preserving affordable rental housing and in promoting affordable, sustainable homeownership through homebuyer education and other services for homebuyers and homeowners.

"HAPHousing has been a very valued and productive partner in western Massachusetts," said MassHousing Executive Director Tim Sullivan. "They are involved in so many aspects of helping to foster affordable homeownership and rental opportunities for residents there and are an important resource for the entire region."

MassHousing staff help teens develop financial literacy

MassHousing staff members (left to right) Jeremy Meneses, Maureen Moriarty and Angelo Nuby at a recent Credit for Life fair.

MassHousing staff recently participated in the 16th annual Credit For Life fair in Brockton, the longest running event in Massachusetts where high school students are exposed to financial issues they will likely encounter when they enter the workforce.

Each year, there are approximately 45 Credit for Life events around the state and the Massachusetts Division of Banks and the State Treasurer have partnered to create a Financial Education Innovation Fund to help offset the cost of having these fairs.

"I am grateful to have been able to share my knowledge of housing and credit counseling with so many students over the years, and I am thankful that MassHousing has allowed me this opportunity that I feel very much aligns with our mission," said Maureen Moriarty from MassHousing's Business Development Staff, who has participated in every Brockton fair.

The Brockton Credit for Life Fair was the first of its kind in Massachusetts and is the longest running fair of its kind in the country. Over the years, MassHousing Homeownership and Business Development staff have participated in numerous events around Massachusetts in Brockton, Easton, Attleboro, Wareham, Hyannis, Quincy, New Bedford, Dartmouth Westport, Seekonk, Fall River, Chicopee, Springfield, Holyoke, Westfield and Ware.

The Brockton fair was started by Leo MacNeil, who is now retired from HarborOne Bank, and the Brockton Housing Partnership which includes MassHousing, Avon Cooperative Bank, Bank of Canton, Crescent Credit Union, Dedham Institution for Savings, Eastern Bank, HarborOne Bank, Mutual Bank, North Easton Savings Bank, Rockland Trust, South Shore Bank, Brockton Housing Authority, Brockton Interfaith Community, Brockton Redevelopment Authority, City of Brockton, NeighborWorks, South Shore Housing Development Corporation, Old Colony YMCA, Self Help and People's United Bank.

School administrators and financial advocates for students from as far away as Texas, California, Puerto Rico and many other areas have visited the Credit for Life Fair in Brockton and brought the positive life lessons back to high school students in their states. There were so many requests for information on how to run a Credit for Life fair that a Tool Kit was designed to help organizers in other states coordinate their own events.

Students, usually in their junior or senior year of high school, gain an understanding of balancing a life budget based on a career path that they choose. Banking volunteers, teachers and guidance staff from the school work with students often for months before the fair to help them chose a career path, give them a current starting salary and help them prepare them for what they will experience at the event.

Over the course of several hours at the fair, each student assumes the role of college graduate in the career path they have chosen. They have a budget that they have to balance based their monthly salary as they visit various stations with expenses for life's necessary expenses including housing, transportation, nutrition, furniture, clothing, insurance and education. The fair also confronts them with unexpected or unnecessary expenses with one example being a credit care where the 0% introductory rate balloons to 25%.

Memorial Day: A great time to consider the Operation Welcome Home loan program

If you are a veteran or an active member of the Armed Forces, National Guard or Reserves interested in buying a home, MassHousing's Operation Welcome Home Loan Program might be a good option.

Qualified borrowers can receive up to 100% financing on a single-family home or condominium.  Low down payment options are also available for two-family and three-family homes.

Operation Welcome Home loans for which the borrower makes less than a 20% downpayment will include MassHousing’s MIPlus™ mortgage insurance.  MIPlus includes unemployment protection at no additional cost to the borrower.  The benefit will cover the borrower's principal and interest payments up to $2,000 per month for up to six months in the event of a job loss. For a member of the Reserves or National Guard, activation or deployment overseas will make them eligible for the unemployment benefit as well.

Learn how to qualify and apply for an Operation Welcome Home loan.