ARLINGTON, Mass.— The Town of Arlington has secured $5.85 million in funding to support a major new affordable housing initiative led by the Housing Corporation of Arlington (HCA), which will create 92 new deed-restricted affordable housing units at three recently acquired properties along Massachusetts Avenue and Newman Way.
The funding package includes a $3.5 million grant from the state’s new MBTA Communities Catalyst Fund Program, as well as $2.35 million from the Arlington Affordable Housing Trust (AHT). The state program rewards communities that have achieved compliance with the MBTA Communities Law, which requires cities and towns served by the MBTA to zone for multi-family housing by right. Arlington was among the first municipalities in the state to meet this requirement, following approval at the 2023 Special Town Meeting.
The HCA acquisition, finalized on September 18, includes 840 and 846 Massachusetts Avenue—two apartment buildings totaling 57 units—and an adjacent two-family property at 17 Newman Way, all located within Arlington’s Multi-Family Housing Overlay Districts. Before the purchase, none of the 59 existing units were deed-restricted affordable housing, though many were classified as Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing (NOAH) units—older, lower-rent apartments at risk of conversion to high-end market-rate housing.
“This latest grant is an excellent example of how our local Affordable Housing Trust dollars were leveraged to secure the larger state and federal funding needed for HCA to pursue an affordable housing project of this magnitude,” said Arlington Town Manager Jim Feeney. “I want to commend the Department of Planning and Community Development and the Arlington Affordable Housing Trust for their efforts to support the Housing Corporation of Arlington’s project to bring desperately needed affordable housing to town.”
According to HCA Executive Director Erica Schwarz, the grant enables the organization “to purchase the properties and put them on a path to deed-restricted affordable housing, greatly expanding the amount of affordable housing in Arlington, while protecting existing tenants from displacement due to high rents.”
The project received initial support from the Affordable Housing Trust’s Acquisition, Creation, and Conversion (ACC) Program, funded through a $3 million American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) earmark and additional contributions from the Community Preservation Act (CPA). The Trust’s $2.35 million investment—comprised of $1.875 million in ARPA funds and $475,000 in Trust funds—will help achieve the town’s goal of creating or preserving at least 100 affordable units over five years.
As part of its agreement with the town, HCA will initially deed-restrict 10 units, including 8 units at 60% Area Median Income (AMI) and 2 units at 100% AMI for existing income-qualified tenants, with plans to deed-restrict most units to residents earning at or below 60% AMI within five years.
Public outreach on development plans will begin in the coming months as HCA prepares its Site Plan Review application for the Arlington Redevelopment Board, which will include a public hearing process.
For more information on affordable housing initiatives in Arlington, visit arlingtonma.gov/affordablehousing.
