BOSTON – The City of Boston and MassHousing announced that three sets of vacant city-owned lots will be transformed into a total of 55 new affordable homeownership opportunities for first-time homebuyers.
The City of Boston had previously selected three developers to transform the vacant, city-owned lots. DVM Housing Partners is constructing 30 new homes the Lower Blue Hill Avenue Corridor in Mattapan, DREAM Development is creating 12 new homes at 24 Westminster Avenue in Roxbury, and Urbanica is building 13 new homes at 405 Washington Street in Dorchester.
MassHousing is supporting the construction of the 55 new affordable for-sale homes by contributing a total of $13.3 million in funding from the Agency’s CommonWealth Builder Program. The city’s Mayor’s Office of Housing made the lots available for development and contributed $7.4 million in additional financial resources.
“Homeownership is a pathway to building generational wealth and achieving economic stability for families,” said Boston’s Chief of Housing Sheila Dillon. “We appreciate the collaboration with our partners including MassHousing, community members, and local developers to make these projects successful. We are proud to increase homeownership opportunities for Boston residents, and I am excited to see these projects move forward.”
“The developments moving forward today will allow 55 households to achieve homeownership for the first time, and begin building home equity and generational wealth,” said MassHousing CEO Chrystal Kornegay. “We are pleased to be partnering with the Mayor’s Office of Housing to create these exciting new homebuying opportunities for working families, as well as others across the city.”
MassHousing’s CommonWealth Builder Program is a landmark initiative to address the racial homeownership gap in Massachusetts by creating new homeownership and wealth-building opportunities in underserved communities. It is the largest state-level program of its kind in the nation and provides market-based subsidies to support the construction of new, moderately priced, single-family homes and condominiums in the City of Boston, the state’s 26 Gateway Cities, and Framingham and Randolph. The program subsidizes the production of homes restricted to homebuyers with incomes set anywhere between 70 percent to 120 percent of their Area Median Income (AMI). For projects in the City of Boston, MassHousing and the Mayor’s Office of Housing (MOH) coordinate on construction funding and administration.
The three latest projects receiving CommonWealth Builder funding are:
24 Westminster Avenue, Roxbury
DREAM Development, LLC is utilizing $3.4 million in CommonWealth Builder funding to develop 12 new homes. DREAM Development will transform a vacant lot in Roxbury into a new, three-story building located less than a mile from the Jackson Square and Stony Brook MBTA stations. The development will have six one-bedroom homes and six three-bedroom homes. Six of the homes will be sold to households earning up to 80 percent of AMI and six homes will be sold to households earning up to 100 percent of AMI. The general contractor is Hemenway Construction Management, Inc., the architect is DREAM Collaborative, and the management agent will be UHM Properties. Other financing sources include $3.4 million in construction financing from The Life Initiative.
“This project was born out of a need to innovate around the creation of homeownership opportunities for individuals and families with diverse backgrounds and needs. We are thrilled to be breaking ground on sustainable, well-designed homes that will provide wealth building opportunities for Roxbury residents and beyond,” said DREAM Development Managing Principal Gregory Minott.
405 Washington Street, Dorchester
Urbanica, Inc. is utilizing $1.95 million in CommonWealth Builder funding to develop 13 new homes for purchase on a vacant lot in Dorchester previously under control of the City of Boston in a new, four-story, wood-frame building with one three-bedroom home, six two-bedroom homes and six one-bedroom homes. Seven of the homes will be sold to households earning up to 80 percent of AMI and six homes will be sold to households earning up to 100 percent of AMI. The site is across the street from a public park and is along an MBTA bus route with access to the Ruggles and Ashmont MBTA stations and is a half mile from the Talbot commuter rail station. The development will be constructed using Passive House principles and will aim to meet LEED Silver or Gold certifiable standards. The general contractor is Urbanica Haynes, LLC, the architect is Urbanica Design, LLC and the management agent will be UHM Properties. Other funding sources included $2.2 million in direct support from Boston’s Mayor’s Office of Housing and $3.2 million in construction financing from Leader Bank.
“Urbanica believes creating affordable homeownership is the key to creating and building wealth for people in our communities. We are thrilled to deliver another successful project in partnership with MassHousing’s Commonwealth Builder and the City of Boston and look forward to delivering more affordable homeownership units to the market,” said Kamran Zahedi, President of Urbanica, Inc.
1015-1019, 1028-1044, and 1039 Blue Hill Avenue, Mattapan
DVM Housing Partners is utilizing $8 million in CommonWealth Builder funding to develop 30 new homes for sale in three, three-story buildings on three non-contiguous vacant sites along Blue Hill Avenue in Mattapan. Each building will also have a commercial unit. There will be a total of three three-bedroom homes, 19 two-bedroom homes and eight one-bedroom homes. Twenty homes will be sold to households earning up to 80 percent of AMI and 10 units will be sold to households earning up to 100 percent of AMI. The development will be constructed to meet LEED Silver certifiable standards. The site is less than a half mile from Harambee Park and the Boston Nature Center and Wildlife Sanctuary, and is located along MBTA bus routes with service to the Ruggles and Jackson Square MBTA stations. It will be less than a mile from the Talbot commuter rail station. The general contractor is Bald Hill Builders, the architect is Studio Luz Architects, and the management agent will be UHM Properties. Other funding sources included $4.7 million in direct support from Boston’s Mayor’s Office of Housing, an $8.6 million construction loan from the Massachusetts Housing Investment Corporation (MHIC), and $978,000 in developer financing.
“We are immensely grateful to MassHousing and the Mayor’s Office of Housing for their generous support and visionary leadership in funding our project. Their commitment to affordable homeownership has been instrumental in bringing our vision to life, enabling us to achieve milestones that were once merely aspirations. With their backing, we are empowered to make a tangible difference and drive meaningful change in Mattapan,” said Dariela Villón-Maga, President and Founder of DVM Housing Partners.
