BOSTON – MassHousing has closed on $2.1 million in financing to the Traggorth Companies and the Southwest Boston Community Development Corporation (SWBCDC) for the construction of the 27-unit Residences at Fairmount Station in Hyde Park.
All 27 apartments will be affordable to low- and moderate-income households. MassHousing is providing a $1.8 million permanent loan and $300,000 through the Agency’s $100 million Workforce Housing Initiative.
“This transaction typifies many of the housing challenges MassHousing is addressing for Massachusetts residents with a range of incomes,” said MassHousing Executive Director Tim Sullivan. “The Residences at Fairmount will provide brand new, affordable apartments for lower- and moderate-income households as well as working families while also transforming an underdeveloped parcel into an attractive housing resource for Hyde Park residents. We were very pleased to collaborate with the Traggorth Companies, the Southwest Boston Community Development Corporation, the city of Boston and the Baker-Polito Administration to help develop this important new housing.”
Of the 27 units, 6 will be for low-income households earning at or below 30% of the Area Median Income ($31,020 for a family of four) supported a federal Section 8 Housing Assistance Payment Contract, 5 will be for households with incomes at or below 50% of AMI ($51,700 for a family of four), 13 will be for households with incomes at or low 60% AMI ($62,040 for a family of four) and 3 will be workforce housing units for households earning at or below 80% AMI ($78,150 for a family of four).
“Southwest Boston CDC is grateful to MassHousing and all of our partners for helping us to create urgently needed affordable housing for Hyde Park families, and to transform this formerly disconnected and underused site into a vital part of the residential neighborhood and commercial district,” said SWBCDC Executive Director Erica Schwarz.
In addition to the MassHousing financing the project is also receiving financing from the city of Boston, the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development, and financing from the allocation of Low-Income Housing Tax Credits.
The Residences at Fairmount will feature 1 studio unit, 3 one-bedroom units, 18 two-bedroom units and 5 three-bedroom units, as well as a community room, green space and outdoor play area. The new housing will be transit-oriented and located across from a Commuter Rail stop.
MassHousing has financed or manages the federal housing subsidy for three housing communities in Hyde Park involving 300 total apartments.
Traggorth Companies provides high-quality real estate advisory services for residential, commercial, and mixed use ventures.
Formed in 2001 by concerned residents, Southwest Boston Community Development Corporation aims to build and sustain a thriving, economically and racially diverse community in Hyde Park and Roslindale by preventing displacement, developing and preserving affordable housing, strengthening neighborhood commercial areas, fostering accessible transit and green space, and nurturing local leadership. The CDC is currently developing the first new affordable housing project for families in Hyde Park in nearly 25 years, which will include 27 sustainably designed rental apartments, green space, an outdoor play area, and a community room. To provide area youth with job skills and training while promoting environmental stewardship, the CDC established its Green Team program which has engaged over 125 youth since 2009.
MassHousing is an independent, quasi-public agency created in 1966 and charged with providing financing for affordable housing in Massachusetts. The Agency raises capital by selling bonds and lends the proceeds to low- and moderate-income homebuyers and homeowners, and to developers who build or preserve affordable and/or mixed-income rental housing. MassHousing does not use taxpayer dollars to sustain its operations, although it administers some publicly funded programs on behalf of the Commonwealth. Since its inception, MassHousing has provided more than $20 billion for affordable housing.