More than $26 million in affordable housing in Boston announced

Building on his commitment to create and preserve affordable housing in Boston, Mayor Martin J. Walsh today announced more than $26 million in new and recommended funding from the Department of Neighborhood Development, the Neighborhood Housing Trust, and the Community Preservation Fund, to create and preserve 515 units of housing in Brighton, East Boston, Dorchester, Mattapan, Mission Hill, North End, and Roxbury. The new funding will also contribute to affordable housing programming like the Acquisition Opportunity Program and the Boston Home Center.

"As Boston continues to grow, we want to make sure everyone has a place to call home, no matter their income," said Mayor Walsh. "It's important now more than ever that we use every tool in our toolbox to build more housing for working families in our City. This announcement is a great example of how we're building strong partnerships in the housing community to create more affordable housing options across all of our neighborhoods."

The new funding will create 459 new units and preserve 56 units of housing. As a result of requesting proposals with a focus on creating affordable units, 290 units that will be created or preserved will be restricted to households with low, moderate, and middle income. The majority of these units will be accessible to households with incomes up to 60 percent of the Area Median Income (AMI), which amounts to $65,000 or less for a family of four. The new units are a combination of homeownership and rental opportunities with some set aside for formerly homeless households, seniors, and artists.

"Many thanks to Mayor Walsh and to the City of Boston for their ongoing commitment to affordable housing and the needs our seniors," said Albert Caldarelli, president of the East Boston Community Development Corporation. "As a result of these new funds, the East Boston CDC will be able to create new affordable senior housing at the Grace Apartments in East Boston and in the North End. We look forward to working with the city as these developments get underway."

To ensure that all units receiving City funding will remain affordable, they will all be deed restricted permanently or for 50 years. In all cases, the projects have been carefully underwritten to leverage alternative sources to minimize City funding. For the homeownership opportunities, first-time homebuyers earning between 70-100 percent of AMI will receive down payment assistance, the opportunity to take a home buying class, and financial and real estate counseling.

"DND is excited that we were able to fund projects with such deep affordability, ranging from 50 percent of the Area Median Income to homeless individuals and the elderly," said Chief of Housing Sheila Dillon. "I can't wait to see these projects completed, and I want to thank the Neighborhood Housing Trust, the Community Preservation Committee, and our partners in the housing community for helping us create more affordable housing in Boston."   

Funds to create and preserve these units will be awarded from three sources: the first, of approximately $4.4 million, consists of funds administered by the Department of Neighborhood Development. The second source, of approximately $3.6 million, utilizes funds from the Neighborhood Housing Trust (NHT), which are collected through the City's Linkage policy, extracting affordable housing funds from developers of large commercial projects.

The third source utilizes funds from the Community Preservation Fund, of approximately $18 million, which are collected through the CPA's one percent property tax surcharge adopted by Boston voters in 2016 to invest in affordable housing, historic preservation, and open space. The Community Preservation Committee held a public meeting on Monday, February 11, 2019, to vote on the Mayor's recommended slate of projects for funding. At that meeting, the CPC voted to recommend $9.3 million towards development and preservation of 515 units of housing and an additional $8.8 million towards affordable housing programming. The projects will be submitted to the Boston City Council for approval with an anticipated vote from the Council in March.

Today's announcement contributes to goals outlined in Housing a Changing City: Boston 2030 of creating 69,000 new units of housing at a variety of income levels across the City, including nearly 16,000 new units of income-restricted housing that will bring Boston's total number of income-restricted units to 70,000 by 2030. Since the launch of the plan, 29,091 new units have been permitted.