Posted on November 20, 2003
BOSTON, Nov. 20, 2003 --- MHP is putting its bank-funded affordable housing loan pool to work in the South End neighborhood of Boston, committing $9.7 million in financing to rehabilitate and preserve 69 units of affordable rental housing.
The 69 units are spread out in four buildings, two historic row houses on Massachusetts Ave., a former residential hotel at 68 West Concord Street, and a fourth at 282 Columbus Ave, which used to be the Albermarle Hotel, rumored to be a former resting spot of the legendary Babe Ruth when he pitched for the Red Sox.
The apartments will be known as Interfaith Apartments and will be run jointly by the Madison Park Development Corporation and Haley House, two neighborhood non-profits dedicated to affordable housing and providing basic needs for the poor and homeless. These properties were originally operated by the now defunct Interfaith consortium and more recently by the Boston Housing Authority.
The rehabilitation and preservation of these affordable units is badly needed as the South End prices have been rising steadily as it has become a popular neighborhood for upper middle class professionals.
“A strong housing market doesn’t take care of everything,” said Clark Ziegler, MHP’s executive director. “We need non-profits like Madison Park and Haley House to make things happen so we can preserve affordability and the character of the neighborhood.”
MHP is a quasi-public agency that uses funds from the banking industry to provide much-needed long-term financing for affordable rental housing at below-market rates. Bank transactions similar to the recent Bank of America/Fleet deal trigger the state statute that funds MHP. Since 1990, its loan pool has grown to nearly a half-billion dollars. MHP has used this money to finance over 10,000 units of rental housing.
For more information, call 1-877-MHP-FUND.
(PHOTO INFORMATION: One of the row houses on Massachusetts Ave. that has been renovated into affordable rental housing as part of Madison Park CDC and Haley House's effort to provide 69 units of affordable housing in the South End of Boston).