Posted on August 25, 2004
A Springfield neighborhood plagued by vacant and abandoned housing has now been reborn, thanks to a 12-year neighborhood revitalization effort supported by city officials and the Massachusetts Housing Partnership (MHP).
State and local officials and neighborhood residents gathered recenlty to dedicate the 36 new and 55 renovated apartments in Springfield’s Lower Liberty neighborhood.
The effort illustrates MHP’s ability to spark neighborhood revitalization at the grass-roots level, and then support it over the long haul with long-term fixed rate financing.
“This was once the center of blight and drug activity and lawlessness, but that’s all gone now,” said Mayor Charles V. Ryan at dedication ceremonies held August 12.
The history of this effort dates back to the early 1990s, when it was estimated that 86 percent of the units in the Franklin Street and Belle Street block were abandoned or uninhabitable.
At this low point, the city identified the area for revitalization and MHP’s Community Housing Initiatives group funded a neighborhood planner and organizer to work on behalf of the City of Springfield.
That effort focused on reducing crime through community policing, identifying the most significant problem properties, and encouraging local residents to stay and help rebuild the neighborhood.
“This was eight years of a lot of hard work, a lot of meetings,” said Eliezer Cortes, president of the Lower Liberty Heights Community Action Team. “The people of this neighborhood never gave up.”
As attention became focused on distressed properties on Liberty and Franklin streets, MHP paid for an architect to develop alternative layouts that would make the block an attractive place to live again.
With a plan in hand, the city took immediate action. It acquired several key properties through tax foreclosure, reached agreement on the purchase of rental property that had been foreclosed by MassHousing, and selected a developer, Valley Real Estate, to acquire the remaining parcels and implement the neighborhood plan.
The entire project cost an estimated $7.5 million. Phase one included the rehabilitation of 55 housing units, mostly on Belle Street. Phase two involved the construction of 36 two-bedroom apartments at 254-280 Franklin St, right across the street from a large public park. MHP is providing $379,000 in long-term fixed-rate mortgage financing for the 36 newly constructed Franklin Street Apartments, pictured above.
Funding also included HOME funds from the city and the state Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), low-income housing tax credits through DHCD and financing from BankNorth.
MHP will be making its $379,000 loan from its Permanent Rental Financing Program, which provides long-term loans of up to $15 million for multi-family and single-room occupancy housing.
MHP is a statewide public/non-profit affordable organization that uses private bank funds to provide long-term loans for affordable rental housing. MHP focuses these funds on rental developments that are generally smaller in scale, supported by the communities and serve lower-income people. In Springfield, MHP has made over $14 million in loans and has financed nearly 1000 rental units since 1993.
Bank transactions like the recent Bank of America-Fleet deal trigger the statute that funds MHP. MHP recently reached an agreement with Bank of America on a $406 million loan and an $18 million cash grant.
In addition, MHP’s Community Housing Initiatives group helps communities get affordable housing efforts started. MHP also offers the SoftSecond Loan Program for low and moderate-income first-time homebuyers. Over 400 Springfield families have used the program to purchase their first home. Statewide, the program has helped over 7,000.
For more information about MHP, call 617-330-9944 x227.