Posted on November 28, 2003
A Rte. 495 suburban community known for its tremendous growth over the past 20 years has added 96 units of rental housing geared toward families, thanks in part to financing from MHP.
Franklin Commons officially opened last month. Located on the southern part of town near the Wrentham line, the new seven-building development boasts 96 apartments, 72 of them two or three-bedroom units.
Built under the provisions of the state’s comprehensive permit law, known as Chapter 40B, 63 units will be affordable to families earning up to 60 percent of the region’s median income. Three units will be affordable for families making 50 percent of median income.
Chapter 40B is the state law that allows developers to override certain local zoning regulations if 25 percent of their developments include affordable units. This applies in communities where less than 10 percent of the housing is considered affordable.
The bulk of the financing for Franklin Commons came from the Massachusetts Housing Investment Corporation (MHIC) and MHP, two bank-funded organizations that often team up to build affordable housing. MHIC provided construction financing and MHP will follow with $6.6 million in long-term permanent financing.
“If you ask anyone involved in affordable housing in the Commonwealth to name two of the leading players in affordable housing, odds are that they would name the Massachusetts Housing Investment Corporation and the Massachusetts Housing Partnership,” said Marc S. Plonskier, president of Gatehouse Group, the project’s developer. “Their leadership in promoting the investment of affordable housing by banks, corporations and others is an example of what can be done with the business community to help address the housing shortage.”
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 acquisitions similar to the proposed Bank of America/Fleet transaction 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. MHP focuses its effort on family housing and housing that has a significant community benefit, such as single-room housing for extremely low-income people.
Franklin has been one of the fastest growing towns in the state for the past 20 years. Powered largely by single-family home construction, Franklin has grown from a population of 18,000 in 1980 to over 29,000.
Franklin initially resisted Gatehouse’s development proposal, raising concerns about the project’s impact on traffic and water. But the town eventually dropped its attempts to stop Gatehouse and let it build the project under Chapter 40B. Franklin can deny proposals like these once the number of units in town reaches 10 percent of its total. Franklin is currently at 6.4 percent.
“We need to get to 10 percent,” said Jeffrey Nutting, Franklin’s town administrator. “It’s our moral and legal obligation, and it’s important that our police, fire and teaching personnel have a place to live.”
For more information about MHP financing programs, call1-877-MHP-FUND.
(PHOTO INFORMATION: Gatehouse House Group's new 96-unit apartment effort in Franklin. Gatehouse has also built apartments in nearby Plainville).