Posted on January 12, 2007
BOSTON --- The Massachusetts Housing Partnership (MHP) has committed nearly $1 million dollars to help rehabilitate Saint Anne’s Rectory in New Bedford into 17 units of affordable housing.
With a first mortgage loan of $230,000 and a low-interest second mortgage loan of $750,000, MHP is helping to restore the three-story brick building on Ruth Street from 14 units to 17 single-room-occupancy (SRO) apartments, including two that will be handicap accessible.
The apartments will serve low-income tenants earning 30 percent of the area median income, meaning that a unit will be affordable to someone earning $12,300 per year. The renovated building will include a fully-furnished common kitchen and a living room, six full bathrooms, and one half-bath.
Saint Anne’s Rectory was constructed in 1910 and served as a convent until 1985. For the past 20 years it functioned as a private rooming house, but was vacant and boarded up for several years before it was purchased by the developers, Community Action for Better Housing (CABH) in 2005.
CABH was created as an affiliate agency to the non-profit Catholic Social Services (CSS) in 1995. Since then it has purchased and rehabilitated several affordable housing efforts in New Bedford’s south-end and south-central neighborhoods, including a 14-unit SRO and a 10-unit transitional house.
CSS is one of the largest social service agencies in the region, with offices in four cities including Fall River, New Bedford, Attleboro, and Hyannis. CSS currently manages five properties with 54 housing units in Fall River and New Bedford. When completed, CSS will provide social services and counseling to the residents of Saint Anne’s.
This is the fifth loan commitment that MHP has made in New Bedford. In 2004, MHP loaned $300,000 to help convert an old school in the Acushnet neighborhood into 12 affordable housing units. Previously, MHP provided $1.1 million in three smaller commitments to help finance the rehabilitation of 72 affordable rental units known as Wamsutta apartments. Altogether, MHP has committed nearly $2.4 million for 101 units of affordable housing in New Bedford.
About MHP: MHP is a quasi-public state agency that provides permanent financing for affordable rental housing, with loans ranging from $250,000 to $15 million. MHP uses private bank funds to finance affordable housing due to a 1990 state law that requires banks that purchase other banks to make funds available to MHP. Since 1990, MHP has provided over $430 million in permanent loans for the financing of 12,000 units of rental housing. In addition to financing, MHP helps cities and towns initiate and develop affordable housing. It also provides homeownership opportunities through the SoftSecond Loan Program, a mortgage program for low and moderate-income first-time homebuyers.
For more information, contact MHP's Callie Clark by email or at 617-330-9944 ext. 336.