Posted on July 14, 2010
LOWELL, July 14, 2010 --- The Massachusetts Housing Partnership (MHP) recently committed $750,000 in financing to help the Coalition for a Better Acre construct 23 new affordable rental units in the Acre neighborhood of Lowell.
The Unity Place project will consist of the demolishment of two dilapidated building that will be replaced with a new four-story building with 23 units, including six service enriched units for homeless families. The project will consist of four one-bedroom units, 11 two-bedroom units, and eight three-bedroom units. The plan includes 16 on-site parking spaces in a quiet residential street, adjacent to other Coalition for a Better Acre properties and within easy walking distance of dowtown Lowell, public transportation, and UMASS Lowell. Coalition for a Better Acre will partner with House of Hope and Community Teamwork Inc (CTI) for service provision to the six units reserved for formerly homeless families.
MHP provided Coalition for a Better Acre with a $450,000 permanent first mortgage and a $300,000 Home Funders second mortgage for this project. The HomeFunders mortgage is an MHP subsidy program that utilizes funds from some of Greater Boston's most prestigious charities to help rental housing developers make their units more affordable to lower-income families.
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 $640 million in loans and commitments for the financing of over 15,000 rental units. For more information about this development, contact MHP Senior Loan Officer Megan Mulcahy.