Posted on July 8, 2011
BEVERLY, July 8, 2011 --- For many years, if you came into downtown Beverly from the north, one of the buildings that would catch your eye was the Mayflower Motel. A long, single-story, brick building on the left, it had become rundown and tired-looking. In its final years, its small rooms had become permanent homes for some of the community's lower-income residents.
Today, thanks to the cooperation of two non-profits and $9 million in public and private financing, the Mayflower Motel has been replaced by a new energy-efficient development called Cabot Street Homes, which will provide 43 rental homes for lower-income residents of the community.
"This proves that affordable housing can be a win-win for everyone," said Mickey Northcutt, executive director of the North Shore Community Development Coalition, a co-sponsor of the project. "This development has dramatically revitalized the entry way into downtown Beverly and it has provided 43 new affordable rental homes for the community."
Cabot Street Homes consists of 32 single-room apartments in the new main building. To qualify for a room, residents must make less than $38,000, which is 60 percent of the median income for the area. Monthly rents range from $325 to $645, plus electricity, depending on income. There are also 11 newly renovated apartments in the building next door renting for up to $720 per month.
The main building features many energy efficiencies, including solar panels which will provide 45 percent of the electricity used in the common rooms. Other green elements include efficient insulation, Energy Star certified washing machines, high-efficiency toilets, and motion sensors that turn lights off when they aren't needed.
"This is what happens when you have good collaboration," said Jack Meany, executive director of the North Shore YMCA, which joined the effort as a co-developer and will manage the property going forward. "A whole lot of people worked together to get this done."
Beverly Mayor William Scanlon praised the tenacity of all those involved in Cabot Street Homes, given that the project at times seemed to move forward at what he termed a "glacial" pace. North Shore CDC bought the property back in 2006 back when it was called the Beverly Affordable Housing Coalition and before it merged with the Salem Harbor Community Development Corp to become the North Shore CDC.
The development then secured most of its financing through federal Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) awarded by the state Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD). Like many other projects during that time, Cabot Street Homes had trouble attracting investors due to the economic crisis. Eventually, it moved forward when it received $4.5 million in federal stimulus funds through Tax Credit Assistance Program.
The Massachusetts Housing Partnership (MHP) provided a $575,000 long-term fixed-rate loan commitment from its bank-funded loan pool, as well as technical support to the North Shore CDC during its merger with Salem Harbor CDC. Additional financing and support was provided by Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation (CEDAC), North Shore Bank, DHCD, the City of Beverly , the North Shore HOME Consortium, Enterprise Foundation, the Department of Mental Health, MassHousing, Eastern Bank Charitable Foundation and New England Biolabs.
"The North Shore CDC should be enormously proud not only to have developed Cabot Street Homes but also because during this same time, they built an organization that has sustained good relationships with its communities and has displayed the ability and expertise to get affordable housing done," said MHP Executive Director Clark Ziegler during grand opening ceremonies on April 15.
Cabot Street Homes is the first new rental housing to be built in Beverly in over 20 years, said former state representative and BAHC board member Mary Grant "This is a huge benefit for our city," said Grant.
About MHP: MHP is a state non-profit housing organization that uses private bank financing to provide permanent loans for affordable rental housing development pursuant to a 1990 state law that requires companies that purchase Massachusetts banks to make loan funds available to MHP. Since then, MHP's has provided $649 million in loans and commitments for the financing of over 15,000 units of rental housing. For more information about this project, contact MHP Senior Loan Officer Megan Mulcahy at 617-330-9944 x269.