Posted on October 28, 2011
WEYMOUTH, Oct. 28, 2011 --- The Town of Weymouth's commitment to housing was on full display recently as state and local officials gathered to celebrate the grand opening of Torrey Woods, a town-initiated development of 20 affordable rental homes.
Weymouth Mayor Susan M. Kay cut the ceremonial ribbon, officially ending the city's decade-long quest to develop the 5.78 acre site on Pond Street at the Abington line. The development - co-developed by a local non-profit and built with a Ch. 40B comprehensive permit - was slowed by abutter litigation and the economic crisis but supported by the city's government and housing authority every step of the way.
"It's unfortunate that affordable housing like this which is so badly needed ends up being such a struggle and takes so long to get done," said Kay at the Oct. 26 grand opening. "We need to try to get over that."
Torrey Woods features five one-bedroom and 15 two-bedroom renal homes, all affordable to households earning at or below 60 percent of area median income, or no more than $52,050 for household of three. Five of the two-bedroom units will be rented to households earning no more than 30 percent of area median income ($26,050 for a family of three) thanks to Home Funders, a second mortgage program offered by the Massachusetts Housing Partnership (MHP) to help developers make rental units more affordable.
"Smaller affordable housing developments are the ones that matter most in communities," said Clark Ziegler, executive director of MHP, which is providing $900,000 in permanent first mortgage financing and a $250,000 Home Funders second mortgage. "Sometimes they take awhile to get done but they are the ones that reflect and become part of the fabric of the community."
The bulk of the financing for this development was provided through federal Low Income Housing Tax Credits and $3.4 million in federal stimulus funding from the Tax Credit Exchange Program awarded by the Patrick Administration and state Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD). The state also provided $1 million from its Affordable Housing Trust Fund, $550,000 in HOME funds and $434,000 from its Community Based Housing and Housing Stabilization Fund programs. The Massachusetts Housing Investment Corp. was the construction lender and the development was built by Keith Construction of Stoughton.
The Town of Weymouth supported the development by granting the Ch. 40B permit even though it was under no regulation to do so since more than 10 percent of its housing is considered affordable. The city then put its money where its permit was, by providing $150,000 in HOME Funds.
In addition, South Shore Affordable Housing Inc. --- a non-profit created by the Weymouth Housing Authority ---purchased the landand co-developed the property with Preservation of Affordable Housing (POAH), a Boston-based, nationally-renowned non-profit affordable housing development company.
"One of the great things about this development is that it has an energy focus and is very efficient," said POAH President Amy Anthony in reference to the high-grade insulation, efficient mechanical systems and a solar thermal system that will generate a portion of the building's hot water.
Anthony also stressed the importance of federal stimulus funds, which were needed due to the lack of investors for tax-credit projects during the onset of the economic crisis. "It was big to get that stimulus money and get this built, especially since rents are rising," she said.
For more information about this development and MHP's financing programs, contact Deputy Director of Lending Dick Mason.