Posted on May 13, 2015
REVERE, May 13, 2015 --- At the grand opening of 30 new affordable apartments, Mayor Dan Rizzo left no doubt about his belief that his city needs housing like this. "There were 2,000 applications for 30 units," said the mayor. "For those who don't think there's a housing crisis, think again."
The new housing - called 525 Beach Street - was developed by The Neighborhood Developers, a Chelsea-based nonprofit that has expanded its activities into Revere the past five years. Grand opening ceremonies were held on May 13.
"It's great working with The Neighborhood Developers," said Rizzo. "They are really good at creating neighborhoods. I saw what they did to create the Box District in Chelsea and now we're seeing it here."
In Chelsea's Box District, TND and Mitchell Properties combined to turn several old factories into a new neighborhood of mixed-income housing. In Revere, TND acquired and knocked down an old garage and storage building and replaced it with an attractive four-story building featuring five one-bedroom, 20 two-bedroom and five three-bedroom apartments, all affordable to families at or below 60 percent of area median income, which is no greater than $59,100 for a family of four. Three of the apartments are handicapped accessible. The building is near eight bus routes, 0.3 miles from the MBTA blue line and only three stops from downtown Boston.
"This only works with political will and we couldn't have done it without the support of Mayor Rizzo and his team," said Ann Houston, TND's executive director. "He has brought incredible vision to this city."
The development was funded primarily with federal low-income housing tax credits awarded by the state Deptartment of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), with additional funding coming from the state's Affordable Housing Trust Fund and Community Based Housing Program.
"Community development is one of the best ways to make neighborhoods better places for people," said Chrystal Kornegay, the state's undersecretary for housing. "The Baker Administration is loking forward to continuing its partnership with Mayor Rizzo and The Neighborhood Developers."
Bank of America was the construction lender. Additional funding was provided by the North Shore Consortium.
MHP has committed $1.6 million in long-term financing from its $1.2 billion bank-funded loan pool. MHP provides more debt financing for tax credit properties than any other lender in Massachusetts.
"Congratulations to the mayor for transitioning this property into a great benefit for the neighborhood and its residents,, and for deciding to work with The Neighborhood Developers. We've done a lot of work with TND and it's really a can-do organization. They make things happen and are making neighborhoods better.
"Thirty units is a great first step," added Ziegler, "but we need to do more for the health of the region and the Commonwealth."
For more information on this project and MHP's financing programs,contact MHP Senior Loan Officer Megan Mulcahy at mmulcahy@mhp.net.