$10M Loan Closed for Affordable Housing in Mass.
MassHousing has closed on $10.1 million in loans for the renovation and preservation of affordability at the 108-unit Kings Landing in Brewster.
By Dees Stribling, Contributing Editor
Brewster, Mass.—MassHousing has closed on $10.1 million in loans for the renovation and preservation of affordability at the 108-unit Kings Landing in Brewster. The loans break down to $4.3 million in construction and permanent financing and $5.8 million in bridge financing.
As a condition of MassHousing’s financing, the owners of the property—Preservation of Affordable Housing (POAH) of Boston—will maintain its affordability for at least 40 years. Kings Landing was originally built in 1975 under a federal program and was financed by MassHousing. It consists of 13 two- and three-story garden-style apartment buildings. The property includes 26 one-bedroom apartments, 66 two-bedroom apartments, 12 three-bedroom apartments and four four-bedroom apartments.
Renovations will include new windows and glass sliders, rebuilt balconies, decks and railings, improvements to all bathrooms, painting and new carpets in common areas, and some floor replacement. There will be mechanical, electrical and lighting system upgrades and the septic system will be replaced with a new wastewater treatment plant to bring the property into compliance with the state Department of Environmental Protection‘s requirements. The contractor is Delphi Construction Inc., and the architect is Davis Square Architects.
The loans are the latest movement of money that will go to preserving affordable housing in the commonwealth. POAH acquired Kings Landing and five other affordable housing properties, including three in Boston and one each in Hudson and Orleans, from their former owner in June 2012. POAH used nearly $168 million in financing from MassHousing to acquire these six property totaling 841 apartments in what was then the largest affordable housing transaction in MassHousing’s history.
POAH has agreed to maintain the other properties as affordable housing as well. POAH has also extended the Section 8 Housing Assistance Payment contracts at the properties that currently have them. Had the properties been purchased by another buyer using conventional financing it is likely that many of the units would have been lost from the affordable housing inventory, according to POAH.
