AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust Invests $58M to Build Boston Apartments

Boston–The AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust (HIT) has committed $58.2 million of union pension capital for the construction of the new Charlesview Apartments in Boston. With a total development cost of $152 million, the property will ultimately include 240 units of affordable rental units in Boston’s Brighton neighborhood, replacing an older 213-unit apartment property of the same name located about two blocks away.

Of the Charlesview’s total units, 221 will be set aside for households that meet Section 8 or Low Income Housing Tax Credit eligibility, with current tenants relocated to the new development. The remaining 19 units will be reserved for current Charlesview residents without income restrictions.

The new complex features townhouse and mid-rise apartment buildings, as well as parking and more than 23,000 square feet of retail and community space. To help finance the project, the HIT has partnered with the Community Builders, a nonprofit urban housing developer, as well as MassHousing, the state housing finance agency. The HIT is providing bridge loans through the purchase of $34.7 million of tax-exempt bonds and $23.5 million of taxable bonds from MassHousing.

“Boston’s economy is growing again, and the city is creating jobs,” Ted Chandler, COO of the HIT, tells MHN. “That means there’s a need and demand for affordable housing that will only increase, and makes the new Charlesview an appealing place to live. The HIT’s investment with MassHousing is of high-credit quality, and will earn a competitive rate of return for our investors. In addition, construction of the project will put hundreds of union members back to work, contributing to the further growth of the real economy.”

In addition to Charlesview, three other HIT-financed projects are currently in progress in Boston. They include Washington Beech, 56 affordable rental units at a public housing property in Roslindale, in cooperation with the Boston Housing Authority and MassHousing; the redevelopment of Old Colony, one of Boston’s most distressed public housing properties, with construction of 116 units of affordable housing and a 10,000 square-foot community center; and an investment in Franklin Park to support the rehabilitation of 220 scattered-site residential units in Boston’s Dorchester and Roxbury neighborhoods.