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MACDC's top priorities supported in FY 2020 State Budget

July 25th, 2019 by
This past weekend, the FY 2020 Budget Conference Committee came to an agreement on a $43.1 billion budget proposal, which the House and the Senate subsequently approved on Monday, July 22. With the support of many members of the House and Senate, MACDC is thrilled that the following programs received funding:
  • The Small Business Technical Assistance (SBTA) program's funding increased by 50% from $2 million in FY19 to $3 million in FY20. Additional funding will support new businesses, new jobs and the overall increased economic stability in neighborhoods and towns across the Commonwealth. To learn more about the program and the powerful results for which it's noted, go to MGCC's website;
  • Chapter 206 funding available to the Division of Banks was increased by 40% to $2.805 million. This program supports nonprofit housing counseling services that provide homebuyer education and foreclosure prevention counseling;
  • Neighborhood Stabilization Initiative: A new $750,000 capacity-building program through MassHousing and MassDevelopment, in coordination with MACDC and MassINC. This program will help local governments and community partners implement neighborhood-level revitalization efforts to address vacant and abandoned properties in Gateway cities and rural areas and convert these buildings into homeownership opportunities and rental housing.  Check out the study released this past January by MassINC and MACDC "Building Communities of Promise and Possibility" upon which this recommendation was drawn;
  • CPA Trust Fund: Most recording fees at the Registries of Deeds will be increased from $20 to $50, which would raise an estimated $36 million in additional annual revenue for CPA beginning in 2020, and increase the CPA match for all 175 CPA communities to approximately 30%. The Conference Committee also agreed to language that will authorize up to $20 million from the state's budget surplus to expand the November 2019 distribution. CPA exclusively supports the creation of affordable housing, preservation of historical sites, open space preservation, and development of recreational facilities.
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State Funds Workforce Housing and Narrowing the Racial Homeownership Gap

July 25th, 2019 by

On July 9, Governor Baker, joined by Undersecretary for Housing and Community Development Janelle Chan, and MassHousing Executive Director Chrystal Kornegay, announced $86 million in new funding to expand the Administration's Workforce Housing Initiative, including $60 million to support homeownership and help to narrow the racial homeownership gap. About 500 new workforce homes, i.e. affordable housing that would be in close proximity to the workplace, for moderate-income, first-time homebuyers will be created, along with an additional 260 new workforce rental units. 

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ONE Mortgage program made more affordable in Boston

July 25th, 2019 by

On July 18, Mayor Marty Walsh announced that the Barriers to Homeownership Working Group, in a partnership with the Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance (MAHA) and the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization (GBIO), worked to create the ONE+Boston mortgage program, which will be launched this fall. The new program, offered by the Massachusetts Housing Partnership (MHP), is intended to make progress on the original ONE Mortgage program and aims to permanently buy down interest rates for first-time home buyers earning less than $90,000 in a two-person household, which in turn will create more opportunities for low- to middle-income families to buy a home.

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A Dozen MACDC Member Projects Among Rental Round Award Recipients

July 18th, 2019 by Don Bianchi

On July 18th, Governor Baker and other officials announced the award of $80 Million in subsidy funding, as well as state and federal tax credits that will generate more than $260 Million in subsidized private equity, for the development of affordable rental housing.  When completed, these 28 projects will create or preserve 1,581 homes, including 1,349 affordable units, with 273 of these affordable units reserved for extremely low-income households. 

 

The developments awarded funding include 12 projects sponsored by MACDC Members, resulting in the creation or preservation of 500 homes, including 467 affordable units: 

 

Nuestra Comunidad’s Bartlett Station Building A, part of a multi-phase redevelopment of a former MBTA lot in Boston’s Roxbury neighborhood, will offer 42 newly-constructed rental units, including 30 affordable units. 

 

Dorchester Bay EDC will renovate 56 affordable units at Dudley Terrace Apartments in Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood. 

 

Urban Edge’s Holzer Park, a transit-oriented development in Boston’s Jamaica Plain neighborhood, will involve the new construction of 62 units, including 54 affordable homes.

 

Lena Park CDC, in partnership with the New Boston Fund, will newly construct 47units- including 40 affordable units- as Olmsted Green Rental Phase IV, one of the final phases of the redevelopment of the former Boston State Hospital in Boston’s Mattapan neighborhood.

 

Mission Hill NHS will newly construct 46 units, including 43 affordable homes, as Parcel 25 Phase 2, in Boston’s Mission Hill neighborhood.

 

The Neighborhood Developers were awarded funds for two new construction projects for low-income seniors, with services, in Everett: St. Therese Condo 1 (44 affordable units), and St. Therese Condo 2 (33 affordable units).

 

North Shore CDC is developing Harbor Village, a mixed-use project in Gloucester which will offer 30 affordable units.

 

The Women’s Institute is newly constructing 30 affordable units in Sandwich at Terrapin Ridge.

 

B’nai B’rith Housing New England is redeveloping a vacant elementary school in Swampscott into 38 affordable homes at Senior Residences at The Machon.

 

Berkshire Housing Development Corporation’s Cole Avenue project will consist of is constructing 41 newly constructed units, including 38 affordable units, on a town-owned, former industrial site in Williamstown.

 

Worcester Common Ground’s 126 Chandler project in Worcester will combined adaptive re-use of a long-vacant mill building and new construction to create 31 affordable homes. 

 

In order to receive a funding award, each CDC had to demonstrate its capacity, which has been enhanced through the Community Investment Tax Credit Program.  When coupled with the subsidy resources necessary for affordable housing development, these CDC projects will provide high-quality homes for 500 families and seniors for many years to come. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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MACDC Announces Eastern Bank to Award $250,000 in Grants for CDCs Through the Community Investment Tax Credit Program

July 1st, 2019 by

 

The Massachusetts Association of Community Development Corporations (MACDC) has announced that Eastern Bank has renewed its commitment to the Community Investment Tax Credit (CITC) program by pledging $250,000 in grants to participating Massachusetts Community Development Corporations (CDCs). The announcement was made by Quincy Miller, Vice Chair and President of Eastern Bank, at the 10th Anniversary Celebration of the Mel King Institute on June 25th at the Boston Park Plaza. Eastern Bank was the Presenting Sponsor of the event. This is the fourth consecutive year the Eastern Bank Charitable Foundation is awarding grant funding to the CITC program. Since the inception of Eastern Bank’s participation in the program in 2016, the bank will have contributed more than $1 million in grants to organizations participating in the CITC program.

In 2018, Certified CDCs in Massachusetts, which include all organizations participating in the CITC program, accomplished the following:

  • Homes Built or Preserved: 1,535
  • Job Opportunities Created or Preserved: 4,305
  • Entrepreneurs Provided Technical Assistance: 1,369
  • Families Supported with Housing, Jobs or Other Services: 84,224
  • Community Leaders Engaged: 1,910
  • Investment in Local Communities: $801.5 million.

“Affordable housing and community development create pathways to prosperity, and Eastern Bank is committed to standing alongside the leaders and organizations advocating for these issues,” said Miller. “Thank you to the CDCs who are doing incredible work in Boston and across the Commonwealth in creating new opportunities for all, and congratulations to the Mel King Institute on celebrating 10 years of leading our neighborhoods in community building.”

The CITC program provides a 50% refundable state tax credit for donations of $1,000 or more to participating CDCs.  Because the donation is refundable, organizations, such as foundations and donor advised funds, can support CDCs across Massachusetts through the program as well as individuals and businesses. CDCs can apply for an Eastern Bank grant at www.easternbank.com/foundation.

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