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$6.4 MILLION FOR NORTH END KNIGHTS HQ

MassDevelopment Issues Tax-Exempt Bond to Repurpose Knights of Columbus Building for Senior Affordable Housing

Rendering of 41 N. Margin Street by architect Michael Angelo Interbartolo, Jr., AIA.

MassDevelopment has issued a $6.4 million tax-exempt bond on behalf of 41 N. Margin Senior Apartments, LLC, an affiliate of East Boston Community Development Corporation (EBCDC) and Affirmative Investments, Inc., which is using bond proceeds to receive a 99-year lease from Ausonia Home Association for a portion of its property at 41 N. Margin Street in Boston’s North End. EBCDC and Affirmative Investments are also using bond proceeds to convert the property, which has been vacant for two years and was previously the headquarters for the Ausonia Council 1513, Knights of Columbus, into the Knights of Columbus Apartments that will feature 23 one-bedroom units of affordable senior housing to be rented to households earning no more than 60% of the area median income. The project includes renovating the building, adding two floors where the housing units will be located, and constructing a 1,600-square-foot addition that will serve as the new quarters for Ausonia Council 1513, Knights of Columbus. Eastern Bank purchased the bond.

“MassDevelopment is proud to help bring affordable senior housing to one of the most historic neighborhoods in Boston, through East Boston CDC and Affirmative Investments, Inc.,” said MassDevelopment President and CEO Dan Rivera. “The Knights of Columbus headquarters played such an important role in the life of the neighborhood so we are honored and excited to see the property continue its legacy as a safe and affordable home for many area seniors.”

“This project will help to create much needed affordable senior housing in the heart of Boston’s North End,” said Pamela Feingold, Senior Vice President and Head of Community Development Lending at Eastern Bank. “Eastern Bank is proud to provide the construction and permanent financing for this project, and we thank MassDevelopment and the entire group of funders for expanding secure and stable housing to the elderly.”

In addition to the tax-exempt bonds, MassDevelopment assisted the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development with the approval of federal low-income housing tax credits, which will provide approximately $4.7 million in equity for the project.

“The members of Ausonia Council 1513, Knights of Columbus, are excited to work with East Boston CDC, Affirmative Investments, and state and city governments to provide 23 affordable, elderly apartments to give residents an opportunity to remain in the neighborhood,” said John Pagliuca, Grand Knight of Ausonia Council 1513, Knights of Columbus. “We believe that using Ausonia Home Association’s property to address the shortage of affordable housing in the North End fulfills our charitable mission to improve the quality of life for people in need.”

East Boston Community Development Corporation (EBCDC) is a nonprofit community development corporation dedicated to enhancing the life of low-income residents of East Boston through community services such as elderly housing, affordable and accessible housing, economic development programs, and support for residents of public housing facilities. EBCDC has developed or co-developed more than 1,000 units of subsidized housing and manages 700 subsidized rental apartments.

“EBCDC, AI, the Knights of Columbus, MassDevelopment and the City of Boston have, once again, formed an exciting partnership that will result in affordable housing that will create an opportunity for those senior citizens who have long ties to the North End to remain in the community,” said East Boston Community Development Corporation President Albert Caldarelli.

Affirmative Investments, Inc. partners with mission-driven organizations by contributing its real estate finance and development expertise to expand housing opportunities and deliver critical services in low-income communities. Since its founding in 1984, Affirmative Investments has facilitated the financing and development of $921 million of affordable housing nationwide, representing more than 6,200 units and 81 New Markets Tax Credit deals totaling 4.5 million square feet of space with development costs of $2 billion.

“We are so pleased to move forward with this exciting project for the North End community and cannot thank the Knights of Columbus enough for their generosity and vision,” said Affirmative Investments President David Ennis. “And MassDevelopment is a great and supportive partner.”

MassDevelopment, the state’s finance and development agency, works with businesses, nonprofits, banks, and communities to stimulate economic growth across the Commonwealth. During FY2020, MassDevelopment financed or managed 341 projects generating investment of more than $2.69 billion in the Massachusetts economy. These projects are estimated to create or support 10,871 jobs and build or preserve 1,787 housing units.

CONTACTS:
Matthew Mogavero, MassDevelopment
857-248-0868 (cell)
mmogavero@massdevelopment.com

John Fiumara, Knights of Columbus
617-640-1607 (cell)
johnfium@aol.com

Albert Caldarelli, EBCDC
617-569-5590 (office)
acaldarelli@ebcdc.com

David Ennis, Affirmative Investments
617-367-4300 (office)
DEnnis@affirmativeinvestments.com

A look inside The Knights of Columbus Senior Housing project mid construction. The project will be a 23-unit, 100% affordable elderly housing development in Boston’s North End. The site and building are currently owned by the Knights of Columbus, Ausonia Council #1513, a non-profit community organization that has used the building as their meeting hall and community space since the 1960s. The project is an adaptive re-use of the building into a mix of studios and one bedroom apartments. All units will be LIHTC units. The project will lease the building from the Knights of Columbus for 99 years. The plan is to build a new 1,515 SF space adjacent to the housing.

The Knights project will provide much needed housing for the elderly in one of Boston’s most thoroughly gentrified and sought after neighborhoods. All of the amenities one would need are within walking distance, including a branch of the Boston Public Library, local shops and restaurants, and the Nazzarro Community Center which hosts a series of programs dedicated to serving the North End’s vibrant elderly community. The project is also within walking distance of major transit hubs such as
Government Center, Haymarket, and North Station.

Affirmative Investments is happy to announce the completion of the Horizons for Homeless building. The building is partially leased and tenants are expected to move in this fall. See below the feature on the Boston Business Journal and read more on the new building and the mission Horizon for Homeless has in place.

Click here to vote for Harmon Apartments!

The magazine, Building Design and Construction published an article 8 noteworthy multifamily projects to open in late 2019 and Harmon Apartments was featured as number 6 in their top 8 noteworthy projects. Affirmative and The Boston Home are extremely proud of this project, and happy to say all 36 units are leased up! 

East Boston Community Development was joined by Mayor Marty J. Walsh, the East Boston residents, and local elected officials to celebrate the groundbreaking for Paris Village. The new apartment building is a $14 million residential community that features 32 affordable apartments for working families in East Boston. “High quality, affordable housing for working families is the key to opportunity. Creating equitable housing like Paris Village preserves the rich character of Boston’s neighborhoods”, said Mayor Walsh. Located in one of Boston’s fastest growing neighborhoods, near restaurants and variety of arts, cultural and outdoor amenities and activities. Paris Village is also located close to the MBTA blue line, downtown Boston and Logan International Airport. The apartments will be rented to individuals who are earning at or below 60 percent of the area median income (AMI), with four of the families earning 30 percent of AMI or below. “As we see so much change in East Boston it is important that we create and preserve affordable family housing for all of the hard working residents of East Boston,” said Albert Caldarelli, President and Executive Director of the East Boston CDC.  To read more about Paris Village click here.

Harmon Apartments was featured on the Novogradac Journal of Tax Credit. Click on the link to read more about Harmon Apartments.

During a Tuesday tour of the construction site for the 40-unit project, state officials praised the community for its strong commitment to providing affordable housing. Located on Spring Bars Road, Little Pond Place will offer 5 one-bedroom, 21 two-bedroom and 4 three-bedroom units, spread across four buildings on land to the west of Little Pond. All 40 units will be affordable. In 2016 after inviting proposals from developers, the town selected Affirmative Investments and the nonprofit Falmouth Housing Corp to develop the project. Affirmative Investments is no stranger to Falmouth, nor to its partner on the Little Pond Project. This is the sixth project Affirmative and Falmouth Housing Corp develop together. To read more about the Little Pond Project click here.

(Dorchester, MA 5/7/19) Mayor Martin Walsh attends the ribbon cutting for Harmon Apartments. (Mayor’s Office Photo by John Wilcox)

The Boston Home and City officials celebrated the unveiling of a more than $18 million housing project that provides support for adults with disabilities on mixed incomes — an initiative associated with increased housing goals from Mayor Martin Walsh, who said more attention needs to be geared toward the disabled community.

“It allows people to live with freedom,” Walsh told the Herald after a ribbon-cutting of the units at the Harmon Apartments on Dorchester Avenue. “It’s really built for people to live independently and we really have to try to do more of this in the city if we can. Instead of being in nursing homes, we should try and strive to get more people into these places.”

The project was completed by co-developers The Boston Home and Affirmative Investments. It was funded by the City of Boston, the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development, MassHousing, Capital One Bank, National Equity Fund and The Boston Home.

To read more of the residents and city officials comments on the project click here. To learn more about Harmon Apartments and additional Affordable Housing projects Affirmative has done click here.

The Connecticut Health and Education Facilities Authority (CHEFA), a Connecticut-wide tax-exempt financing authority, has hired Affirmative Investments to create a CDE and manage their New Markets Tax Credit Program. CHEFA’s mission is to help Connecticut-based non-profit organizations raise the funds needed to meet their goals of improving the health and education in Connecticut. With Affirmative’s guidance CHEFA now controls the sole CDE based in CT, the CHEFA Community Development Corporation, which will help further CHEFA’s mission.

Affirmative and CHEFA hosted a NMTC workshop on April 3rd, 2019 to inform local non-profit and community organizations of this new opportunity to use NMTCs to support their projects. Over 30 different non-profits from across Connecticut were in attendance. Dave Scheltz, Affirmative’s New Markets Tax Credit Program Manager, provided an overview of the NMTC program and then hosted two panels featuring representatives from MHIC, JP Morgan Chase, People’s United Bank, BlueHub Capital, Bristol Boys and Girls Club, and Generations Family Health Center. These representatives shared their experiences using the NMTC program in their various capacities with the attendees.

CHEFA CDC is actively developing a project pipeline for its 2019 application and has begun scheduling meetings with nonprofits to discuss potential projects. If you are interested in learning more and have a project you would like to share, please contact Dave Scheltz at (617) 367-4300 or dscheltz@affirmativeinvestments.com or Dan Kurowski at (860) 761-8432 or dkurowski@chefa.com.