Less than a week after her State of the Commonwealth address in which she vowed to tackle rising housing costs, Governor Maura Healey on Monday committed resources to support the production and preservation of more than 1,900 housing units in 19 communities across the state.
Gov. Healey, Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll and Secretary of Housing and Livable Communities Ed Augustus joined state Sen. Liz Miranda and state Representative Samantha Montaño in Jamaica Plain to celebrate the Blessed Sacrament Church historic adaptive reuse project and to announce subsidies and Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) support for several affordable housing projects across the state.
“These housing projects are a great example of why we expanded the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit in our tax cuts bill,” said Healey. “From a church transformed into mixed-use mixed-income housing in Boston to the re-use of a vacant nursing home as affordable rental housing in Northampton, these funds will make it possible for thousands of Massachusetts residents to afford a home. We look forward to continuing to work to pass the Affordable Homes Act this year to create much-needed housing across all income levels in the state.”
Last fall, as part of a $1 billion tax relief signed by the governor, the Administration raised the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit to $60 million annually – a $20 million increase over the previous year.
“Pennrose is honored to be entrusted by the Hyde Square Task Force to preserve this incredible historic asset with them and to create performance space for the community that fulfills their mission,” said Charles Adam, Regional Vice President, Pennrose of the Blessed Sacrament Church project. “We are incredibly grateful to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the City of Boston for their commitment, dedication and resources to make this restoration and transformation a reality and to complete the work on this campus that has been done so well by the Jamaica Plain NDC and others.”
Celina Miranda, Executive Director of the Hyde Square Task Force, said the group is fortunate to partner with Pennrose to preserve the community gem.
“This project will add much-needed affordable housing to Boston’s Latin Quarter and include a performance space to help Hyde Square Task Force further our mission,” Miranda said. “We are grateful to the Commonwealth and the City of Boston for helping us complete the vision for this amazing building and campus.”
Augustus said the Blessed Sacrament and other projects, which will now be built as a result of the increase to the Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, are a direct result of the governor’s tax relief bill.
“The funding of these projects is proof that housing production for all of our communities is a top priority for the Healey-Driscoll Administration,” he said. “The governor’s Affordable Homes Act will soon fund even more, much needed, affordable housing in the commonwealth.”
Also among the projects announced on Monday for the LIHTC program was the Mildred Hailey 3 project in Jamaica Plain.
“We thank the Healey-Driscoll administration for their continued leadership and sense of urgency in responding to the unprecedented housing crisis in Boston and throughout the Commonwealth,” said Emilio Dorcely, the CEO of Urban Edge. “This award will support the ongoing redevelopment of Mildred Hailey, an affordable multi-family rental project in Jamaica Plain, and will add much needed affordable housing units into the Boston market. In the fifty years since Urban Edge was founded, the role of public-private partnerships has been critical to bringing transformative investments to housing initiatives that will help make Boston a more equitable and vibrant City.”