BOSTON – January 25, 2021 – MassHousing has provided $14.8 million in affordable housing financing to School House Brookledge Cummins Limited Partnership, an affiliate of EAF Associates, to preserve the affordability of the 90-unit School House Brookledge Cummins property in Dorchester. As a result of the MassHousing financing, affordability protections for lower-income households and senior citizens living at the property will be extended by at least 28 years.
"School House Brookledge Cummins provides quality affordable homes for lower-income families and seniors," said MassHousing Executive Director Chrystal Kornegay. "We are pleased that this transaction will extend affordability protections for nearly three decades, so that those households can continue to live and prosper in Dorchester."
"We are so grateful to our partners – Edward A. Fish Associates LLC and Madison Park Development Corporation – for having the compassionate foresight to come together to preserve these 90 units of affordable housing in Boston," said James Sullivan, President and Treasurer of the property's general partner. "This refinance repaid a lot of soft debt, increased funding to the reserves, and stabilized the future of the property."
The property, which is managed by Peabody Properties, Inc., was refinanced through MassHousing's Multifamily Accelerated Processing (MAP)/Ginnie Mae Joint Venture Initiative with lender partner Rockport Mortgage Corporation. MassHousing offers the MAP/Ginnie Mae loan program to the owners of rental housing through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). HUD provides expedited Federal Housing Administration (FHA) insurance approvals through the MAP program. MassHousing has surpassed $1 billion in cumulative MAP lending and the Agency has built the largest MAP lending program of any state housing finance agency in the nation.
The combination of FHA insurance and a Ginnie Mae guarantee enables borrowers to access taxable mortgage financing with lower interest rates, while preserving and extending affordability for hundreds of low-income individuals, senior citizens and families. MassHousing is providing School House Brookledge Cummins with a $14.8 million, 35-year permanent loan.
"Rockport Mortgage is very pleased to partner once again with EAF Associates and MassHousing to preserve and extend the affordability of School House Brookledge Cummins for 28 years," noted Dan Lyons, Managing Partner and President of Rockport Mortgage Corporation. "This property has been well maintained over the years and will continue to remain a stable affordable housing resource to Dorchester."
The 90 housing units are contained in two buildings, located at 60 Brookledge St. and 610 Cummins Highway. The Brookledge property is a brick, three-story building constructed in 1910, containing 50 apartments. The Cummins Highway property is a three-story building restricted to elderly residents and residents with disabilities, built in 1980, with 40 apartments. Both properties were renovated in 2008. There are a total of 57 one-bedroom apartments and 33 two-bedroom apartments.
All 90 apartments are subsidized by a federal Section 8 Housing Assistance Payment contract, which will be extended for 20 years when the current contract expires in 2028, ensuring affordability for the residents for at least 28 years.
MassHousing has financed 29 rental housing communities in Dorchester involving 2,792 housing units and $416 million in original financing. The agency has financed 8,576 affordable home mortgage loans in Boston totaling $1.2 billion in financing.
About MassHousing’s MAP/Ginnie Mae Initiative
MassHousing has partnered with three well-known and experienced MAP lenders CBRE, Capital One and Rockport Mortgage Corporation. The MAP lender prepares the submission of each transaction for HUD’s approval. MassHousing then closes the new loan and issues a Ginnie Mae Mortgage Backed Security (MBS), which has consistently provided the multifamily mortgage industry its most competitive long term, taxable interest rates.
With each MAP/Ginnie Mae loan, MassHousing continues as the mortgagee of record and becomes a Ginnie Mae servicer. This ensures affordability, as each completed transaction will require the property owner to rent at least 20 percent of the units to those earning less than 80 percent of the area median income. Affordability at many properties could be at risk were MassHousing unable to offer this product, as owners could refinance with other lenders who do not require affordability restrictions.
About Rockport Mortgage Corporation
Rockport Mortgage Corporation is a privately-owned commercial mortgage banking firm founded in 1992 and located on the North Shore of Boston. Rockport specializes in providing FHA-insured loans to market-rate, affordable and senior housing communities and healthcare facilities through the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and has been approved under HUD’s Multifamily Accelerated Processing (MAP) Program since the program inception in 2001. The Rockport team works collectively to navigate the complexities of FHA/HUD-insured finance programs, developing strategic solutions to meet the needs of our clients. For more information about Rockport Mortgage Corporation please visit www.rockportmortgage.com.
About MassHousing
MassHousing (The Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency) is an independent, quasi-public agency created in 1966 and charged with providing financing for affordable housing in Massachusetts. The Agency raises capital by selling bonds and lends the proceeds to low- and moderate-income homebuyers and homeowners, and to developers who build or preserve affordable and/or mixed-income rental housing. MassHousing does not use taxpayer dollars to sustain its operations, although it administers some publicly funded programs on behalf of the Commonwealth. Since its inception, MassHousing has provided more than $25 billion for affordable housing. For more information, follow us on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
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