BOSTON – March 31, 2025 – MassHousing has closed on $10.6 million in affordable housing financing to Arx Urban and Boston Communities for the construction of 62 mixed-income, transit-oriented apartment homes on Chelsea's main commercial corridor.
375 Broadway involves the development of a new 43-unit six-story building along with the moderate rehabilitation of an existing 19-unit building at Broadway and Fourth Street. The new transit-oriented affordable housing community will be near the city's MBTA Commuter Rail station and five major bus routes.
"This new housing community in the heart of Chelsea will provide its future residents access to public transportation and economic opportunity," said MassHousing CEO Chrystal Kornegay. "By providing high-quality new housing to residents across a broad range of incomes, 375 Broadway will meet the housing needs of all Chelsea's residents, as well as contribute to the further revitalization of a Gateway community."
"375 Broadway reflects Arx Urban's deep commitment to delivering high-quality, transit-oriented housing that serves a broad range of incomes," said Benjamin Moll, Principal of Arx Urban. "We're proud to partner with MassHousing, Boston Communities, and the City of Chelsea to help meet the city's critical housing needs and to invest in a vibrant, walkable corridor that connects residents to opportunity."
MassHousing is providing the development team with $7.7 million in permanent financing and $2.9 million in workforce housing financing.
Other financing sources include $23.9 million in equity from an allocation of state and federal Low Income Housing Tax Credits by the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (EOHLC), $3.5 million in direct support from EOHLC, $2.1 million in financing through the Affordable Housing Trust Fund, which MassHousing manages on behalf of EOHLC, $29 million in construction financing from First Citizens Bank, $1.1 million in financing from the North Suburban Consortium, $700,000 in Chelsea American Rescue Plan Act and Community Preservation Act financing, $38,697 in energy credit financing and $75,466 in solar credit financing. The tax credit investor and syndicator is Boston Financial Investment Management, LP.
375 Broadway will be a true mixed-income housing community. Of the 62 new apartments, nine will be restricted to households earning up to 30 percent of the Area Median Income (AMI) and supported by the federal Section 8 program (eight units) as well as the Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program (MRVP, one unit). Two units will be restricted to households earning up to 50 percent of AMI (both supported by MRVP), 27 apartments will be restricted to households earning up to 60 percent of AMI (five of which are supported by MRVP), 19 apartments will be workforce housing units for households earning up to 100 percent of AMI, and five apartments will be unrestricted and rented at market rates. There will be 15 studios, 11 one-bedroom apartments, 30 two-bedroom apartments, and six three-bedroom apartments.
The first floor of the new building will contain a parking garage with bicycle storage, EV car chargers, building systems, and a residential lobby. The remaining floors will contain residential units and amenity spaces which include a club lounge, fitness room and exterior patio that joins the second stories of each building and will provide seating and recreational space for residents.
The new building will pursue aggressive goals around efficient energy design including Passive House certification and compliance with all Enterprise Green Communities and Energy Star Multifamily New Construction requirements. Each building will include water-conserving faucets and showerheads, as well as new low-flow toilets, which will allow the development to use approximately 40 percent less water than comparable projects.
The general contractor is Haycon Inc., the architect is The Architectural Team, and the management agent will be Peabody Properties. Construction is expected to be completed by December 2026.
About Arx Urban
Arx Urban is an innovative real estate firm focused on the creation and preservation of housing in the Greater Boston area. Benjie Moll and Danny Moll founded the firm in 2014 with the mission to create a socially minded, forward-thinking, transparent approach to solving the region's housing crisis. To date, Arx Urban has developed 20 multifamily and mixed-use projects consisting of over 1000 units with almost $500 million in project value. For more information about Arx Urban, please visit www.arxurban.com.
About Boston Communities
Boston Communities is a Boston-based real estate development firm specializing in the creation of mixed-income, transit-oriented, and deeply sustainable housing for diverse communities with a mission to bring in the next generation of developers. The team has experience developing supportive, affordable, and middle-income rental and ownership housing, through new construction and historic rehabilitation, for individuals, families, and older adults.
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 $29 billion for affordable housing. For more information, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.
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