A nursing home and an assisted-living center affiliated with Cambridge government and in need of financial support won’t need city money for a necessary mortgage refinancing, a reversal of statements made four months ago. Neville Center, the nursing home, and Neville Place, the assisted-living facility, hope to close refinancing “in the coming few weeks,” the head of the nonprofit that operates the two entities said last week.
“Support from the city is not a condition to refinancing the Rockland loans,” said Andrew Fuqua, general counsel to the Cambridge Health Alliance, referring to mortgages from Rockland Trust Co. to the two facilities. Fuqua is president of the nonprofit Neville Communities, which was established to run the nursing home and assisted-living center and includes representatives from the Cambridge Housing Authority and the city as well as the Alliance.
Rockland Trust loaned $19.7 million to the nursing home and to the assisted-living center in 2013; about $14 million is still owed. The loans are due Oct. 31, but Fuqua said extensions have been discussed; the bank has already delayed the due date from July 2023 to the end of this month.
In May, Fuqua had told city councillors that Neville Communities couldn’t refinance the mortgages without city help and that the nursing home faced a long-term risk of closing unless it could refinance. Both facilities also need new roofs, other repairs and upgrades, councillors were told.
Council members balked at using city money to help repay a private bank and in June the council voted to ask Rockland Trust to forgive part of the loans so they could be refinanced. Councillor Patty Nolan said then that the bank had a financial interest in accommodating the request because it would get nothing if Neville Communities defaulted, since the city, not Neville Communities, owns the buildings and land on which the two facilities operate.
Finances are stabilizing
Fuqua hinted last week that the city might be asked to provide financial help to the nursing home that doesn’t involve refinancing the Rockland Trust loan. “We look forward to working further with the city on ways to preserve Neville Center as a valuable resource to the Cambridge community,” he said.
Fuqua also said: “Neville Center’s finances are stabilizing, and although the building has capital needs that should be addressed sooner rather than later, it remains in good condition. Most importantly, though, as the state has recognized by awarding it a five-star rating last month, Neville Center continues to provide top-quality care to its patients.”
The logjam over loans has lasted more than a year. In 2023 the city’s Affordable Housing Trust approved a $2.5 million loan to Neville Place assisted living and increased it to $5.7 million in April this year for a new roof and upgraded facilities. That loan hasn’t closed because it depends on refinancing the Rockland Trust mortgages.
Replaced Neville Manor
The trust can help Neville Place because assisted living is considered housing, but it can’t lend money to a medical facility such as Neville Center. Both the nursing home and the assisted living center are required to fill most of their rooms with lower-income residents because city, state and federal money helped create the facilities.
Neville Center and Neville Place opened in 2001 on city land that formerly housed the city’s Neville Manor nursing home. Neville Manor was more than 70 years old, in disrepair and losing money. A 1999 state law authorized the redevelopment of the property.
At the time, the Cambridge Health Alliance owned Neville Manor, and the Alliance, the Cambridge Housing Authority, the city and the city’s Affordable Housing Trust collaborated to create the new development with financial help from the state and other affordable-housing organizations. The nursing home and assisted-living center sit on city-owned land next to Fresh Pond.
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