Funding for affordable housing in Cambridge will get a boost, according to an announcement last week from Governor Maura Healey, whose administration released a list of grant recipients for $276 million in total financing for affordable projects statewide. According to the Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (EOHLC), $18.2 million of these funds will go to two Cambridge-based projects through a combination of state subsidies and state and federal tax credits. The projects, one on Wendell Street and the other at Corcoran Park, are slated to provide 162 new affordable rental units in the coming years.
“In Cambridge, affordable housing has long been a top priority,” said City Manager Yi-An Huang in a press release announcing the grant awards. “We have made tremendous progress through innovative zoning reform and significant funding commitments, but none of it would be possible without crucial funding support from the Commonwealth.”
The press release mentions that because of this financing, both projects will be able to start construction next year.
Cambridge was one of 20 communities statewide to receive grant awards from this year’s funding cycle, and one of only five to receive funding for multiple projects. Despite state fiscal headwinds, this round of EOHLC awards is the largest in more than a decade. While there are multiple affordable housing projects
underway in Somerville as well, Deputy Director of Communications for the City of Somerville Grace Munn confirmed that none of them applied for this round of grants.
“Governor Healey has been very committed around making this a priority,” Mayor Sumbul Siddiqui told Cambridge Day in an interview. “It’s just exciting. I think this is exactly where money should be going… When we’re prioritizing budgets, we should prioritize housing, especially affordable housing.”
Both projects have completed their zoning through Cambridge’s Affordable Housing Overlay (AHO) process, which incentivizes the construction of 100% affordable residential buildings by allowing them to be taller than what zoning laws typically allow.
One project at 28-30 Wendell Street near Lesley University will provide 95 newly constructed units of housing for families and seniors, owned by Homeowners Rehab Inc. EOHLC Press Secretary Tara Smith told Cambridge Day that this project will receive about $12.6 million in total financing, while another $5.6 million will go towards the first phase of redevelopment for Cambridge Housing Alliance-owned Corcoran Park in Strawberry Hill. CHA plans to use the funds to demolish an existing 29-unit structure suffering from flooding issues and replace it with 67 new apartments and townhomes.
“This has been something that [CHA] has been wanting to redevelop for quite some time. These units were built in the early 1950s,” Siddiqui said of the Corcoran Park project. “The redevelopment, it’s just so important for that community.
This article was updated to reflect new information about affordable housing projects in Somerville.
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Affordable housing is essential infrastructure, not a luxury. It keeps communities economically diverse and helps working families and seniors remain in the cities they call home.
This shows what sustained public investment and smart zoning reform can accomplish.
Supporting projects like these is essential for any city that aims to remain livable for everyone, not only the wealthy.
Don’t let the wealthy tell you they are looking out for community at large when they oppose development. They are just protecting their privilege.
Wealthy people saying they’re looking out for the greater good is the oldest trick in the book.