BOSTON - February 5, 2003 - MassHousing, the state's affordable housing bank, today announced that it has made a $7.065 million loan commitment to preserve affordable housing for low-income and disabled households at the 134-unit Binnall House Apartments in Gardner.
"MassHousing is working hard to make sure developments such as Binnall House Apartments remain affordable for its current and future residents for years to come," said MassHousing Executive Director Thomas R. Gleason. "We need to thank our housing partners, the Retirement Housing Foundation and Schochet Associates, because without their commitment, Gardner might have lost a valuable and needed affordable housing resource."
"Because of some unique technical issues, Binnall House has proven to be a particularly challenging acquisition. MassHousing's commitment to provide financing is the result of an agency-wide effort to work with us to overcome the hurdles so that the housing can be preserved as affordable for the long term," said Jay Schochet, President of Schochet Associates, Inc.
MassHousing made a $7.065 million loan commitment to Binnall House RHF Housing, Inc., for the acquisition and rehabilitation of Binnall House Apartments in Gardner. The owner is a non-profit affiliate of Retirement Housing Foundation, Inc., a non-profit corporation based in California specializing in affordable housing.
In exchange for the below market rate financing, the owner will seek extensions to the existing Section 8 subsidies at the development and will preserve at least 75% of the units for households earning no more than 80% of the area median income (currently $48,700) for a minimum of 99 years.
Originally constructed in 1982, Binnall House Apartments is an eight-story, 134-unit development for low-income elderly and disabled households located in downtown Gardner. The development is adjacent to the post office, police station, fire station and a senior center. While no major repairs are needed, there will be minor repairs and modifications to the common areas to bring the property into full compliance with state and federal accessibility laws.
The developer for Binnall House Apartments is Schochet Associates, Inc. The contractor is Suffolk Construction Company, Special Projects, and architect is The Architectural Team. The management company is Foundation Management Company, Inc., which will subcontract to Federal Management Co., Inc., an affiliate of Schochet Associates, Inc.
The Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency, now doing business as MassHousing, is the leading provider of affordable housing in Massachusetts. Since 1970, MassHousing has provided more than $7.5 billion in financing for more than 79,000 units of mixed-income rental housing and over 43,000 mortgage loans for first-time home buyers. For more information, visit the MassHousing Web site at www.masshousing.com.