Charlton Project Gets Jump Start with $2.18 Million for Affordable Housing Renovations 

Thursday, October 15, 2009 -- As part of the Patrick-Murray Administration’s Massachusetts Recovery Plan to secure the state’s economic future, Governor Deval Patrick today announced that the state will utilize $50.3 million in federal recovery funds to create hundreds of jobs and revive affordable housing developments stalled throughout the Commonwealth due to the lack of equity available in low-income housing tax credit markets.

Cady Brook Apartments in Charlton and nine other projects in Amherst, Chelmsford, Lunenburg, Plymouth, Wareham, Watertown, West Boylston, Westfield and Worcester will receive American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds to fill the financing gaps created in projects where tax credits could not leverage the equity needed to support construction costs.

“This influx of funds will help keep our economic recovery on track by putting people back to work and by creating new affordable housing opportunities for families across Massachusetts,” said Governor Deval Patrick.

“Support of these projects bolsters our efforts to help homeless families and those at risk of becoming homeless with more options to transition into a permanent and stable housing situation,” said Lt. Governor Timothy Murray who also chairs the state’s Interagency Council for Housing and Homelessness. 

"This investment is a lifeline to help hundreds of people who are struggling to find work and keep a roof over their heads,” said Senator John Kerry.

“This $50 million in recovery assistance will create more housing opportunities for Massachusetts families and help stimulate the local economy,” said Congressman Richard E. Neal. “I am particularly pleased that $2.18 million will be used to rehabilitate the Cady Brook Apartments in Charlton creating 57 new jobs in the process. Today’s announcement by Governor Patrick is another example of how the federal stimulus package is working to improve the quality of life for millions of Americans,”

The U.S .Department of the Treasury is providing the funds and allowing states to convert tax credits into grants due to current tax credit market conditions. The Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development is implementing the program and awarded funds competitively based on projects that were shovel ready for construction and secure in all other aspects of project financing and permitting

Cady Brook is one of the few affordable housing developments in Charlton. HAP, Inc. is the project sponsor and will utilize its $2.18 million award to renovate the complex and when completed, all 39 units will be reserved for households earning less than 60% of area median income, with four of those units targeted to those earning below 30% of median income. The town will run a new water line to the development and septic tanks will be upgraded to conform to state codes. The project will generate an estimated 57 jobs.

“I applaud Governor Patrick and Congress for recognizing the importance of these projects,” said State Senator Stephen M. Brewer. “We have already spent billions of dollars to build housing stock and it’s vital that we protect our investment. The jobs that will be created in Charlton at the Cady Brook Apartments are coming at a time when we really need the economic push.”

“It is great to see stimulus funds being used to subsidize such an important and worthy project,” said Representative Geraldo Alicea. “The rehabilitation of Cady Brook Apartments will not only help the town to sustain one of the few affordable housing developments in Charlton, but it will help to create jobs and promote economic development as well.” 

“These funds, coupled with more than $45 million in low-income housing tax credit assistance that we received last summer from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, has helped us to get some important housing developments back on track while also creating new jobs and affordable housing opportunities for families on all income levels,” said state Housing and Community Development Undersecretary Tina Brooks. 

Investments in housing and economic development are critical components of Governor Patrick’s Massachusetts Recovery Plan, which combines state, federal and, where possible, private efforts to provide immediate and long-term relief and position the Commonwealth for recovery in the following ways:

• Deliver immediate relief by investing in the road, bridge and rail projects that put people to work today and providing safety net services that sustain people who are especially vulnerable during an economic crisis;
• Build a better tomorrow through education and infrastructure investments that strengthen our economic competitiveness, prepare workers for the jobs of the future, and support clean energy, broadband, and technology projects that cut costs while growing the economy; and
• Reform state government by eliminating the pension and ethics loopholes that discredit the work of government and revitalize the transportation networks that have suffered from decades of neglect and inaction.