CEDAC announced today that Massachusetts preserved more than 2,600 units of affordable rental housing during 2019. Our data show that 3,032 total units in 25 project developments across the state were preserved using various types of state financing in 2019. From the total, 2,689 units are affordable and the remaining units are market rate. The projects span the state and consist of large- and small-scale developments in communities across the Commonwealth, including Boston, Cambridge, Duxbury, Holyoke, Lawrence, Leominster, Stoughton, and Worcester, to name a few. You can read more at our press release.
Preserving housing affordability – especially for the developments that were built in the 1960s and 70s and have reached maturity on their long-term governmental mortgages – is an important part of maintaining affordable housing stock, given the incredible demand in Massachusetts. For years, CEDAC has maintained a database of the privately-owned stock of publicly assisted affordable housing on behalf of the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) and other Massachusetts public lenders. This database tracks over 1,600 projects with 135,000 housing units and ensures that we have an “early warning” system in place to help guard against losing affordable units to market rate conversion.
A good example of a project preserved in 2019 is The Tannery, located in Peabody. The project’s affordability restrictions ended in March 2018, but affordability was maintained through the Commonwealth’s innovative Chapter 40T law. WinnDevelopment purchased the 284-unit project, and last year, the development received additional financing to ensure rehabilitation of the property. Enacted in 2009, Chapter 40T establishes public notification provisions for tenants and state and local officials, a right of offer and right of first refusal for DHCD or its designee to purchase publicly-assisted housing, and modest tenant protections for projects with affordability restrictions that terminate. You can read more about The Tannery here.
Along with The Tannery, the following is a list of affordable housing developments preserved in 2019:
| Project Name | City/Town | # of Affordable Units Preserved |
| 270 Huntington Ave | Boston | 72 |
| Florence Apts | Boston | 126 |
| Forestvale | Boston | 108 |
| Fort Hill-Esperanza | Boston | 82 |
| Haynes House | Boston | 131 |
| Viviendas La Victoria | Boston | 190 |
| Wardman Apts | Boston | 88 |
| Warren Ave | Boston | 30 |
| Woodbourne | Boston | 75 |
| 808 Memorial Drive | Cambridge | 212 |
| Squirrelwood | Cambridge | 78 |
| Island Creek I | Duxbury | 58 |
| Fitchburg Green | Fitchburg | 159 |
| Carlos Vega | Holyoke | 18 |
| Holyoke Farms | Holyoke | 191 |
| S.C. Hamilton | Holyoke | 127 |
| Sycamore Village | Lawrence | 161 |
| Whitney Carriage Park | Leominster | 45 |
| Mayflower Apts | Lowell | 99 |
| Rogers Hall | Lowell | 60 |
| The Tannery | Peabody | 235 |
| Peter Sanborn Place | Reading | 73 |
| West Stoughton Village | Stoughton | 112 |
| Colonial Village | Weymouth | 89 |
| Matheson Apts | Worcester | 70 |
Total # of Affordable Units Preserved: 2,689
For more information on CEDAC’s Housing Preservation programs, please visit the Housing Preservation section at our website.
