Part 11: Low to Mod Income Housing

Applications were submitted and money has been granted. Note this article from the Telelgram this past August 20th, click here. Here are the hi-lights:

Southgate and Grand streets will soon be torn down to make way for a three-story, 25-unit affordable housing project. That dream came closer to reality yesterday with the news that the state Department of Housing and Community Development has awarded the $7 million project a $1.9 million grant and $3.3 million in tax credits spread over 10 years.

Jahn before you leave the comment, the cost breaks down to 280,000 per apartment. The most important thing, however, are the buzz words "affordable housing project". In other words, all the units must be for low to mod income.

One other trick that I have learned is formation of the company developing the property. In this case the developer is newly formed corporation called Mechanics Guild LLC, which is a partnership with Stepone Inc., an affiliate of Horne and Johnson (a Natick architectural firm), and the South Worcester Neighborhood Center (SWNIC). Why does this work good?

You take advantage of the non-profit status of SWNIC by transfering ownership of the parcel to the non-profit entity (SWNIC) for $1 , apply for Brownfields clean-up money and avoid having to pay the monies back since the grantee was a non-profit. Once the clean-up is done, you transfer the parcel back to the newly formed corporation. We have seen this before on Mason Street.