BOSTON – February 6, 2024 – MassHousing will provide $4.6 million in financing through the CommonWealth Builder Program to Broadway Capital Inc. to develop 71 new mixed-income condominiums for sale in the Gateway City of Revere. The MassHousing funding will create 18 new homeownership opportunities for moderate-income first-time homebuyers.
Broadway Capital Inc. has commenced construction and will transform a former four-story assisted living community on Salem Street into a new residential community that will also include 1,415 square feet of commercial space. Six of the new homes will be sold to first-time homebuyers earning up to 70 percent of the Area Median Income (AMI) and 12 homes will be sold to homebuyers earning up to 80 percent of AMI. The remaining 53 condos will be sold at market rates. Construction is expected to be completed in June.
"MassHousing is excited to be part of this project that is going to create homeownership opportunities for 71 households in Revere," said MassHousing CEO Chrystal Kornegay. "As homeowners, they will begin to build equity and wealth, which they one day may pass along to a new generation. We are pleased that CommonWealth Builder will help build these new homes, with all the benefits homeownership can bring."
"We are incredibly proud of the collaborative effort between Broadway Capital, MassHousing, and the City of Revere in bringing the North Strand Condominiums project to fruition," said Broadway Capital Managing Director Mikael Vienneau. "This initiative underscores our commitment to not only providing quality housing but also fostering owner occupancy and supporting the critical need for affordable housing in Massachusetts. Working hand in hand with MassHousing and the city, we have seen firsthand the positive impact these partnerships can have on communities. Together, we are making strides towards addressing the housing challenges our state faces while empowering individuals and families to achieve their dream of homeownership."
The CommonWealth Builder Program is a landmark initiative to address the racial homeownership gap in Massachusetts by creating new homeownership and wealth-building opportunities in communities of color. It is the largest state-level program of its kind in the nation and provides market-based subsidies to support the construction of new, moderately priced, single-family homes and condominiums in the City of Boston, the state's 26 Gateway Cities, and Framingham and Randolph. The program subsidizes the production of homes restricted to homebuyers with incomes set anywhere between 70 percent to 120 percent of their Area Median Income (AMI).
In addition to the $4.6 million in CommonWealth Builder financing from MassHousing, North Shore Bank is providing $17.5 million in construction financing and the city of Revere is providing $100,000.
The new homes will include 18 studio condos, 27 one-bedroom condos, and 26 two-bedroom condos. The general contractor is Congress Construction. The architect is Vanko Studio Architects, LLC, and the management agent is Broadway Capital Inc.
MassHousing has financed five rental housing communities in Revere involving 383 housing units and $27.1 million in financing. The Agency has also provided $144.2 million in home mortgage financing to 819 Revere homebuyers and homeowners.
About the CommonWealth Builder Program
Massachusetts has the sixth-largest racial homeownership gap the United States. Across the nation, approximately 46 percent of households of color own their own home, compared to just 34 percent in Massachusetts. The homeownership gap between white and nonwhite residents in Massachusetts has helped drive significant disparities in household wealth. The CommonWealth Builder Program is a double-bottom-line initiative. It grows the Commonwealth’s stock of moderately priced starter homes, while advancing intergenerational wealth building in underserved communities.
MassHousing’s Homeownership Division supports CommonWealth Builder with a combination of mortgage financing for homebuyers, down payment assistance loans, mortgage insurance with job-loss protection at no added cost, and targeted marketing in the Gateway Cities to ensure that borrowers of color are made aware of this new opportunity for homeownership.
Since the program launched in 2019, MassHousing has committed a total of $99.4 million to 21 CommonWealth Builder projects across Massachusetts. These projects will create a total of 531 new homeownership opportunities, including 448 new affordable homes for first-time homebuyers.
The CommonWealth Builder Program is funded by state capital funds and American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding allocated by the Massachusetts Legislature. The Commonwealth’s Gateway Cities are Attleboro, Barnstable, Brockton, Chelsea, Chicopee, Everett, Fall River, Fitchburg, Haverhill, Holyoke, Lawrence, Leominster, Lowell, Lynn, Malden, Methuen, New Bedford, Peabody, Pittsfield, Quincy, Revere, Salem, Springfield, Taunton, Westfield and Worcester.
About Broadway Capital Inc.
Broadway Capital Inc. is a privately held real estate firm located in Chelsea with a focus on mid-level multi-family properties. The company’s strategy is to seek out and acquire under-performing real estate assets and reposition via rent adjustments, capital improvements and cost control measures. The firm is both an equity and managing partner in over $200 million of the investments it sponsors, offering the following services through its subsidiaries: Property Management/Maintenance, Construction Management and Real Estate Development.
About MassHousing
MassHousing (The Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency) is an independent, quasi-public agency created in 1966 and charged with providing financing for affordable housing in Massachusetts. The Agency raises capital by selling bonds and lends the proceeds to low- and moderate-income homebuyers and homeowners, and to developers who build or preserve affordable and/or mixed-income rental housing. MassHousing does not use taxpayer dollars to sustain its operations, although it administers some publicly funded programs on behalf of the Commonwealth. Since its inception, MassHousing has provided more than $30 billion for affordable housing. For more information, follow us on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
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