MassDevelopment Bond Helps Build Affordable Housing at East Boston's Coppersmith Village

March 01, 2017

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contacts:
Meggie Quackenbush, MassDevelopment, 617-330-2011 & 857-208-2777 (cell)
mquackenbush@massdevelopment.com

Phil Giffee, NOAH, 617-418-8240
pgiffee@noahcdc.org

MassDevelopment has issued a $13.4 million tax-exempt bond on behalf of Coppersmith Village Rental Limited Partnership, an affiliate of the Neighborhood of Affordable Housing Inc. (NOAH). NOAH, an East Boston regional community development corporation and the project’s sponsor, is using bond proceeds to build Coppersmith Village, a 56-unit rental housing facility. Forty-one units will be for households earning no more than 60 percent of the area median income. Coppersmith Village will transform a former ironworks company site at Border Street and will include 15 for-sale townhomes and about 3,000 square feet of ground floor retail space. East Boston Savings Bank purchased the bond, and MassDevelopment assisted the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development with the approval of federal low income housing tax credits that will provide approximately $7.6 million in equity for the project.

“Meeting greater Boston’s housing needs requires a creative approach to development like the one at Coppersmith Village,” said MassDevelopment President and CEO Marty Jones. “MassDevelopment is pleased to help finance this project to transform a formerly vacant facility into a brilliant mixed-use development that will provide East Boston residents with a variety of housing options.”

The Neighborhood of Affordable Housing is an East Boston community development corporation that supports communities with affordable housing, environmental justice, community planning, leadership development, and economic development strategies. NOAH partners with residents, neighborhood entities, municipalities, and groups in Greater Boston that share similar values. Its goal is to improve standards of living, build community, and create social and economic opportunities, especially for low- and moderate-income individuals and families. NOAH has completed five projects totaling 189 housing units in the past five years, and has 140 more units in its pipeline. The organization recently bought four three-deckers in East Boston to prevent tenants from being evicted and counteract gentrification in the neighborhood.

“MassDevelopment, East Boston Savings Bank, the Massachusetts Housing Investment Corporation, the City of Boston, and our lending team have been terrific, especially amidst the changing tax credit arena,” said NOAH Executive Director Phil Giffee. “We are grateful for everyone’s faithful support and we cannot wait to bring this great transit-oriented development project online mid-2018.”

MassDevelopment, the state’s finance and development agency, works with businesses, nonprofits, financial institutions, and communities to stimulate economic growth across the Commonwealth. During FY2016, MassDevelopment financed or managed 352 projects generating investment of more than $4 billion in the Massachusetts economy. These projects are projected to create about 8,200 jobs and build or rehabilitate about 4,200 residential units.