CIL Realty to Use $17 Million MassDevelopment Bond to Renovate and Build 20 Group Homes for People with Developmental Disabilities

January 12, 2015

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contacts:
Emily Dahl, MassDevelopment, 617-330-2086 & 978-394-3506 (cell)
edahl@massdevelopment.com
Kent Schwendy, CIL Realty, 860-509-6747
kschwendy@cil.org

MassDevelopment has issued a $16,950,000 tax-exempt bond on behalf of the nonprofit CIL Realty of Massachusetts, Inc. (CILRM), which will use the proceeds to acquire land, construct, renovate, furnish, and equip 20 licensed group homes for disabled individuals in Amherst, Brockton, Danvers, Easton, Edgartown, Granby, Hadley, Leicester, Leominster, Montague, Orange, Pittsfield, Plympton, Randolph, Rockland, Sandwich, South Hadley, and Walpole.

CILRM currently owns 16 of the 20 facilities, which were financed through a construction line of credit that will be refinanced through the proposed bond issue. All 20 group homes will be leased to providers of care for people with developmental disabilities. Each facility will be operated and managed by the organization leasing the residence, and each facility will house four to six Massachusetts residents with developmental disabilities. The project is expected to create 183 new jobs and 39 construction jobs.

CILRM currently owns 120 such residences in Massachusetts, including the 16 to be refinanced through the bond issue. This new bond issue builds on an existing relationship between CILRM and MassDevelopment, which in 2013 issued $20 million in tax-exempt bonds on behalf of CILRM for construction and renovation of 21 group homes, and in 2011 issued $12 million in tax-exempt bonds on behalf of CILRM for construction and renovation of 13 group homes.

“CIL Realty of Massachusetts’s valuable services help people with developmental disabilities live in supportive settings,” said Marty Jones, President and CEO of MassDevelopment. “MassDevelopment is pleased to continue our partnership with CILRM to help this nonprofit expand and renovate its homes in the Commonwealth to benefit a needy population.”

“It’s very exciting for us to be collaborating with such a wonderful group of service providers, financial institutes, the Commonwealth, and the MassDevelopment. This bond provides permanent financing for twenty group homes and frees up additional resources for us so we can continue our mission to provide homes for those in need,” said Kent Schwendy, President and CEO of CIL Realty. “We’re thrilled to be part of this process and look forward to continuing the relationships. In these difficult economic times, we must all work together to ensure no one is forgotten and we’re providing communities where everyone is not only allowed, but truly welcomed.”

CILRM develops Massachusetts properties that are then leased to the Commonwealth and to private nonprofit agencies that provide housing and other services to people with disabilities. The organization was formed in 1991 as a Chapter 180 non-stock, nonprofit corporation. It is a 501(c)(3) wholly owned subsidiary of CIL Realty Incorporated, which is in turn a subsidiary of the Corporation for Independent Living (CIL). CIL is based in Hartford, Connecticut, and was founded in 1979 by a coalition of private nonprofit service providers to foster the development of small, non-institutional, community-based independent living opportunities for persons with disabilities or in need of structured living environments.

Corporation for Independent Living, the parent company of CILRM, also works on accessibility modifications to homes and apartments of people with disabilities; ramps, equipment, and assistive technology for people with disabilities; supportive housing for people at risk of homelessness; conversion of obsolete factories and brownfields into housing; and the development and construction of non-residential projects for nonprofit agencies.

MassDevelopment, the state’s finance and development agency, works with businesses, nonprofits, financial institutions, and communities to stimulate economic growth across the Commonwealth. During FY2014, MassDevelopment financed or managed 314 projects generating investment of more than $2.9 billion in the Massachusetts economy. These projects are projected to create more than 6,300 jobs and build or rehabilitate more than 1,600 residential units.