MassDevelopment

MassDevelopment Bond Finances Renovations to Worcester's Fruit Sever Apartments


February 14, 2018


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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

Jacquinn Sinclair, The Community Builders Inc., 617-852-4524
jsinclair@tcbinc.org

MassDevelopment has issued a $15 million tax-exempt bond to The Community Builders (TCB) for Fruit Sever Apartments, a rental housing complex in Worcester. TCB will use bond proceeds to renovate Fruit Sever Apartments and add two affordable units, bringing the complex’s total to 134 units. Renovations will include upgrades to common areas, mechanical systems, and the building’s exterior. In addition to creating two new units of affordable housing, the project will preserve 118 affordable units available to households earning 60 percent of the area median income or less. The remaining 14 units will be available to residents at market rate. MassDevelopment also assisted the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development with the approval of federal low income housing tax credits, which will provide $9.1 million in equity for the project. TD Bank purchased the bond.

“Massachusetts communities thrive when residents have access to stable, modern housing stock that is affordable to individuals from a variety of backgrounds,” said MassDevelopment President and CEO Lauren Liss. “MassDevelopment is proud to partner with The Community Builders and the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development once again to update Fruit Sever Apartments and preserve the complex’s affordable and market-rate housing units.”

“We are proud of our partnership with MassDevelopment, which allows us to preserve and construct apartment homes for families of all incomes throughout the Commonwealth,” said The Community Builders Project Manager John Fraser. “With the renovation of Fruit Sever Apartments, Worcester residents will have updated, energy-efficient apartments to call home.”

TCB is one of America's leading nonprofit real estate developers and owners. Its mission is to build and sustain strong communities where people of all incomes can achieve their full potential. TCB realizes that mission by developing, financing, and operating high-quality housing and implementing neighborhood-based models that drive economic opportunity for our residents. Since 1964, TCB has constructed or preserved hundreds of affordable and mixed-income housing developments and secured billions of dollars in project financing from public and private sources. Today, TCB owns or manages 11,000 apartments in 14 states. TCB is headquartered in Boston with regional hubs in Chicago and Washington, D.C.

MassDevelopment, the state’s finance and development agency, works with businesses, nonprofits, financial institutions, and communities to stimulate economic growth across the Commonwealth. During FY2017, MassDevelopment financed or managed 377 projects generating investment of more than $4.3 billion in the Massachusetts economy. These projects are projected to create about 9,488 jobs and build or rehabilitate 1,863 residential units.