MassDevelopment Bond Helps Keep 115 Affordable Housing Units at Bowdoin Manor

January 25, 2011

Contacts:
Kelsey Abbruzzese, MassDevelopment, 617-330-2086 & 617-448-9077
Ellen Tan, Commonwealth Land Trust, 617-445-4075 x210

MassDevelopment has issued a $3.2 million tax-exempt bond on behalf of Bowdoin Manor LLC, a single-room occupancy housing facility for low-income individuals in Boston with special needs who were once homeless. Bowdoin Manor will use bond proceeds to preserve all of its 115 units as affordable housing and perform various upgrades and improvements. Wainwright Bank purchased the bonds.

“Bowdoin Manor provides warm shelter for those most in need of it during these cold New England winters,” said MassDevelopment President and CEO Robert L. Culver. “This tax-exempt financing will ensure these units stay affordable for low-income residents with special needs in Massachusetts.”

Improvements to the facility include repairs to windows and stairways; upgrades to fire safety systems; improvements to electrical systems and egress; and new energy-efficient boilers. Bowdoin Manor works to provide stability for formerly homeless individuals with mental and physical disabilities.

“Commonwealth Land Trust is an organization dedicated to the elimination of homelessness in the greater Boston area, particularly among our disabled citizens,” said Commonwealth Land Trust President and CEO Ellen Tan. “To accomplish this, we provide permanent housing with strong on-site supportive services at properties like Bowdoin Manor. The people who find refuge at Bowdoin Manor are our state's most vulnerable individuals – those with serious disabling conditions, including mental illness – who have been living on the streets, sometimes for years, before finding a place like Bowdoin that is able to provide them with the perfect balance of independence, support and acceptance in a place they can call home. Without the support of MassDevelopment, which has been there from the very beginning of this project nearly 20 years ago, Bowdoin would never have come to be.”

MassDevelopment, the state's finance and development authority, works with businesses, financial institutions, and communities to stimulate economic growth across the Commonwealth. During FY2010, MassDevelopment financed or managed 238 projects in 104 communities across the state generating investment of nearly $1.4 billion in the Massachusetts economy.