MassDevelopment Tax-Exempt Bond Finances Boston's Wayne at Schuyler Affordable Housing Project
April 5, 2018
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contacts:
Meggie Quackenbush, MassDevelopment, 617-330-2011 & 857-208-2777 (cell)
mquackenbush@massdevelopment.com
Dan Cruz, Cruz Development, 617-445-6901
dcruz@cruzcompanies.com
Andrea Goodman, Eastern Bank, 781-598-7847
a.goodman@easternbank.com
MassDevelopment has issued a $16,677,252 tax-exempt bond for Wayne at Schuyler LLC, a 74-unit multi-family rental housing facility in Boston’s Dorchester and Roxbury neighborhoods. The financing will preserve all 74 units of affordable housing rented to households earning no more than 60 percent of the area median income. Cruz Development Corporation of Roxbury, the developer of Wayne at Schuyler, will use bond proceeds to buy and renovate the housing facility, including installing new kitchens, bathrooms, heating and sprinkler systems, windows, and roofs, and improving electrical and plumbing systems. MassDevelopment also assisted the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development with the approval of federal low-income housing tax credits, which will provide $10.1 million in equity for the project. Eastern Bank and Rockland Trust purchased the bond.
“Affordable housing is vital to the Commonwealth’s economic strength and MassDevelopment is committed to supporting projects like the redevelopment of the Wayne Apartments, which will preserve high-quality housing for Boston residents,” said MassDevelopment President and CEO, Lauren Liss. “We are pleased to partner with Cruz Development Corporation once again to move this project forward.”
The Wayne at Schuyler project is part of the overall redevelopment of the Wayne Apartments, a scattered site development serving 349 lower-income households in Roxbury, Dorchester, and Mattapan. MassDevelopment has provided tax-exempt bond financing for Cruz Development Corporation for several other stages of the project, including the redevelopment of Wayne at Bicknell in 2016, Wayne at Columbia in 2014, and Wayne at Franklin Hill in 2013.
“Eastern Bank is proud to have participated with Rockland Trust in undertaking the fifth and final phase of the Wayne Apartments project, which has preserved and improved nearly 350 affordable family apartments in Boston,” said Pamela Feingold, Senior Vice President of Community Development Lending for Eastern Bank. “Cruz Development has proven itself again to be one of the most reputable builders and operators of affordable housing in Boston.”
“This $34 million scattered-sites development, which is located in the inner city neighborhoods of Roxbury and Dorchester, will generate economic opportunities for local businesses and tradespeople who reside there. Similar to the prior four phases of Wayne Apts., we have committed a minimum of 50 percent of all jobs and 50 percent of all contracts granted will be performed by people and firms of color. Cruz Cares!” said John B. Cruz III of Cruz Development.
“We are thrilled once again to work with the folks at Mass Development on the Wayne Apartments initiative,” said Daniel Cruz Jr. of Cruz Development. “Along with their commitment to increase the number of quality affordable housing units in the Commonwealth, they bring a wealth of experience and knowledge to the transaction, which makes the interaction seamless from start to finish! We appreciate their partnership with this deal and the prior three Wayne Apartments’ transactions.”
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.
