New Development Will Bring 66 Affordable Housing Units to Boston’s Chinatown With Help From $14.6 Million MassDevelopment Bond
December 8, 2014
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contacts:
Emily Dahl, MassDevelopment, 617-330-2086 & 978-394-3506 (cell)
edahl@massdevelopment.com
Min Wu, Chinese Economic Development Council, 617-482-1088
mwu@cedc-boston.org
MassDevelopment has issued a $14.6 million tax-exempt bond on behalf of CEDC Oxford Ping On LLC, which will use the proceeds to build a 10-story building on Oxford and Ping On Streets in Boston’s Chinatown neighborhood on a site currently used as a paved parking lot.
The development will contain 67 rental units consisting of 48 studios, 16 1- bedroom units, and three 2-bedroom units. One 1-bedroom unit will serve as a rent-free live-in property manager's unit. The remaining 66 residences will be affordable to households earning no more than 60% of the area median income. Seven of these units will be affordable to households earning no more than 30% of the area median income.
“The Oxford Ping On project will fill a gap in Chinatown’s housing supply with this affordable housing development, and we applaud CEDC Oxford Ping On LLC for taking on this important project,” said Marty Jones, President and CEO of MassDevelopment. “MassDevelopment is proud to provide financing for this development, which will provide a great new option for people looking to remain or relocate into the neighborhood at affordable rents.”
CEDC Oxford Ping On LLC is an affiliate formed by Chinese Economic Development Council, which works to enhance the economic development of the Chinese community in Boston, and helps low-income Asian residents of Chinatown achieve economic and social self-sufficiency by developing affordable housing, incubator office space, and employment training programs.
“CEDC is excited to be playing a role in bringing more affordable housing to the Commonwealth and to Boston,” said Min Wu, Acting Executive Director of CEDC. “We have enjoyed working with partners in the city and the Commonwealth to bring this project to fruition to benefit our community for decades to come.”
Oxford Ping On is of great importance to the Chinatown community, providing much needed affordable rental housing at its very heart. The downtown location offers proximity to a wealth of employment, educational, cultural, and recreational opportunities, as well as all necessary residential services. Local grocers, restaurants, bookstores, movie theaters, Downtown Crossing, the Theater District, Tufts New England Medical Center, the Josiah Quincy Elementary School, child and senior day care centers, and the beautiful passive recreational areas of the Boston Common and Public Garden are all just steps away.
In addition to the tax-exempt bonds, MassDevelopment assisted the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development with the approval of federal low income housing tax credits, which provided approximately $10.9 million in equity for the project.
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.
