Riverside Village in Leominster to Buy, Renovate More Than 300 Units of Rental Housing Thanks to $14.5 Million MassDevelopment Bond
February 3, 2011
Contacts:
Kelsey Abbruzzese, MassDevelopment, 617-330-2086 & 617-448-9077
Theresa Cook, Schochet Associates, 617-398-5125
Chris Ragon, Retirement Housing Foundation, 562-257-5131
MassDevelopment has issued a $14.5 million tax-exempt bond on behalf of Riverside Village RHF Limited Partnership, collaboration between Retirement Housing Foundation (RHF) of Long Beach, California and Schochet Associates, Inc. of Boston, to purchase and renovate a 312-unit rental housing facility in Leominster. The project will preserve and improve 280 units of affordable housing, rented to households earning up to 60 percent of the area median income. Renovations include replacing the heating system and pool deck; adding doors and fencing; repairing roofs; and resurfacing roads. Boston Private Bank purchased the bonds. Riverside Village consists of 78 one-bedroom units, 182 two-bedroom units, and 52 three-bedroom units.
“This partnership and low-cost financing helps preserve hundreds of affordable housing units for Massachusetts residents,” said MassDevelopment President and CEO Robert L. Culver. “Thanks to the work of Schochet and RHF, supported by this tax-exempt bond, individuals and families whose means are limited will continue to have quality housing options in Leominster.”
RHF, a nonprofit organization founded in 1961, provides housing and services to more than 17,000 seniors, low income families, and people with disabilities in 162 communities in 26 states, Washington D.C., Puerto Rico and the U. S. Virgin Islands. RHF currently sponsors eleven properties in Massachusetts, which include Pine Crest in Orange, a 114-unit affordable multi-family rental housing facility, and Boston's Symphony Plaza Towers, a 404-unit affordable senior housing development in two apartment tower buildings.
“RHF is pleased to have worked with MassDevelopment, State Street, Schochet Associates, the National Affordable Housing Trust and the Cornerstone Fund to preserve the affordability of Riverside Village. The demand for affordable housing continues to grow each year and often communities like Riverside Village are converted to market rate housing when their affordability covenants expire. As a national, faith-based nonprofit our mission is to address this critical need in our nation through preservation as well as new construction.”
Founded in 1973, Schochet Associates is a Boston-based real estate company with a special focus on developing, acquiring, preserving and managing affordable housing developments which benefit from state and federal subsidies. In addition, Schochet has structured complex commercial transactions such as Brick Market Place in Newport, RI and the South End Community Health Center in Boston's South End.
“We were very pleased to work with MassDevelopment to preserve affordability at this critical project for the long term,” said Richard J. Henken, president of Schochet Associates. “Staff did a wonderful job of helping us to marshal the resources needed to efficiently complete this transaction.”
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.
