Less than a week after her State of the Commonwealth address in which she vowed to tackle rising housing costs, Governor Maura Healey on Monday announced that her administration was committing resources to support the production and preservation of more than 1,900 housing units in 19 communities across the state, including Everett.
Gov. Healey, Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll and Secretary of Housing and Livable Communities Ed Augustus joined state Sen. Liz Miranda and state Representative Samantha Montaño in Jamaica Plain to celebrate the Blessed Sacrament Church historic adaptive reuse project and to announce subsidies and Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) support for several affordable housing projects across the state.
One of those projects receiving the LIHTC is the 25 Garvey St. project.
“Impact Residential Development and The Neighborhood Developers are grateful to EOHLC and the City of Everett for their support and funding for 25 Garvey Street,” said Rafael Mares, the Executive Director of the Neighborhood Developers. “This will help with a critical need for affordable homes for Everett families to have stability and thrive.”
The redevelopment of 25 Garvey Street will create 125-unit affordable homes for families in Everett’s Commercial Triangle Economic Development District (CTEDD). The project will address Everett’s shortage of family housing affordable for low-income households, according to representatives of The Neighborhood Developers. The proposed building will include 125 units in five residential stories over a podium parking garage.
Healey said the projects like the one on Garvey Street in Everett are a great example of why the state expanded the LIHTC.
“From a church transformed into mixed-use mixed-income housing in Boston to the re-use of a vacant nursing home as affordable rental housing in Northampton, these funds will make it possible for thousands of Massachusetts residents to afford a home,” said Healey. “We look forward to continuing to work to pass the Affordable Homes Act this year to create much-needed housing across all income levels in the state.”
Last fall, as part of a $1 billion tax relief signed by the governor, the Administration raised the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit to $60 million annually – a $20 million increase over the previous year.
“We are expanding housing opportunities so more people can live, work and stay in Massachusetts,” said Driscoll. “This is just one piece of the Healey-Driscoll Administration’s strategy to increase our housing supply and lower costs for hard-working Massachusetts residents.”
Augustus said these projects, which will now be built as a result of the increase to the Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, are a direct result of the governor’s tax relief bill.
“The funding of these projects is proof that housing production for all of our communities is a top priority for the Healey-Driscoll Administration,” Augustus said. “The governor’s Affordable Homes Act will soon fund even more, much needed, affordable housing in the commonwealth.”