Middle income resi in Quincy, MA finds financing

WinnDevelopment and its partner NeighborWorks Southern Mass is scheduled to start construction on The Watson on Howard apartments. The community will feature the largest number of workforce units ever financed under MassHousing's Workforce Housing Initiative. The $44 million workforce housing community in Quincy, Mass., will be a 140 unit community with 28 affordable apartments at 50 percent AMI, 86 middle income housing apartments at 110 percent AMI and 26 unrestricted market rate units. The building will comprise eight studio, 85 one-bedroom and 47 two-bedroom floorplans with amenities such as a gym, community room and courtyard.

Construction, which should begin in June will be financed by Citigroup, city and state soft loans, Low Income Housing Tax Credit equity, deferred development fees and equity from WinnDevelopment. The project’s income restrictions will be made possible through permanent financing and a workforce housing loan from MassHousing, city and state soft loans. Occupancy is expected by July 2018. Cube 3 Studio is the architect for the project, while Dellbrook Construction serves as the general contractor.

"This development is aimed at people who have incomes too high for subsidized housing but are priced out of affordable market rents as housing costs continue to rise,” said Gilbert Winn, CEO of WinnCompanies. “This is going to be a high impact project for those who are under-served in the community. Middle income apartments make up almost two thirds of the units, which is an outsized proportion nationally.”