MassHousing provides The Community Builders with $11.1 million financing for Mashpee Village

Mashpee, MA Families living at the 145-unit Mashpee Village have had their affordability extended for at least 40 years and have seen significant property improvements with the closing of $11.1 million in MassHousing financing. Mashpee Village is owned by an affiliate of The Community Builders (TCB) of Boston. TCB used the MassHousing financing to renovate the property, where 130 of the 145 apartments are affordable to lower-income families. Among the major improvements at the property was the replacement of a failing waste water treatment facility.

Mashpee Village , 1 Wampanoag Drive - Mashpee, MA

“Mashpee Village is the largest affordable housing community on Cape Cod and now it has been fully renovated for the residents there,’’ said MassHousing executive director Timothy Sullivan.

Mashpee Village was built in 1973 on a 38-acre site at 1 Wampanoag Dr. that also contains a community building, playground and ball field. There are 110 apartments contained in 14 garden-style buildings and 35 single-family apartment homes.

In addition to the new waste water treatment facility, other improvements included replacement of kitchens and bathrooms in the 110 apartment units, roof replacement, installation of sprinkler systems in the 14 apartment buildings, accessibility upgrades, landscaping and repaving of walkways and parking lots.

The 35 single-family units were substantially rehabilitated in 2009 as a result of a different financial transaction. As a condition of the financing, Mashpee Village will remain affordable for at least 40 years.

“We are thrilled to be able to preserve affordable housing for Cape Cod families for decades to come. Thanks to financing from MassHousing, families at Mashpee Village have newly renovated, affordable apartments to call home,” said TCB president and CEO Bart Mitchell.

MassHousing’s financing includes a $4.1 million construction and permanent loan, a $5.5 million bridge loan and $1.5 million in subordinate financing, which addressed keeping rents affordable for tenants who were subsidized under the Commonwealth’s 13A program.

Similar to the federal Section 236 interest subsidy program, developments like Mashpee Village financed under the state’s 13A program received a mortgage interest subsidy paid by the Commonwealth that provided for affordable rents for very low-income residents. Since fiscal year 2009 however, the 13A program has received no state appropriations but MassHousing has continued to make resources available to fund the subsidy amounts.

As the mortgages in the 13A portfolio began to mature in 2014, affordable units became at risk of conversion to market rates. Currently there are 33 housing communities involving more than 5,000 units in the 13A program that will have mortgages mature by 2020. The majority of residents under the 13A program are low-income senior citizens. MassHousing has created an Opportunity Fund that includes $50 million for the refinancing and preservation of affordable 13A units as these mortgages mature. The Commonwealth also recently announced a $50 million commitment for 13A.

MassHousing and TCB were able to structure a transaction without 13A that ensured the long term affordability at Mashpee Village.

Other financing sources included the state Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), $1 million from the Affordable Housing Trust Fund, which MassHousing manages on behalf of DHCD, and the use of federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credits.

The contractor was Delphi Construction. The architect was Winslow Architects, Inc. and the management agent is The Community Builders.