Massachusetts RealEstateRama

In an effort to help low-income residents find higher-paying jobs, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced a $2 million grant for the next four years to the Boston Housing Authority. BHA competed with 57 other applications across the nation to be one of nine agencies awarded a Jobs-Plus grant. The HUD funding comes with more than $1 million in matching funds through the City of Boston aimed at increasing education levels, job search and placement and financial literacy assistance for public housing residents.

Citizens Bank announced today that its Community Development Lending Group has provided a $4.5 million rental construction loan for CHR Stable Path LP, a 23-unit mixed-income rental housing development by Community Housing Resource, Inc. located off Race Point Road in Provincetown.

Today Housing and Economic Development Secretary Jay Ash announced input and listening sessions in six cities across Massachusetts. The listening sessions will provide businesses and constituents an opportunity to help shape the Commonwealth’s economic development plan.

Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), a member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, praised the Obama administration for its new “Waters of the United States” rule that will protect the drinking water of 117 million Americans. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Army Corps of Engineers held more than 400 meetings across the country and received more than one million public comments before issuing the historic rule

MERSCORP Holdings, Inc. today announced that the Massachusetts Court of Appeals ruled that MERS is a valid mortgagee that can hold legal title to the mortgage with the right to assign its interest in the mortgage.

The Scituate Town Library will be relocating to the Scituate Harbor Community Building at 44 Jericho Road on Monday, June 15th. The current library at 85 Branch Street will be closing on Friday, June 5th at 5 pm

Ameresco, Inc. (NYSE:AMRC), a leading energy efficiency and renewable energy company, and the Town of Framingham, Massachusetts announced today they are partnering on a comprehensive $6 million Energy Savings Performance Contract (ESPC) to improve town buildings and increase operational efficiency. The infrastructure upgrades are expected to deliver greater energy efficiency and operational cost savings, enhance comfort for building occupants and reduce greenhouse gasses and emissions. The project is expected to be completed in the spring of 2016

Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), a member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, released the following statement on the Energy Information Agency’s (EIA) analysis of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Clean Power Plan proposal. Senator Markey is co-author of the only comprehensive climate change legislation to pass a chamber of Congress

The Senate budget funds the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) and other housing and homelessness prevention programs at $432.1 million.

For the second year in a row, the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) named Boston the most energy-efficient city in the United States, according to its 2015 City Energy Efficiency Scorecard.

Mayor Martin J. Walsh today publicly released the administration’s first progress report on achieving the housing production goals laid out in his ambitious housing plan, “Housing a Changing City: Boston 2030.” The plan, released in October 2014, called for increased transparency into housing policy, including quarterly releases of data and an end of year Annual Report. This is the first report in that series.

Mayor Martin J. Walsh today joined the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation (BCBSMF) to release Addiction and Recovery Services in the City of Boston, a Blueprint for Building a Better System of Care, a report on the current status of substance abuse and addiction in the City of Boston. The findings of the report will serve as a road map for the Mayor’s Office of Recovery Services (ORS), the first-ever municipal-based office to focus on this issue. The Mayor also announced that Jennifer Tracey, a highly respected and experienced recovery expert, will head ORS.

Congressman Seth Moulton (D-MA) today joined 35 Democratic and Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives to vote against H.R. 2353, the Highway and Transportation Funding Act of 2015. Below is a statement from Congressman Moulton.

Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Mike Crapo (R-ID) have introduced a bipartisan bill directing the U.S. Department of Energy to quantify the cost savings from operational energy efficiency technologies in an effort to increase public and private use of these technologies, without creating any new programs or increasing government spending.

Mayor Martin J. Walsh today announced nearly $39 million to support affordable housing developments in neighborhoods throughout Boston. The funding, which will create or preserve 1,194 housing units, is possible through $27 million in federal and local resources through the Department of Neighborhood Development (DND) and $11.7 million in linkage funds through Boston's Neighborhood Housing Trust.