Residents at the Berkshire Peak Apartments in Pittsfield Will See Extension of Affordability and Property Improvements Including an Increase in Accessible Units with $10 Million in MassHousing Financing
The 120-unit affordable housing community will remain affordable for lower-income families in perpetuity
BOSTON – December 21, 2016 (RealEstateRama) — Residents living at the 120-unit Berkshire Peak Apartments in Pittsfield will see the extension of affordability in perpetuity and moderate property improvements as a result of $10 million in MassHousing financing.
Beacon Communities LLC., which owns Berkshire Peak, refinanced the property and all the apartments will be rented to households earning at or below 60% of the area median income ($40,500). Previously, 113 of the 120 units were reserved for residents at or below 60% AMI. Of the 120 apartments, 18 – or 15% – will be rented to households earning at or below 30% AMI ($20,280) and 12 of the apartments will be set aside for homeless families. Additionally, 75 apartments are covered by a federal Section 8 Housing Assistance Payment Contract and 8 units are covered by Project-Based Vouchers provided by the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD).
Six of the apartments will be accessible, including four that will be newly created. Three additional units will be provided for the sight and hearing-impaired.
“Beacon Communities was committed to keeping this housing resource affordable and the city of Pittsfield was very supportive in seeing this transaction completed,” said MassHousing Executive Director Timothy C. Sullivan. “The city recognized Berkshire Peak as an important part of its affordable housing stock and wanted it to remain affordable in addition to the planned property upgrades.”
MassHousing provided a $4.2 million tax-exempt construction and permanent loan and a $5.8 million bridge loan. Other financing was provided through the use of state and federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, DHCD and the city of Pittsfield. An additional $1 million was provided through the Affordable Housing Trust Fund, which MassHousing manages on behalf of DHCD.
“We are grateful to our partners at MassHousing, the Commonwealth and the city of Pittsfield for their strong support of our efforts to provide safe, quality housing for the families of Pittsfield and households throughout the state,” said Beacon Communities CEO Pamela Goodman. “They share our commitment to improving the lives of our residents and the communities where they reside.”
Residents at the Berkshire Peak Apartments in Pittsfield Will See Extension of Affordability and Property Improvements Including an Increase in Accessible Units with $10 Million in MassHousing Financing
Berkshire Peak Apartments, formerly named Riverview Homes, was originally financed by MassHousing when it was constructed in 1972. It consists of 24 one-bedroom apartments, 48 two-bedroom apartments, 36 three-bedroom apartments and 12 four-bedroom apartments.
Among the planned property improvements are sewer line and waste-stack replacements; resurfaced parking and new walkways; new play areas; repairs to building exteriors and entranceways; new roofs; new heating and hot water systems; community building improvements and renovations of apartment kitchens and bathrooms. The contractor is Keith Construction and the architect is Dietz and Company Architects. The management agent is Beacon Residential Management.
About Beacon Communities LLC.
Beacon Communities LLC is a privately owned real estate firm that develops, acquires, invests in, and manages a wide range of multi-family housing. Their portfolio includes affordable housing, market rate housing and mixed income-housing. Their developments range from new construction, to historic adaptive reuse, to the renovation of existing housing. They take on challenging developments and make them succeed. Their driving passion is to create well-designed, healthy homes that improve the quality of life of their residents and enhance the neighborhoods in which they are located. For more information about Beacon Communities LLC please visit www.beaconcommunitiesllc.com.
About MassHousing
MassHousing (The Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency) is an independent, quasi-public agency created in 1966 and charged with providing financing for affordable housing in Massachusetts. The Agency raises capital by selling bonds and lends the proceeds to low- and moderate-income homebuyers and homeowners, and to developers who build or preserve affordable and/or mixedincome rental housing. MassHousing does not use taxpayer dollars to sustain its operations, although it administers some publicly funded programs on behalf of the Commonwealth. Since its inception, MassHousing has provided more than $20 billion for affordable housing. For more information, visit the MassHousing website at www.masshousing.com, follow us on Twitter @MassHousing, subscribe to our blog, watch us on YouTube and Like us on Facebook.
###
Media Contacts
Eric Gedstad: 617.854.1079 | egedstad (at) masshousing (dot) com
Tom Farmer: 617.854.1843 | tfarmer (at) masshousing (dot) com
