Commonwealth Housing Task Force - TBF/media/05EB046B6C...Commonwealth Housing Task Force Quarterly...
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Commonwealth Housing Task Force
Quarterly Summary of Progress as of March 30, 2013
Note: in order to reduce the size of these reports, we have condensed the description of
regular ongoing activities, and have moved much of the Chapter 40R update to
Appendix I of this report. For background, please visit www.tbf.org/chtf or
www.commonwealthhousingtaskforce.org and click on “Quarterly Updates”. A key to
the Appendices and the Appendices themselves follow at the end of this quarter’s report.
During the very active first Quarter of 2013, the Commonwealth Housing Task
Force focused its efforts on:
1. The implementation and monitoring of Chapter 40R, including advocacy for pending legislation and funding.
2. The call for an increase in state funding for affordability, and monitoring of both state and federal legislation and programmatic developments.
3. Strategic planning for new initiatives of the Task Force, including assuring that the benefits of new construction under 40R and other state programs are available
to the widest range of households, work with the committee to focus on public
housing, and work with the State Administration to maintain a focus on housing
programs.
4. An expansion in participation in the Task Force itself, with a focus on diversity. 5. Working in close partnership and collaboration with other groups to support our
missions.
Barry Bluestone, Eleanor White, and Ted Carman, working through the
Dukakis Center for Urban and Regional Policy at Northeastern University, have carried
out the staff work in coordination with active subcommittees and Boston Foundation
staff.
Housing Market Updates
Coverage this Quarter about news in the housing market, continuing the trend we
reported on in the last two Quarters, was optimistic. The Quarter began with a very
upbeat story from the Washington Post of January 29, reporting on the positive trend in
the national housing market. On February 13, Banker and Tradesman highlighted the
degree to which multifamily housing has a major impact on the New England economy.
And on February 26, the Boston Business Journal reported on the spike in building
permits for multifamily housing (and the greater receptivity of communities to such
housing) in Massachusetts in 2012. By March 17, Business Insider was exulting that
“The U.S. housing recovery is one of the most exciting economic stories in the world
today.” Read more about this national story at: http://www.businessinsider.com/florida-
housing-market-on-fire-2013-3#ixzz2NzMQRRyo
A new report by the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Research Institute
for Housing America (RIHA) highlights the degree to which increasing immigration will
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have an effect on the housing market, as covered by Banker and Tradesman in an article
on March 6, 2013.
We have in recent Quarterly Reports covered the huge jump in rents in
multifamily rental housing in Massachusetts, particularly in the Greater Boston area, and
that trend continues unabated. On March 13, 2013, Affordable Housing Finance
magazine covered the sobering findings of the new report issued by the National Low
Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) about the national rental housing market and its
effect on lower-income households; that same day, Banker and Tradesman brought those
findings down to the Massachusetts market. Both stories indicate that in no state in the
country can an individual making the minimum wage afford to rent the average cost two-
bedroom apartment in that state. With the national minimum wage at $7.25 an hour, the
“housing wage” nationally (what an individual would need to earn to afford a two-
bedroom unit with 30 percent of income) is $18.79. That “housing wage” in
Massachusetts is $24.05, or more than 3 times the minimum wage.
Finally, on the single-family side, Banker and Tradesman on March 21, 2013
wrote about a new Zillow report showing strong gains in the residential sales market.
All of the articles mentioned above are included in Appendix II to this Report.
Student Housing Effort
Barry Bluestone continues to pursue efforts to deal with the issues in the housing
market presented by Boston’s being such a center of higher education. We house more
than 100,000 full-time 4-year college students on campus in the Boston area, but nearly
180,000 live off campus, putting huge pressure on an already-overheated rental housing
market. Further, whereas 50 percent of undergraduates live on campus, only 8 percent of
graduate students do. Barry has developed an innovative model of seeking to develop
graduate student villages (described in several past CHTF Quarterly Reports).
We were very pleased to note that MassDevelopment has financed a new
dormitory for Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston. The residence hall at 525
Huntington Ave. in Boston's Fenway neighborhood will have 71 apartments totaling 305
beds and one resident director apartment, which should help to take the pressure off the
housing market in that very crowded area of the city. (See the full article from Banker
and Tradesman of March 5, 2013 in Appendix III to this Report.)
Barry Bluestone continues to meet regularly with interested parties to explore
where and how a multi-university graduate student village can be built. During the past
quarter, the Dukakis Center worked with Samuels & Associates (Trilogy) on encouraging
the development of a large graduate student housing complex in the Fenway area. This
work included:
Holding 3 graduate student focus groups to assess the type of housing needed and at which various price points,
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Working with the developer to re-imagine micro units with 1 and 3-bedroom configurations,
Helping to prepare a housing proposal for submission to Northeastern University for a master lease.
And Barry continues to meet with David Geller of Geller & Co. exploring ways to
encourage Northeastern University to join with other Colleges of the Fenway to offer
Master Leases for the development of a Fenway “Multi-University Graduate Student
Village.”
Other Programmatic Developments
Probably the most significant programmatic event this quarter was watching the
twin fiscal crises play out in Washington: the “fiscal cliff” at the beginning of the year
and the “sequestration” of March 1, 2013. See a discussion of these issues at the end of
this section of this Report.
The Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation (CEDAC) has
presented a progress report on Chapter 40T, the State’s affordable housing preservation
statute long supported by CHTF. Their recent newsletter applauds the “success of the
state’s housing preservation law, Chapter 40T, which just celebrated its 3rd
birthday,” and
“highlight[s] its effectiveness in preserving long-term affordability. Namely, in the three
years since the law’s enactment, there have been 39 sales of existing affordable housing
developments and yet no affordable housing has been lost as a result of a sale to a new
property owner under the 40T regulatory process. More than 7,500 affordable housing
units have been preserved through our state initiative since 2010.” Click on CEDAC’s
fact sheet or go to
http://cwc.cedac.org/Uploads/Files/AffordableHousingPreservationChapter40TFactSheet.
pdf to learn more about the state’s achievements in affordable housing preservation
during the past few years.
And, in more good news, we were thrilled to note a press release in which
MassHousing and the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD)
announced $8.2 million in Affordable Housing Trust Fund (AHTF) loan closings at the
end of 2012 for affordable housing communities in Arlington, Beverly, South Boston,
Salem, Somerville and Yarmouth. AHTF is one of the most important sources of funding
for affordable housing in the Commonwealth. And shortly thereafter, the Boston Herald
reported on The Patrick administration’s announcement that “it has committed $67
million in affordable housing resources and tax credits towards 23 housing developments
in 21 communities….that will create 1,326 units of housing and an estimated 1,710
construction jobs” across the State.
The full text of both stories can be found in Appendix III to this Report.
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We were also very pleased to learn of DHCD’s intention to phase out the use of
motels as temporary housing for the homeless, a controversial strategy for housing a very
vulnerable population. Read the full Boston Globe article in Appendix III of this Report.
Barry Bluestone reports that he has recruited Michael Glebe, a Ph.D. student of
his (and an attorney), to spend the Spring semester on an independent study devoted to
documenting the zoning laws and regulations in all 161 communities in the Greater
Boston metropolitan region. This research will document current zoning practices in
each community and changes in zoning provisions, including adoption of new regulations
regarding multifamily housing, accessory units, and minimum lot sizes. He will be
preparing a major report on this subject which will be the basis for a chapter in this year’s
forthcoming Greater Boston Housing Report Card for 2013.
We noted in the last Quarterly Report the completion of another housing
development in a Chapter 40R district: 30 Haven Street in Reading, MA. This month
finds the start of construction of another project in a Chapter 40R district: 25 units in
Brockton.
Also last Quarter, we noted the passage of the new Chapter 23L program of tax-exempt financing for public infrastructure that may be needed to support housing (and
other) development. Passed in August, the law went into effect in November of 2012. A
very useful section-by-section analysis of the act, prepared by William F. Griffin, Jr. at
the law firm of Davis, Malm & D’Agostine, P.C., can be found at
http://www.davismalm.com/UploadedDocuments/Articles/Griffin_23L_Analysis.pdf .
And MassDevelopment is highlighting its Multifamily Loan Program to be used
for rental housing developments in downtown and transit-oriented locations, perfect for
both 40R and the new Compact Neighborhoods program. The Agency points to low
interest rates and a flexible application process as reasons for developers and
communities to consider this financing source. More information can be obtained at
www.massdevelopment.com .
The lack of planning grant funds for 40R continues to be a significant
challenge, especially in view of the fact that 40R is the program with the most promise
for facilitating large-scale housing production in Massachusetts in the coming years, and
with the most potential to avert the effects of the projected housing shortage and increase
in rents over the next decade. During the last three years, DHCD has made critically-
important planning grants to communities under the Priority Development Fund (PDF)
program. Although the program is almost out of funds, planning for Chapter 40R
(including the preparation of an application to DHCD) remains an eligible activity
supported by this program. The MassHousing Guideline for its PDF program identifies
eligible projects as including those that “promote transit oriented development and/or
smart growth initiatives particularly in the early stages of development, through the
provision of seed capital, technical assistance and/or funding of pre-development
activities.” We would hope to see affordable housing developers explore the use of this
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source of funding to assist in the creation of Chapter 40R districts. See the Guideline text:
https://www.masshousing.com/portal/server.pt/gateway/PTARGS_0_2_4485_0_0_18/PD
F_Guidelines.pdf .
As we reported before, the MA Department of Housing and Community
Development (DHCD) is accepting applications from Gateway Cities for the new
Housing Development Incentive Program (HDIP—Chapter 40V) to facilitate the
development of primarily market rate housing in existing non-residential properties
within new Housing Development Zones in “Gateway” Cities in Massachusetts. The
program is limited to developments in which at least 80% of the units will be priced at
“market rate” (the level affordable to households at 110% of area median, using a flexible
definition of area). Municipalities that participate must offer at least a partial property tax
exemption on the increase in value attributable to the market rate units, and developers
can apply for a state tax credit for to up to 10% of the cost of developing the market rate
units. The total value of state credits that can be authorized is capped at $5 million a year,
and DHCD is proposing a per-project cap of $1 million. Full information about HDIP can
be found on DHCD’s website at www.mass.gov/dhcd (search keyword HDIP).
Applications are currently being accepted on a rolling basis.
The Fiscal Cliff and Sequestration
The Housing Advisory Group prepared an excellent summary of the Fiscal Cliff
results and its effect on housing programs immediately after its enactment in early
January. And the Banker and Tradesman story on January 3 focused on the fiscal cliff
bill’s effects in Massachusetts. On February 19, 2013, the National Association of
Housing and Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO) presented an interesting series of
scenarios relative to housing funding this year. Refer to Appendix III for all of the above
articles.
And the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities in Washington prepared (updated
to March 4, 2013) a comprehensive analysis of the effects of sequestration. A portion of
that analysis is in Appendix III to this Report, and the full paper can be accessed at
http://www.cbpp.org/files/2-26-13bud.pdf . Shorter summaries are also provided later in
this Report in the section titled Funding and Legislation for Affordability.
Implementing Smart Growth Zoning: Continuing Interest from Municipalities and
Local Groups
Chapters 40R and 40S have now been on the books and implemented since 2006.
The programs have resulted in the passage of 33 Chapter 40R smart growth zoning
districts in 31 municipalities, totaling approximately 12,350 zoned units supported by
their communities, with continuing interest in many more. Please refer to Appendix I to
this report for the regular detailed update on progress under the Chapter 40R
program.
https://www.masshousing.com/portal/server.pt/gateway/PTARGS_0_2_4485_0_0_18/PDF_Guidelines.pdfhttps://www.masshousing.com/portal/server.pt/gateway/PTARGS_0_2_4485_0_0_18/PDF_Guidelines.pdfhttp://www.mass.gov/dhcdhttp://www.cbpp.org/files/2-26-13bud.pdf
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Thanks to the Economic Development and Jobs bill that was passed by the
Legislature and signed into law by the Governor in July, 2012, the Smart Growth
Housing Trust Fund has been replenished with a deposit of $4,000,000. DHCD
currently estimates that the Trust Fund will have sufficient resources to cover required
payments through FY2014 (through June 30, 2014). This includes the funding needed
for making payments under Chapter 40S for school costs.
Communities can now move forward with proposals for Chapter 40R with
reasonable assurance that the funds will be available to make payments as promised by
the legislation. In addition, replenishing the Trust Fund has made it easier for DHCD
and others to actively promote the program in their outreach and education efforts.
With regard to the State Historic Tax Credit program, a bill filed by the
Gateway City Caucus, House 311, provides for changes to the program, as follows:
1. The annual amount of authorization for the Credit is increased to $60,000,000 (from $50,000,000);
2. When the Secretary of State makes an allocation to a project, the allocation must be for the full amount authorized by the legislation (that is,
an allocation equal to 20% times the eligible renovation costs);
3. A mechanism is set in place to allow for Credits to be transferred to a new owner of the subject property;
4. Additional flexibility is provided to the Secretary of State in applying the historic renovation standards to specific circumstances.
The requirement to fully fund developments that are approved would eliminate
the difficulty that developers face when they are allocated small amounts of credit in
successive funding rounds (of which there are three per year). This often means that the
funds are not available for some period of years, making it extremely difficult to retain
control over the properties and to pull together the full complement of needed financing
sources.
As stated before, CHTF feels strongly that the Legislature should repeal the
“clawback” provision in Chapter 40R, which states that communities have three years
after the passage of a Chapter 40R Smart Growth Zoning District and drawdown of
incentive funds to issue building permits and have construction commence. Absent a
construction start, the community must repay the State for the amount of the initial
Incentive Payment. The three year window has now come up for a number of
communities where construction has not yet commenced (often due to the state of the
economy) for reasons beyond the control of the community, and repeal of this provision
would be highly desirable. Its existence makes it more difficult to obtain local approval
if new districts.
It is estimated that half a dozen communities have received letters from DHCD
informing them that three years have passed since their Smart Growth Zoning Districts
were enacted, and requesting documentation of either a start of construction or, in the
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absence of such start, a statement of “good cause” as to the reason for construction not
starting. To date, all requests for extensions of time have been granted by DHCD, which
is working with the communities to assist in getting construction underway.
To resolve this problem, Senator Chandler has refiled her bill which would
repeal the “Clawback” provision (Senate 97). We are very grateful to Senator
Chandler for her support on this bill.
As mentioned above, local resources to plan smart growth districts are scarce, and
this scarcity has been one of the reasons for few new proposed districts recently. For
instance, some projects have gone forward in the Pioneer Valley (Western
Massachusetts) because the Pioneer Valley Regional Planning Commission was able to
provide the staffing needed to move the developments through the approval process.
However, other districts have been unable to proceed in the absence of a ready source of
planning funds for the significant amount of planning and outreach necessary to get a
two-thirds vote from the local governing body for a new 40R District.
Recently, however, DHCD has made changes in the Priority Development Fund
Program to make funding more available for both Chapter 40R proposals and for the new
Compact Neighborhood program. There is currently a total of approximately $180,000
available for planning for these new districts, with neither program having preference.
The funding will be available for the following eligible uses:
Planning, outreach and adoption of smart growth zoning overlay districts under M.G.L. Chapter 40R.
Planning, outreach and adoption of other high impact up-zoning approaches that increase unit-per-acre zoning regulations within city/town centers and/or near
transit, employment, retail and services, and other appropriate areas to facilitate
more compact, vital development areas, including other types of as of right zoning
districts for DHCD approval.
The Compact Neighborhood program will provide incentives to communities that
have or create districts that allow as-of-right districts with 4 units per acre for single
family homes, and 8 units per acre for multifamily units. The incentives will include
priority for certain State discretionary funding. We believe that the Compact
Neighborhood program will offer another welcome alternative for communities that wish
to encourage the development of new housing.
DHCD is also actively looking to find additional sources of PDF funding in order
to be able to support additional higher density zoning proposals.
We believe there is an opportunity, however, for property owners and developers
to step forward to contribute the funds necessary and to work in partnership with
municipalities to plan 40R districts. The time for communities to be proactive and plan
for their future is when the construction industry is somewhat dormant; when the
economy does improve to the point where new housing construction is determined to be
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feasible, these projects will be ready to go. As the recent Housing Report Card has set
forth, now is clearly the time for more zoning and housing development.
With the affirmation of the state’s affordable housing program under Chapter
40B, the interest level in Chapter 40R is continuing, And now that concerns have been
addressed about the Smart Growth Trust Fund running out of funds, it is likely that new
activity will emerge in the months ahead. Increasing funding to local communities to
pursue smart growth districts is the prudent way to provide a “relief valve” for
communities facing Chapter 40B developments that may be considered to be
inappropriate for the location based on local comprehensive planning, site conditions, etc.
Chapter 40R is an important tool for facilitating the development of new affordable
housing units at a time when some units may leave the inventory as a result of the
expiration of their federal contracts (an issue which has been discussed at length
previously).
Other states have also taken notice of the results that 40R has produced, most
especially in Connecticut and New Jersey, as described in detail in previous Quarterly
Reports.
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Implementation of Chapter 40R and 40S (the School Cost “Insurance Policy”),
Funding for both Chapters 40R and 40S, and a Technical Amendment to 40R
The Massachusetts Department of Revenue (DOR) issued an “Informational
Guideline Release” for Chapter 40S, dated June 2010. More detail can be accessed in
previous CHTF Quarterly Reports.
The final state budget for FY2013 made available $500,000 to cover Chapter 40S
reimbursements as required by the Chapter 40S statute.
For FY 2012, to be received in FY 13, two communities are expected to receive
funds under Chapter 40S: Chelsea ($76,444) and Lakeville ($166,497). The fact that
these projects are eligible for the payments is evidence that in some situations
communities need the financial assistance Chapter 40S was designed to provide. Chapter
40S payments are made when the cost of educating the children in new developments in
Chapter 40R districts exceeds the sum of one half of the property taxes and the
incremental new Chapter 70 money that is allocated to the community because of the
increase in the school population.
The map below, provided by the MA Department of Housing and Community
Development (DHCD), indicates the communities that have already implemented
Chapter 40R and those in the process of doing so. The table following the map outlines
the current funding sources and obligations for Chapter 40R.
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Note: Updated through March, 2013. Source: DHCD
Communities currently considering Chapter 40R districts include Ludlow,
Southampton, Easthampton, Lowell (expansion of an existing district), Dennis, Medford,
and a second project in Haverhill, in the Bradford section. Permitting for specific
developments and construction activity is underway in Brockton, Lakeville, Lawrence,
Pittsfield, Natick, and in both of the Districts in Reading.
The following chart shows the current status of the Smart Growth Housing Trust
Fund. It reflects the additional $4,000,000 that was passed in the Economic
Development and Jobs Bill in 2012. The $4,000,000 consists of amounts in excess of
$10,000,000 that are actually received from the settlements or judgments. Initial Funds from sale of Surplus State Land $ 3,349,370
Appropriations – Transfers, October, 2007 $10,000,000
Sales of Surplus State Property, 2007 $ 78,000
Sales of Surplus State Property, 2008 $ 7,772,440
Sales of Surplus State Property, 2009 $12,000,000
Miscellaneous $ 165,440
Deposit pursuant to 2012 Jobs Bill $ 4,000,000
Total Sources of Funds $37,365,250
Less Transfer to General Fund, 2009 ($18,004,810)
Net Sources $19,360,440
Less Payments and Obligations to Communities to date: ($14,850,000)
Balance in Fund as of March 25, 2013 $ 4,510,440
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Given the new funding in the Economic Development and Jobs bill, as described
earlier in this Report and shown in the table above, the Smart Growth Housing Trust
Fund is now expected to have sufficient resources to make the payments that will
become due during to communities through FY2014—through June 30, 2014. (The Trust
Fund provides the funding for the Incentive Payments and the Density Bonus Payments
for Chapter 40R.) These additional funds will be required as more districts are passed
and as more specific properties begin construction.
Limited funds, as described above, $180,000 ±, are also now available under the
Priority Development Fund (PDF) program through DHCD for planning in communities
with approved Housing Production Plans (HPPs) which have specific, eligible plan
implementation needs. 40R Communities with current HPPs include Amesbury, Easton,
North Andover, Plymouth, Reading, and Sharon. Medford and Dennis have HPPs, and
are giving consideration to Smart Growth Districts.
To date, 12 communities have permitted/started or completed construction on
housing within 15 of the 33 approved 40R Districts, comprising 1423 Units. We are
extremely pleased that almost half of the approved Chapter 40R districts have
reached this important milestone. This has resulted in Density Bonus Payments to
communities of $4,005,000.
We are pleased to report that Senator Harriette Chandler and Representative
Kevin Honan have refiled previous legislation to provide for a continuing and reliable
source of funding of the Smart Growth Housing Trust Fund, as discussed in detail in
previous Quarterly Reports. The Senate bill is Senate 96. The House bill is House 170.
Both are being referred to Committee for consideration. We are very grateful to Rep.
Honan and Sen. Chandler for their strong and continuing leadership on this legislative
effort. Despite the success in obtaining funds for the next fiscal year for the Smart
Growth Housing Trust Fund, there remains ongoing uncertainty because of the lack of a
consistent, predictable revenue source. It is therefore important that we not lose sight
of this bill, and that efforts continue to have it passed in the next session of the
Legislature. Refer also to the previous section for a detailed discussion of the bill filed by
Senator Harriette Chandler to repeal the “clawback” provision of Chapter 40R.
Spreading the Word about Chapter 40R and Smart Growth
Barry Bluestone, Eleanor White, and Ted Carman continue to respond to
requests for meetings, discussions, and presentation of material about Chapter 40R from
planning officials, local elected officials, affordable housing advocates, realtors and
others to assure widespread education about the benefits of Chapter 40R.
Please visit the Boston Foundation/CHTF website, www.tbf.org/chtf or
www.commonwealthhousingtaskforce.org and consult previous Quarterly Reports for a
detailed description of this ongoing activity. Chapter 40R is often the subject of news
and feature articles in the general press and other media. The topic has also continued to
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attract interest from trade and industry groups, and is regularly featured as a topic at
various conferences and workshops.
The Greater Boston Housing Report Card of 2012 includes specific action
recommendations for housing agencies to assist in spreading the word about Chapter
40R/S, and CHTF staff will be working with many of them to implement those
recommendations.
During this quarter, Barry Bluestone has continued an active schedule of
speaking about the need for housing development and trying to develop support for it in
individual communities. Speaking engagements this quarter included the following:
January 17, 2013: Barry addressed the Hyams Foundation Board on Affordable
Housing Production with the prospect of Hyams increasing their already significant
involvement in housing issues. Barry led a comprehensive discussion that included the
following:
- Assuring an adequate supply of low and moderate income housing - Production of housing for graduate students and professionals - Inclusionary Zoning - Section 8 Housing Vouchers - Rent Control - Limits on rentals to unrelated individuals - Restrictive Suburban Zoning - Racial outcomes in housing - Racial Segregation - Homeownership Rates - Foreclosure Rates - “High Opportunity” vs. “Low Opportunity” Communities
January 24, 2013: Barry addressed the Westborough, Massachusetts Economic
Development Team on Demographic Change and the Need for Zoning Reform for
Multifamily Housing
February 5, 2013: Barry was the Keynote Speaker at the Lynn, Massachusetts
Chamber of Commerce, speaking about “Demographic Change, Housing Demand, and
Economic Development”
And on March 22: Barry was a panelist (with Greg Bialecki) at the Urban Land
Institute Conference on Housing Affordability in Seattle, Washington. The panel was on
“Setting Goals for Housing Opportunity—Lessons from Massachusetts”. Barry’s
presentation covered the main points in the 2012 Greater Boston Housing Report Card.
We encourage you to regularly visit the CHTF website, and we welcome all comments and suggestions for improvement. Please note that in addition to its former
address (www.tbf.org/chtf ), the website can also now be accessed directly at
http://www.tbf.org/chtf
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www.commonwealthhousingtaskforce.org. The website serves as the central repository
for documents, status reports and resource material on the Task Force itself, Chapter 40R,
Chapter 40S, press coverage, and related matters. Dukakis Center staff, led by Barry
Bluestone, is responsible along with Tim Gassert at the Boston Foundation for updating
the CHTF website on a regular basis. We also encourage you to visit the new and
improved Boston Foundation website at www.tbf.org .
Funding and Legislation for Affordability
A coalition of affordable housing and homelessness prevention organizations
convened by CHAPA, including many members of CHTF, has established the list of
FY14 state budget requests that will form a joint agenda. The groups will work together
to advocate for these issues in the coming year. The group will seek:
$60 million for MRVP, an increase of $18 million over FY13 and $13.5 million over the Governor’s House 1 proposal.
$71 million for public housing, $6.6 million above the Governor’s House 1 proposal.
$4.5 million for the Alternative Housing Voucher Program, $1,050,000 over the Governor’s House 1 proposal.
$8.76 million for RAFT homelessness prevention, matching the Governor’s House 1 proposal and level funding from FY13.
$3 million for the Housing Consumer Education Centers, $1.6 million over the Governor’s House 1 proposal.
$700,000 for the Tenancy Preservation Program, double the Governor’s House 1 proposal.
$2.2 million for Home and Healthy for Good, $800,000 over the Governor’s House 1 proposal.
$80,000 for the Mass Access Affordable Housing Registry, matching the Governor’s House 1 proposal and level funding from FY13.
$2.6 million in dedicated funding for Foreclosure Prevention Counseling, matching the Governor’s House 1 proposal and level funding from FY13.
The coalition is also working to continue funding for HomeBASE rental
assistance. HomeBASE, which began in 2011, provides time-limited rental assistance
paired with support services for homeless families. Because the demand for the assistance
exceeded budget authorization, the short-term rental assistance option for new
households has been eliminated. Instead, the Administration is making $4,000 in
financial assistance available to families, and has reduced the maximum length of rental
assistance for families in the program from 36 months to 24 months. Currently, families
receiving HomeBASE rental assistance earn an average monthly income of $795 and
their monthly housing costs exceed $1,173.
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With rental assistance scheduled to end in FY14, families are in danger of once
again becoming homeless. By restoring the third year of rental assistance to HomeBASE,
families will be provided with a year to access resources, such as childcare assistance,
workforce readiness programs, and transportation that can help to increase their incomes
and maintain their housing when their rental assistance ends. The coalition is also
working for solutions that will not require additional funding, such as allowing families
to maintain their homelessness preference for subsidized housing, removing credit
barriers for subsidized housing, and working with developers to move families into
subsidized units. The total request for HomeBASE for FY14 is $88,674,471, level
funding with FY13 and $30 million over the Governor’s House 1 proposal.
Federal Housing Budget
Sequestration: The across-the-board cuts, known as the sequester, took effect on
March 1, 2013. Almost all of the HUD programs, and USDA Rural Housing programs,
are now subject to a 5.1% cut. The programs will actually see an effective 9% reduction
because the cuts are being enacted with only seven months of FY13 remaining.
Although plans are still being made, HUD expects to furlough staff, reduce grant
funds to states and localities, and make changes in administration of other funding.
Already, public housing authorities across the country are announcing that they will
reduce the number of tenant-based vouchers they administer.
FY13 Appropriations: The 112th Congress did not finalize its FY13
appropriations bills by the October, 2012 start of the new fiscal year and instead passed a
6-month Continuing Resolution (CR) to fund the government through March 27, 2013.
The CR provided FY12 funding levels to federal agencies for the first 6 months of the
fiscal year.
Fortunately, Congress met its goal to complete FY13 appropriations by the March
27, 2013 expiration of the current CR, by passing a new Continuing Resolution on March
20. The full year CR would not have provided sufficient funding for HUD or USDA to
maintain current levels of housing program operations. The new Continuing Resolution
will maintain funding at $984 billion and the sequester remains in place; however, the
Defense Department has more flexibility with its funds. The agreement helped to avert a
broad government shutdown on March 27.
The President’s FY14 budget request is delayed and is expected to be submitted
on April 8, 2013. Both the Senate and House have moved forward with their budget
resolutions, marked them up during the week of March 11, and must pass a budget
resolution by April 15. The House budget resolution would decrease non-defense
discretionary spending by $700 billion, a deeper cut than sequestration, and would not
share discretionary cuts between defense and non- defense. The Senate budget resolution
would cut non-defense discretionary spending by $150 billion. The struggle to develop
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and pass a budget, along with the fiscal cliff and sequestration discussions, has been one
of the most divisive political events this year at the national level.
FY14 Appropriations: The House has moved forward with its FY14 work. The
Appropriations Committee has set deadlines for Members to submit program funding
requests, and the appropriations subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban
Development and Related Agencies (THUD) has started holding FY14 hearings on HUD
appropriations.
2013-2014 State Legislation
One of the most important housing bills of this session at the State level is the
Housing Bond Bill: An Act Financing the Production and Preservation of Housing for
Low and Moderate Income Residents. Housing Committee Chairs (Representative.
Kevin Honan and Senator James Eldridge) have filed H. 1127, which can be accessed
at ((http://mahouse.gov/Bills/188/House/H1127), and the Governor just recently filed his
own bill, H. 3333 (http://www.mass.gov/legis/journal/desktop/2013/H3333.pdf) with the
same title. To summarize provisions of these bills:
The Honan-Eldridge bill extends the Low Income Housing Tax Credit at $20 million annually. The Governor’s bill does not include the Low Income Housing
Tax Credit.
The Honan-Eldridge bill authorizes funds for five years. whereas the Governor’s bill authorizes funds for four years.
The Honan-Eldridge bill authorizes $1.4 billion. The Governor’s bill authorizes $567 million, but also carries over $540.5 million in uncommitted balances from
the 2008 bond bill for a total of $1,071,500,000.
The Governor removes burdensome repayment and refinancing language that had previously applied only to the Facilities Consolidation Fund and Community
Based Housing.
The mixed-use language CHAPA proposed as part of Commercial Area Transit Node Housing Program was not included in the Governor’s bill, but is included
in the Honan-Eldridge bill.
The Early Education and Out of School Time Capital Fund CHAPA proposed was not included in the Governor’s bill, but is included in the Honan-Eldridge bill.
There will be a public hearing for both bills on April 4th
at 10:00 am in State House
Room B-2.
Gateway Cities: Legislation has also been proposed to stimulate development in
gateway cities. The bill, An Act to Promote Transformative Development of Gateway
Cities, H311 (accessed at http://mahouse.gov/Bills/188/House/H311), was filed by
Representative Antonio Cabral and Senator Benjamin Downing. The legislation
contains several provisions to expand and enhance programs that incentivize economic
development in gateway cities, including changes and more funding for HDIP and the
Historic Tax Credit, as well as the extension of the brownfields tax credit which is set to
http://mahouse.gov/Bills/188/House/H1127http://www.mass.gov/legis/journal/desktop/2013/H3333.pdfhttp://mahouse.gov/Bills/188/House/H311
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expire on August 5, 2013. In addition to this legislation, Representative Cabral and
Senator Barry Finegold have filed a stand-alone bill extending the brownfields tax credit
through 2018.
Zoning Reform: Representative Stephen Kulik and Senator Daniel Wolf have
filed An Act Promoting the Planning and Development of Sustainable Communities, H.
1859, (accessed at http://mahouse.gov/Bills/188/House/H1859), which updates
Massachusetts’ land use laws to meet the state’s need for workforce housing, reduce
commutes, and preserve farmland and forests.
The bill provides benefits to municipalities through statewide reforms, and offers
enhanced incentives and tools to communities that choose to opt in. Those communities
could opt in by changing select local regulations in order to meet economic development,
housing, and natural resource protection goals. This bill takes pieces of zoning reform
efforts from prior sessions to create a more streamlined bill that gives cities and towns the
tools they need to shape their futures, while providing more certainty to landowners and
developers. Key provisions include: providing explicit statutory language allowing
municipalities to require the creation of affordable housing projects, which can count
towards their 40B requirements; increasing local oversight by providing the option to
adopt regulations for minor subdivisions in place of Approval Not Required (ANR)
provisions; consolidated permitting that brings all decision-making boards together at the
beginning of project reviews; establishing a clear process for development impact fees;
addressing vested rights by providing standardized zoning protections for development
projects proposed in building permits, special permits, and subdivision plans; and
creating the Planning Ahead for Growth Act which grants additional tools and incentives
to communities that choose to opt-in by making specific zoning changes consistent with
the state’s Sustainable Development Principles.
Benefits of planning ahead for growth include broader use of impact fees, natural
resource protection zoning at very low densities, shorter vesting periods, the ability to
regulate the rate of development, and priority for state infrastructure funding.
Public Housing Reform: The Governor and MassNAHRO have filed two
different versions of public housing reform, both aimed at long term sustainability of our
public housing stock. The Administration proposes the consolidation of 240 housing
authorities into 6 regional housing authorities (RHAs) in order to modernize operations
and financial management. The RHAs would take ownership of all public housing assets
currently owned by local housing authorities, and assume responsibility for fiscal and
operational management of all state and federal public housing in each region. Each of
the six RHAs would consist of one executive director, a governing board appointed by
the Governor, regional management staff, and local site managers. The legislation allows
communities to retain control over land use and significant redevelopment decisions
including change of use, ownership or the financing structure of an existing building or
vacant land.
http://mahouse.gov/Bills/188/House/H1859
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MassNAHRO proposes encouraging collaborative administrative functions such
as waiting lists, vacant unit turnover, procurement and capital improvements as well as
strengthening accountability at the local level. The MassNAHRO proposal includes a
provision for an assessment and evaluation tool that would make it possible to identify
troubled housing authorities and direct corrective action and technical assistance
accordingly. In addition, all housing authorities with state-funded units would be subject
to mandatory annual independent public audits.
Also refer to the extensive discussion of these policies in the Public Housing
Committee section with source documents in Appendix IV of this Report.
In addition to the public housing reform efforts of the Governor and
MassNAHRO, An Act Relative to Public Housing Innovations Pilots, H. 1146, and S.
592, (accessed at http://mahouse.gov/Bills/188/House/H1146 ), a bill supported by CHTF
last session, was refiled as a way to promote innovative strategies in public housing.
This legislation, filed by Representative Sanchez and Senator Chandler would reduce
and streamline regulatory and statutory requirements for participating housing authorities.
The program would maximize the efficient use of funds received by a housing authority.
By not restricting the use of appropriated funds to one narrow purpose, the
Commonwealth would allow housing authorities to more effectively address local needs,
which differ by locality. The bill would also authorize innovative program design on
issues such as rent calculation; this could serve to reduce the administrative burden and
cost on the housing authority, and to reduce the burden on tenants to produce the personal
information often necessary to document income and exclusions.
Legislation to dedicate energy efficiency funding for improvements in affordable
rental housing was re-filed by Representative Honan and Senator DiDomenico: There is
a significant capital cost involved in constructing or rehabilitating housing to ensure that
the structures minimize energy use. However, if the capital investment can be absorbed,
the energy savings are significant, and can reduce both the rental income necessary to
maintain the property and the impact on the environment. An Act Relative to Affordable
Housing Energy Efficiency, H.1122 and S.1574 (accessed at
http://mahouse.gov/Bills/188/House/H1122 ) would dedicate funding to make new and
existing multifamily affordable housing more energy efficient. We would appreciate
feedback from CHTF members on this issue.
Members interested in supporting or learning more about these proposals should
contact Eleanor White at [email protected] or Rachel Heller at
Foreclosures and the “Stuck” Home Mortgage Market Although there was some positive news this quarter, foreclosure issues continue
to be a serious problem for both homeowners and municipalities in Massachusetts. The
Boston Globe announced on January 19, 2013 that foreclosures in Massachusetts were
declining. A good description of how the new foreclosure law affects owners and lenders
http://mahouse.gov/Bills/188/House/H1146http://mahouse.gov/Bills/188/House/H1122mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]
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can be found in the Banker and Tradesman article of February 17, 2013. And a good
example of how the foreclosure process is working on the ground for renters can be
found in the Boston Globe story of March 20, 2013. All of these stories can be found in
Appendix III to this Report.
Key changes in the Mortgage Servicer Settlement -- replacing Independent
Foreclosure Review: The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the
Federal Reserve Board have reached a settlement with ten major mortgage servicers that
would replace the Independent Foreclosure Review (IFR) designed to compensate
homeowners damaged by improper foreclosures that occurred in 2009-2010. The new
settlement, announced on January 7, 2013, includes $3.3 billion in cash payments and
$5.2 billion in non-cash relief such as mortgage modification and forgiveness of
deficiency judgments. Fraught with excessive costs and complications, the IFR required
case by case reviews and a finding of wrongdoing before an award was made. The new
agreement does not require a borrower to apply for relief to be eligible to receive
compensation. Borrowers will receive compensation “ranging from hundreds of dollars
up to $125,000, depending on the type of possible service error.” For a detailed analysis
of the changes under the new settlement agreement, and the complete release from the
Federal Reserve Board, go to: http://www.federalreserve.gov/consumerinfo/independent-
foreclosure-review.htm.
Statewide Foreclosure Counselor Workshops Well Received: In February,
2013, CHAPA and the Mel King Institute, in conjunction with the Office of the Attorney
General, convened two statewide training sessions for foreclosure counselors. The
trainings marked the first anniversary of the historic National Mortgage Settlement and
the creation of the Massachusetts HomeCorps Initiative. Attorney General Martha
Coakley and Deputy Attorney General Chris Barry-Smith delivered opening remarks at
the Boston and Springfield events, respectively. Panelists from the Office of the
Attorney General, the Division of Banks, the Consumer Rights Unit of Boston Legal
Services and key foreclosure counselors presented and discussed the National Mortgage
Settlement, the legal and regulatory framework of Massachusetts foreclosure prevention
statute, “An Act Preventing Unlawful and Unnecessary Foreclosures”, and its proposed
regulations. The panel also discussed current servicer enforcement issues.
In total, over one hundred attendees participated in both trainings. As a follow-
up, CHAPA is hosting a monthly enforcement call open to all nonprofit foreclosure
counselors. The purpose of this call is to provide feedback to the Attorney General’s
Office on trends and patterns of servicer misconduct that foreclosure counselors are
seeing in their practices. The feedback gathered on these calls will be used to further the
Attorney General’s enforcement work related to loan modifications and servicing.
Representatives from Greater Boston Legal Services and the Division of Banks are also
on the calls. For more information and to participate in the calls, please contact Carol
Marine at CHAPA: [email protected].
http://www.federalreserve.gov/consumerinfo/independent-foreclosure-review.htm.http://www.federalreserve.gov/consumerinfo/independent-foreclosure-review.htm.mailto:[email protected]
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Detailed resources from the foreclosure trainings are available at:
http://chapa.org/news/resources-foreclosure-counselor-training-ags-office-february-14-
2013.
The Expanding Opportunities Committee
This committee, meeting since July of 2006, and co-chaired by Sarah Lamitie
and Jackie Cooper, was formed to explore possible diversity initiatives, both to increase
participation in CHTF by people of color and other underrepresented groups, and to
assure that programs supported by CHTF will have a positive effect on social justice and
equity issues. The committee is implementing an action agenda to enhance inclusiveness
in housing in cities and towns throughout the state. In connection with this diversity
initiative, please extend an invitation to colleagues you may know who would be
interested in joining the Task Force. They can join the CHTF at no cost by sending their
contact information to Eleanor White at [email protected].
Please refer to the CHTF website, www.tbf/chtf or
www.commonwealthhousingtaskforce.org to review previous Quarterly Reports for a
general description of this committee, and prior initiatives of the group.
The ideas explored at the Welcoming events hosted by this committee (previously
reported on in detail) have the potential to result in the creation of an extremely useful
and user-friendly interactive website. The Committee’s long-term goal is to create a
website that will offer the resource guide and other helpful information, and also an
online discussion forum to facilitate the sharing of ideas, successes and challenges of
communities engaged in this effort. The Committee would work closely with Tim
Gassert, the Boston Foundation webmaster, to provide content/updates to content, etc.
We believe that this could develop into an extremely valuable resource for
increasing the level of “welcome-ability” of communities throughout the state. We also
hope that the website would prove to be a valuable resource for families searching for
welcoming communities in which to settle, both those households already in
Massachusetts and those moving to the Commonwealth from other states. The Committee
is seeking a source of financial support to enable this website development and
management to go forward. Please contact the co-chairs of the committee or Eleanor
White ([email protected]) if you know of a source of support for this
effort.
In a new initiative, the committee will sponsor a competition in the Fall of 2013 to
identify student project or research ideas that will 1) promote access for people of color,
low-income people, people with disabilities and other populations that may face barriers
to access to housing associated with new housing development in Massachusetts, or 2)
promote strategies that help to create a more welcoming environment in one or more
communities for people of color, people with disabilities, low-income people and other
groups that traditionally experience challenges or barriers moving to many cities and
http://chapa.org/news/resources-foreclosure-counselor-training-ags-office-february-14-2013http://chapa.org/news/resources-foreclosure-counselor-training-ags-office-february-14-2013mailto:[email protected]://www.tbf/chtfhttp://www.commonwealthhousingtaskforce.org/mailto:[email protected]
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towns in Massachusetts. We hope to not only generate useful ideas to further the
committee’s goals, but also to generate interest among area students in this topic.
The committee is in the process of forming an Academic Advisory Committee to
promote the competition and advise CHTF regarding student involvement. Competition
winners will be recognized by the CHTF. Winners will present their project ideas to the
committee, and committee members will be available for consultation and advice to help
implement winning project and research ideas. The competition will be publicized at
Massachusetts colleges and universities at the beginning of the fall semester, 2013.
The committee is also collaborating with the Metropolitan Area Planning
Council’s (MAPC) Sustainable Communities Grant Program to support the development
and dissemination of a fair housing toolkit to assist communities and other groups in
understanding and furthering fair housing access and inclusion of diverse populations.
The toolkit is expected to be complete in November, 2013. The committee plans to work
this fall with MAPC’s fair housing caucus to help develop a plan to disseminate this
important resource in communities throughout the state.
All are welcome to join the Expanding Opportunities Committee; please send
your contact information to both Barbara Shea, committee member, at
[email protected] and Maura Fogarty at the Boston Foundation, at
[email protected] . Only those who have signed up for this committee will receive
notices of future meetings. Comments about the agenda for the EO Committee should be
addressed to Sarah Lamitie and Jacqueline Cooper, the co-chairs of the Committee.
They can be reached at [email protected] (Sarah) and
[email protected] (Jackie) respectively. Thanks to both Jackie and Sarah for their
leadership of this effort, and to Boston Private Bank for providing the regular meeting
space for this committee.
The Public Housing Committee
CHTF has lent strong advocacy support to the effort to significantly increase
funding for state-assisted public housing development and management over the last
several years. Although current levels of funding are higher than at any point in almost
20 years, they are clearly inadequate to support either the needs of low-income
households or of aging public housing buildings. Public housing programs represent the
most efficient and effective means of providing housing for low-income people, and
include traditional public housing as well as demand-side voucher programs and major
redevelopment efforts. This committee will continue to identify programs and legislation
that could benefit from CHTF support and will bring new program initiatives forward to
CHTF.
Charles Eisenberg, an affordable housing consultant with extensive experience
with public housing, and Jim Stockard, Curator of the Loeb Fellowship Program at the
Harvard Graduate School of Design (and a long-time member of the Board of a local
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]
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Housing Authority), are serving as co-chairs of this CHTF committee. As with all CHTF
committees, membership is open to all. We particularly invite local public housing
authority staff and board members, and members of community-based nonprofit
organizations, to consider participating in this committee.
Please refer to the last several CHTF Quarterly Reports for a comprehensive
discussion of the issues currently being addressed by this committee, and see detailed
descriptions of funding for public housing programs in the Programmatic Developments,
Funding, and State Legislation sections earlier in this report.
Over the past year, there has been considerable attention paid in the Boston area
press to issues relating to public housing and local housing authorities. (See the most
recent Quarterly Reports for detailed reporting of this public discussion and continuing
coverage later in this section.) This resulted in the establishment of the Governor’s
Commission for Public Housing Sustainability and Reform and the significant expansion
of membership of this Committee. Through 2012, we developed comprehensive position
papers and recommendations for the Commission and testified during the public hearing
process. Please refer to previous CHTF Quarterly Reports for a copy of the CHTF
recommendations.
This past summer the Governor’s Commission released its report, which
incorporates most of recommendations of the CHTF report. The emphasis on achieving a
broad consensus among a diverse group of interests appears to have been heavily
influenced and informed by the CHTF process, report, and testimony.
Following the issuance of the Commission Recommendations, DHCD established
an Advisory Committee, and the CHTF Public Housing Committee reconvened on
December 10, 2012 to discuss the recommendations coming out of these groups.
However, in January the Governor rejected the Commission recommendations and filed
legislation to combine all Housing Authorities into six regional authorities with Boards
appointed by the Governor. Refer to the Boston Globe editorial of January 12, 2013 for
its position in favor of the Governor’s proposal, included in Appendix IV of this Report.
In response, the Massachusetts chapter of the National Association of Housing
and Redevelopment Authorities (MassNAHRO) filed its own reform bill providing for
voluntary consolidation and stronger oversight. Refer to MassNAHRO’s Position Paper
in Appendix IV of this Report to see their rebuttal. Both bills are currently before the
Joint Committee on Housing, as described earlier in this Report.
And the Massachusetts Union of Public Housing Tenants released a
comprehensive and thoughtful response to both the Governor and MassNAHRO. The
MUPHT Position Paper is also in Appendix IV of this Report.
Since the two bills were filed, leadership of the Public Housing Committee has
attempted to work with all sides to reach enough of a consensus to pass legislation that
will achieve at least some of the reforms that all sides agree are necessary. We have
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individually engaged our membership, (which includes people from the Administration,
the Legislature, MassNAHRO, MUPHT, and advocacy groups), participated in
presentations to many other organizations, and offered our good offices as mediators.
When public hearings are held this spring or summer, we expect to be active participants,
basing our recommendations on those that we submitted to the Commission a year ago.
The Public Housing Committee will be meeting on April 1, 2013 at Nixon,
Peabody to discuss this and several other crucial matters. Sequestration is already having
a profound effect on public housing, heavily impacting operating and capital subsidies.
Efforts to revise the Mixed Finance regulations in Massachusetts continue, as does the
discussion about reforming Chapter 149 bidding laws. Finally, the Committee will
continue to monitor and comment upon the current budget processes on both the State
and federal levels.
Based on this quarter’s update, it is clear that public housing will continue to be in
the forefront of housing policy discussion for some time. CHTF members interested in
signing up for this committee and receiving notices of future meetings can reach Charles
Eisenberg at 617-901-3378 or [email protected] , and Jim Stockard at (617)
495-5988 or [email protected] . Many thanks to Nixon Peabody for providing
the meeting space for this committee.
Work with the Urban Land Institute Housing and Economic Development Council
Eleanor White and Ted Carman have represented CHTF with the local district
council of the Urban Land Institute, ULI Boston, particularly with the Housing and
Economic Development (H&ED) Council, chaired by Nancy Ludwig, President of
ICON architecture, and co-chair, Bert Rodiger, of Schochet Associates.
This multi-disciplinary group is intended to build on the ULI membership of for-
profit housing developers, multi-family lenders & investors, CDC’s, public officials, and
housing design and construction firms, and is topically focused around the creation,
development and financing of multi-family housing and economic development. The
H&ED Council will continue to work on initiatives and pursue strategic alliances that can
effect change on a regional basis, and is pleased to be an active partner of CHTF.
On February 27, 2013, the H&ED Council held a very successful program entitled
“Lower Cost Market-Rate Housing: Who’s Getting it Done?” Meeting market demand
for less expensive housing has proven to be a challenge, often requiring subsidy or public
support. However, a number of developers are, in fact, finding creative and different
approaches to hitting an underserved market price point in both the inner and outer
suburbs. Focusing on city-center, outer-urban, and suburban models, the panel illustrated
what it takes to complete lower cost projects, from financing to design to completion.
The panelists included Gary Campbell, COO, Gilbert Campbell Real Estate;
Patrick Kennedy, Owner, Panoramic Interests; Peter Mahoney, Developer, John M.
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Corcoran and Company; and Kyle Warwick, Principal, Gate Residential. H&ED Council
Co-Chair Nancy Ludwig, Principal, ICON Architecture, moderated the panel discussion.
For more in-depth speaker bios and presentation slides, please visit the events section of
the ULI Boston website at www.boston.uli.org.
The H&ED Council meets every other month on the second Wednesday of the
month. The Council is implementing a new meeting format: meetings will be two hours
in length and will include 1) a speaker with a question and answer session, and 2) a
working business session to discuss initiatives and trends. The Council’s next two
meetings will be on Wednesday, April 10, 2013, and Wednesday, June 12, 2013 from 8-
10AM at the ULI Boston offices at Edwards Wildman. CHTF members who are
interested in more information on becoming a member of ULI Boston and its Housing &
Economic Development Council may contact Michael Keimig, at
[email protected], 617-239-0124, or get in touch with the current Council Chairs,
Nancy Ludwig, at [email protected], or Bert Rodiger at
Legal Issues Involving Chapter 40R and Affordable Housing
We are not aware of any current litigation involving policy issues relating to
Chapter 40R at this time. CHTF members are welcome to bring any such litigation to our
attention. Please contact the Chair of the Legal Committee (and co-Chair of the CHTF)
Larry DiCara at [email protected] .
In other legal issues, CHAPA’s Housing Briefs of January 16, 2013 reported on
two SJC cases involving 40B. “The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) issued
two opinions this month [January, 2013] upholding decisions by the Housing Appeals
Committee (HAC) to grant comprehensive permits to projects after local zoning boards
of appeals denied their applications in 2007 and early 2008. Both opinions – Zoning
Board of Appeals of Sunderland vs. Sugarbush Meadow, LLC & another (January 14)
and Zoning Board of Appeals of Lunenburg vs. Housing Appeals Committee & another
(January 8) are on the SJC slip opinions page or go to
http://www.massreports.com/slipops/default.aspx .
“In both cases, the Zoning Boards of Appeals argued that the HAC erred in
refusing to count low-cost market rate housing toward the 10% threshold for appeal. The
SJC rejected that argument, noting that the comprehensive permit statute and regulations
clearly define low and moderate income housing as housing ‘subsidized by the federal or
state government’ and that the definition brings with it a number of requirements that
market rate housing does not have to meet, including a long term use restriction, housing
quality standards, affirmative marketing and ongoing monitoring. The Sunderland
opinion also upheld the authority of the HAC to define the region when examining
regional need, to limit its consideration of the fiscal impacts of new development and to
decide when a legal fee charged by the ZBA to the developer violates HAC rules.
file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/EleanorW/My%20Documents/Dropbox/Library/Caches/TemporaryItems/AppData/Local/Microsoft/Windows/Temporary%20Internet%20Files/Content.Outlook/6BLQVFT5/boston.uli.orgmailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]://click.icptrack.com/icp/relay.php?r=11358211&msgid=1280102&act=3JSZ&c=239188&destination=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.massreports.com%2Fslipops%2Fdefault.aspxhttp://www.massreports.com/slipops/default.aspx
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“The Lunenburg opinion also addressed the question of when maintaining
consistency with a local master plan is a sufficient local concern to outweigh regional
housing needs. The SJC agreed with the HAC that the Lunenburg plan did not outweigh
regional needs since it had not yet produced affordable units and furthermore, the
proposed project was not inconsistent with the Lunenburg plan and would not undermine
it. It also rejected the argument that the HAC decision was invalid due to one of five
HAC seats being vacant at the time.”
Banker and Tradesman (February 4, 2013) also covered a case concerning a 40B
developer in Lenox, who won the right to appeal his adverse local decision to the Boston-
based Land Court (instead of Western Massachusetts Housing Courts, the usual venue) in
order to expedite the process.
On March 21, 2013, the Boston Globe carried a story about a bill proposed by the
Town of Norton that would count toward the subsidized housing inventory (the “40B
count”) 40B projects that had been approved by the Town but not yet built. The full story
can be found in Appendix IV of this Report.
Congratulations and Work with the Local, State, and Federal Administrations
Congratulations to our friend and CHTF member, Aaron Gornstein, on his
interview with the Boston Globe which appeared on January 20, 2013 and can be found
in Appendix V of this Report. Aaron, the Undersecretary of DHCD and immediate past
Executive Director of CHAPA, has spent his entire career to date advocating for and now
administering programs of affordable housing, and has played a major role in the
affordable housing world in Massachusetts and throughout the US..
Congratulations also to our long-time colleagues at the Boston-based Housing
Partnership Network, led by Tom Bledsoe, on its selection in February. 2013 for a
MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions, one of only 13 nonprofit
organizations in the United States to be so honored. The award carries with it a $1.5
million prize. The concept of local housing partnerships began in Massachusetts in the
1980’s and has had a significant impact on affordable housing development efforts
throughout the country. The announcement of this Award is in Appendix V to this
Report.
Harvard University has announced that the policy advisory board of the Harvard
Joint Center for Housing Studies has selected Michael H. Thaman as its chair. Mr.
Thaman is the chairman and CEO of Owens Corning. Eric Belsky, managing director of
the Joint Center said in a statement. "He brings a deep knowledge of the building
materials sector, strong commitment to advancing housing as a national policy priority,
and keen interest in expanding our understanding of the challenge and promise of
sustainability along with the economic and demographic trends that will shape future
demand." The Joint Center also appointed Jeffrey Mezger, President and CEO of KB
Home, as the board's new vice chair. The announcement of this appointment, as carried
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in Banker and Tradesman of March 6, 2013, is in Appendix V to this Report. We would
welcome Mr. Thaman’s participation in CHTF.
Congratulations as well to John Polanowicz , who was sworn in as Secretary of
the Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS) by
Governor Deval Patrick on January 22, 2013. And to Michael Festa, former State
Representative and former Massachusetts Secretary of Elder Affairs, on his appointment
as State Director of AARP Massachusetts; he assumed his position also on January 22,
2013. We wish these distinguished and experienced professionals great success in their
new positions. Information about both can be found also in Appendix V to this Report.
A small working group, including representatives of CHTF, DHCD and others,
has met under the direction of Jennifer Raitt of MAPC to discuss 40R issues, and the
group plans to continue these discussions. In the group, there is general consensus on
support for adequate funding for 40R, for more PDF planning money, and for repealing
the “clawback”/recapture provision in the 40R statute.
Many members of CHTF have provided advice and guidance (both formally and
informally) to the staff of Governor Deval Patrick, Secretary of Housing and Economic
Development Greg Bialecki, and DHCD Undersecretary Aaron Gornstein. We have
been encouraged by Governor Patrick’s support of both 40R and 40S and the smart
growth and affordable housing concepts underlying these initiatives, as well as his
demonstrated support for increased funding for affordability, and his support for Chapter
40B. Clearly the state fiscal situation is still difficult, and we appreciate all efforts to
prioritize affordable housing.
We have continued to work closely with Undersecretary Aaron Gornstein of
DHCD, especially on issues relating to Chapter 40R and the new Compact
Neighborhoods program, mentioned earlier in this Report.
Over a number of years, Eleanor White represented the CHTF in a series of
meetings of the Governor’s Zoning Reform Task Force, and CHTF has been represented
in a series of Stakeholders’ Meetings with the Secretary for Elder Affairs of the
Commonwealth, Ann Hartstein. The Elder Stakeholders’ Group includes
representation from more than 20 organizations and coalitions dealing with issues
affecting older adults in Massachusetts. The most recent meeting of the Stakeholders’
Group was held on February 21, 2013 with the new Secretary of EOHHS, John
Polanowicz, and the new State Director of AARP, Michael Festa, in attendance. The
discussion focused on the state budget, the home care wait list, and proposed MBTA fare
increases. The Coalition for Senior Housing, an advocacy group chaired by Mark
Hinderlie of HEARTH and made up of representatives of sixteen organizations involved
in advocacy for seniors—of which Eleanor White is a founding member—continues
to encourage support for housing and service options that enable older adults
to affordably live in homes in their community.
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Barry Bluestone continues to serve as a member of Governor Patrick’s
Economic Development Strategy Council which, under legislative directive, is tasked
with coming up with a full-scale strategic plan for economic development in the
Commonwealth. Barry serves on the full committee along with membership on two of its
seven subcommittees. Among the final recommendations of the Council will likely be
streamlined permitting that should allow not only expedited review of commercial and
industrial developments, but affordable housing developments as well.
And Barry Bluestone has joined the Metro Boston Population Projections Advisory
Team of the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC), which is charged with developing
a projection methodology for estimating the number of housing units needed over the next ten
years in the Greater Boston metropolitan region. This projection tool will provide guidance to
local communities and the state on the number and types of units that will likely be needed to
meet affordability and economic development goals. As mentioned above, this group provided
information central to Governor Patrick’s recent announcement of housing development goals for
Massachusetts.
Expansion of the Task Force and the Search for Resources
We have been gratified again this Quarter with requests from new people to
participate in the Task Force, especially those interested in diversity initiatives, public
housing and historic tax credits. We are particularly interested in increasing our
representation of people of color on our email list, and in their active participation in
committees and plenary meetings.
The Boston Foundation, under the leadership of Paul Grogan and Mary Jo
Meisner, continues to play the critical role of both convener and major funder of the
Commonwealth Housing Task Force. Many thanks to the Boston Foundation for
allowing CHTF work to go forward without interruption. We are particularly grateful for
The Boston Foundation’s ongoing confidence in CHTF and for their support during these
difficult economic times. The staff is investigating other institutional sources of support,
which are scarce, and financial contributions from the business community and
individuals are always most appreciated.
Also thank you to all of the CHTF participants. Please send updates to your
contact information to [email protected]. You can reach Eleanor White
at Housing Partners, Inc. (617-965-1065 before 4PM Boston time or
[email protected]); Barry Bluestone at the Northeastern Dukakis Center
for Urban and Regional Policy (617-373-8595 or [email protected]) ; and Ted
Carman at Concord Square Planning and Development (617-482-1997 or
[email protected]). Please note that email messages about CHTF will often
be coming from Maura Fogarty at The Boston Foundation ([email protected]).
Respectfully submitted: Eleanor White, Barry Bluestone, Ted Carman
March, 2013 (APPENDICES FOLLOW)
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]
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Page 27
NOTES TO APPENDICES
As we have provided increasing amounts of source documents in the Appendices,
we thought it would be helpful to point you to the various sections. This should make it
easier for you to find specific documents that you may want to review in their full and
original context.
Appendix Starts on Page
Appendix I: Progress of Chapter 40R 28
Appendix II: Housing Market 32
Appendix III: Student Housing/Programmatic Devs/Foreclosures 40
Appendix IV: Public Housing/General Legal Issues 50
Appendix V: Congratulations and Work with Others 83
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Page 28
Appendix I to CHTF Quarterly Report March, 2013
Update of Progress under Chapter 40R: Smart Growth Zoning
and Housing Production Act The current housing market in Massachusetts appears to be stabilizing, with rents
increasing. Nonetheless, housing markets are just beginning to show more vigor, and it will be
months before the return of what we formerly considered normal–and even that will depend on
the country avoiding a double dip recession. New home construction continues to be far below its
past levels. In this environment, communities across Massachusetts continued to explore the
adoption of Chapter 40R smart growth zoning districts during this period. As was the original
intent of Chapter 40R, these districts and the expedited as-of-right permitting process they
offer will make it possible to increase production rapidly once the economy and housing
market strengthen, thus providing the opportunity for housing supply to keep up with demand
when market conditions warrant.
Other states—notably Connecticut and New Jersey—have also taken notice of the results
that 40R has produced. Specific information has been provided in previous Quarterly Reports.
As detailed in this Appendix, more than 50 cities and towns in the Commonwealth have
either passed Chapter 40R districts, or are in some stage of consideration. The map in this
Appendix shows these municipalities, their district status, and data regarding their districts. We
would like to convey our thanks to Bill Reyelt of DHCD for the preparation of this information.
Since 2006, in Massachusetts the towns of Belmont, Grafton, Lunenburg, Norwood,
North Reading, Plymouth, Dartmouth, Lakeville, Natick, Amesbury, Kingston, Lynnfield, North
Andover, Reading (two districts), Bridgewater, Easton, Westfield, Marblehead (two districts),
Sharon, and the cities of Boston, Brockton, Chelsea, Chicopee, Easthampton, Haverhill, Holyoke,
Lawrence, Lowell, Northampton, Fitchburg, and Pittsfield have all successfully had Chapter 40R
applications approved by DHCD and have passed Chapter 40R districts. Among them, these 31
localities have provided zoning as-of-right for over 12,350 units of housing, at least 20 percent
of which will be affordable to households earning less than 80% of the area median income.
Within the 40R Districts, 1423 units of building permits have already been issued. And we
believe that an additional 599 residential units have received Plan Approval from the permit
granting authority, but have not yet applied for building permits due to other permitting (MEPA)
and market conditions.
More municipalities are actively exploring 40R. In addition to those having passed
districts, At least five localities have applied for or received state Priority Development Fund
planning grants to pursue 40R zoning, including: Amesbury (a second district), Dennis, Ludlow-
Southampton (combined), and Norfolk. Andover, after having received a 40R Letter of Eligibility
has decided to move forward in the district with a fully market rate development. Although this
will not count towards the number of 40R units approved or built, it appears that high density
housing, generally consistent with the density requirements of Chapter 40R, will move forward in
Andover.
Ludlow has recently submitted an application for a new Chapter 40R District containing
350 future zoned new housing units; DHCD expects to issue a letter of eligibility before the end
of March, 2013.
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Southampton has submitted a highly creative preliminary application to DHCD for its
review that consists of 100 acres along the Route 10 corridor at the north end of the Town. This
district has just 3 acres of developable land, with 70 potential 40R Units. However, the size of
the proposed district means that in other areas where there may currently be development (such as
an older, perhaps outmoded, strip shopping center or other lower density residential or
commercial parcels), the property owners will have an as-of-right ability to redevelop their
properties with Chapter 40R densities and with mixed use.
This proposal is being carried out in cooperation with Easthampton which is considering
a companion district that would abut the Southampton District. In addition, the proposals would
result in an extension of the sanitary sewer line in Easthampton along Route 10 into
Southampton. This would, of course, make it easier to carry out redevelopment projects with
higher density – very much meeting the goals of Smart Growth Zoning.
The Pioneer Valley Regional Planning Commission and John Furman, the chair of the
Southampton Planning Board, are to be commended for the creativity they have brought to the
situation.
Although not all the news is rosy these days, progress continues on 40R; with the
economic problems facing both municipalities and property owners, four towns that had been
considering using 40R have recently decided to abandon thei