BOSTON – June 30, 2020 –  MassHousing has provided $8.1 million in affordable housing financing to the non-profit Newton Community Development Foundation (NCDF), to preserve and extend the affordability for lower-income senior citizens for at least 20 years at the 43-unit Casselman House in Newton.

"We were pleased to work with NCDF to preserve and extend affordability for these lower-income seniors in Newton," said MassHousing Executive Director Chrystal Kornegay. "Newton has some of the highest housing costs in the country and this transaction will ensure that this important affordable housing resource will serve older residents in the city long into the future, while deepening NCDF’s capacity to continue its mission-driven work."

"All of us at NCDF are extremely grateful for the continued support of MassHousing and are pleased to have been able to preserve and extend the affordability at Casselman House. NCDF has partnered with MassHousing for over 45 years to develop and preserve several of the properties in our portfolio and we have benefitted from their financial support as well as their long-term investment in providing guidance and support to our property management team. This was our first venture with Rockport Mortgage Corporation and we were appreciative for the level of attention and expertise they provided throughout the process. We had a great team and despite the challenges of working remotely due to the restrictions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, we were able to close on the financing as scheduled," said NCDF Executive Director Jeanne Strickland.

NCDF refinanced Casselman House through MassHousing’s Multifamily Accelerated Processing (MAP)/Ginnie Mae Joint Venture Initiative with lender partner Rockport Mortgage Corporation. MassHousing offers the MAP/Ginnie Mae loan program to the owners of rental housing through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). HUD provides expedited Federal Housing Administration (FHA) insurance approvals through the MAP program. MassHousing surpassed $1 billion in cumulative MAP lending earlier this year, and the Agency has built the largest MAP lending program of any state housing finance agency in the nation.

The combination of FHA insurance and a Ginnie Mae guarantee enables borrowers to access taxable mortgage financing with lower interest rates, while preserving and extending affordability for hundreds of low-income individuals, senior citizens and families. MassHousing is providing NCDF with an $8.1 million, 35-year permanent loan.

"It is critically important that we collectively find ways to preserve housing stock for the most vulnerable members of our communities," said Dan Lyons, President of Rockport Mortgage Corporation. "We are very proud and honored to have worked with Newton Community Development Foundation, MassHousing and HUD to preserve Casselman House as an affordable, age-restricted property for the next several decades."

Built in 1981 and located at 195 Summer St. in Newtown, Casselman House consists of 43 one-bedroom apartments contained in a single residential building. All of the age-restricted apartments – except one - are subsidized by a federal Section 8 Housing Assistance Payment contract. One unit is occupied by a property manager. As part of the transaction NCDF has extended the Section 8 HAP contract on 42 units, ensuring affordability restrictions at the property will remain for at least 20 additional years.

Improvements planned or completed at the property include asphalt shingle roof replacement, rubber membrane roof replacement, the relocation of satellite telecommunications equipment and upgrading environmental remediation pumps and equipment.

MassHousing has financed 11 rental housing communities in Newton involving 1,283 housing units and $266 million in original financing. The agency has financed 141 home mortgage loans in Newton totaling $24.5 million in financing.

About MassHousing’s MAP/Ginnie Mae Initiative 

MassHousing has partnered with three well-known and experienced MAP lenders CBRE, Capital One and Rockport Mortgage Corporation. The MAP lender prepares the submission of each transaction for HUD’s approval. MassHousing then closes the new loan and issues a  Ginnie Mae Mortgage Backed Security (MBS), which has consistently provided the multifamily mortgage industry its most competitive long term, taxable interest rates.  

 
With each MAP/Ginnie Mae loan, MassHousing continues as the mortgagee of record and becomes a Ginnie Mae servicer. This ensures affordability, as each completed transaction will require the property owner to rent at least 20% of the units to those earning less than 80% of the area median income. Affordability at many properties could be at risk were MassHousing unable to offer this product, as owners could refinance with other lenders who do not require affordability restrictions.

About Newton Community Development Foundation 

In June 1968, 24 priests, ministers and rabbis from the Newton Clergy Association and members of Church Women United met and incorporated the Newton Community Development Foundation to pursue ways for Newton to provide affordable housing to meet the needs of the community. Later that year, the leadership of the Foundation was transferred from the Clergy to a lay board of distinguished Newton citizens. The current Board of Directors and the Advisory Committee represent a cross section of Newton residents and others with multi-faceted interests, resources and expertise, and a deep commitment to the NCDF mission. NCDF provides both affordable and market-rate rental opportunities in Newton to low- and moderate-income families, senior citizens and persons with disabilities. They are a community-based non-profit funded through rental income, private funding and government subsidies. For more information about NCDF please visit www.ncdfinc.org.

About Rockport Mortgage Corporation  

Rockport Mortgage Corporation is a privately-owned commercial mortgage banking firm founded in 1992 and located on the North Shore of Boston. Rockport specializes in providing FHA-insured loans to market-rate, affordable and senior housing communities and healthcare facilities through the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and has been approved under HUD’s Multifamily Accelerated Processing (MAP) Program since the program inception in 2001. The Rockport team works collectively to navigate the complexities of FHA/HUD-insured finance programs, developing strategic solutions to meet the needs of our clients. For more information about Rockport Mortgage Corporation please visit www.rockportmortgage.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 mixed-income 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 $25 billion for affordable housing. For more information, follow us on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

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