MassHousing makes $19.5 million commitment to Ocean Shores seniors

LYNN – The Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency will spend $19.5 million over five years to keep a Lynn Shore Drive apartment building affordable for senior residents.Under the terms of the state loan, Ocean Shores Associates, the development’s owner, will guarantee affordability for at least 15 years following the close of the loan.Affordability at Ocean Shores will be extended at least 23 years if a state contract to provide rental assistance money to the building’s 202 senior tenants is renewed.”The Ocean Shores Apartments have been well maintained and managed since the development opened in 1981 and we are pleased that this loan commitment will preserve affordability there for seniors for at least another 15 years, and most likely, for a longer period of time,”‘ said MassHousing Executive Director Thomas R. Gleason.Located at 50 The Lynnway, Ocean Shores has 178 one-bedroom apartments and 24 two-bedroom apartments.Ocean Shores and 70 other buildings across the state receive federal money to help pay the tenants’ rents each month. The buildings are eligible to convert apartments to market rate rentals between 2009 and 2013 once their mortgages are paid off.MassHousing is offering building owners incentives if they agree to keep rent subsidies in place for some of their tenants.Since 1970, MassHousing has provided more than $10.6 billion in financing for more than 97,000 units of mixed-income rental housing and more than 54,000 mortgage loans for homeowners.MassHousing is also arranging to keep 40 units in the Beachmont Apartments affordable for seniors with up to $3.2 million in loan assistance to the building’s owner.Under this loan agreement, Beachmont Apartment Associates, the development’s owner, will guarantee affordability for at least 15 years following the close of the loan.The borrower will also commit to requesting the renewal of the Section 8 Housing Assistance Payment contract covering all 40 units for the longest term possible during the term of the new MassHousing loan.If the contract is extended to the maximum 20-year term upon expiration in 2011, affordability at the Beachmont Apartments will be extended for at least 23 years.Located on Bradstreet Avenue, the Beachmont Apartments include units in the former Mary T. Ronan and on the site of the former Julia Ward Howe School. The building has 35 one-bedroom apartments and 5 two-bedroom apartments.