LYNN — With construction hats on and golden shovels in their hands, city leaders, including Mayor Jared Nicholson and State Rep. Sean Reid, joined Commonwealth Land Trust President and CEO Iva Comey to break ground at 21 Oxford St. in Lynn, where 40 studio units will be built as part of a monumental project to provide affordable housing to those in Lynn.
To celebrate the start of construction on the five-story affordable housing development, CLT hosted a groundbreaking ceremony Wednesday at the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless. City Council Vice President Fred Hogan and Councilors Natasha Megie-Maddrey and Pete Meaney were all present in attendance.
In her opening address, Comey touched on the importance of providing stable housing and the work it took to make the project come to life.
“We’re here to turn several years of planning and partnership into something lasting and real, and that’s something that all of us in this room made possible,” she said to the audience, which also included CLT Board member David Hale and supportive partners including the Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation (CEDAC), who were represented by Executive Director Ethan Handelman, the Massachusetts Housing and Shelter Alliance (MHSA) with CEO Joyce Tavon in attendance and also Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless Executive Director Robyn Frost.
“Days like this remind us why stable housing matters. CLT has believed in stable housing for over 40 years. Housing is safety, housing is dignity. It’s also a foundation for individuals to rebuild their lives,” Comey said.
Nicholson told the story of a homemade postcard he received just a few weeks ago that was sent to his home address with a message that read, ” Dear Mayor Nicholson, it is not right that we have people on the streets without homes. We should build more homes.”
“We need to build more homes,” Nicholson then said passionately. “That’s the right answer from a moral perspective, that’s the right thing to do. It’s a right answer from a policy perspective, that homelessness is a lack of homes. I’m so grateful that we have a Commonwealth Land Trust, the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless, all the partners that made this project possible.”
The housing development project on Oxford Street, which is also being supported by the City of Lynn and the Lynn Housing and Neighborhood Development, is one of the first projects of Lynn’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund.
“If we’re ever going to get on out of this housing affordability crisis, it’s going to take everyone,” Reid stated. “The public sector, the private sector, builders, investors, funders, and that’s what you see here with CLT, Coalition of the Homeless, LHAND, all our levels of government…I think in Lynn, we feel a special duty because for so long we have been the affordable community, and we’ve seen in recent years that we’re starting to lose that. I think we feel a special burden and a special responsibility, that if we can’t do this, who can? If we can’t set the example, then who can truly build affordable housing?”
The Community Economic Development Assistance Corp (CEDAC) committed what Handelman referred to as the “early money,” the pre-development funding, as well as technical expertise, while the Massachusetts Housing Investment Corp also made an $8.5 million equity investment through the purchase of low-income housing tax credits, stated MHIC Senior Investment Officer Carrie Knudsen.
The building’s design, which was led by Thaddeus S. Siemasko, Architect at SV Design, is meant to evoke a sense of belonging and community, he said. “Our goal was to create a building that would fit seamlessly into the urban fabric of Lynn, while providing residents with light-filled homes with support that promotes well-being and long-term stability.”
The Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (EOHLC) also provided assistance in the project, which will provide 32 MRVP vouchers available to residents to ensure “that individuals that need this housing development have access to it and that it’s stable over the long term,” added Comey.
The ceremony concluded with a touching testimony from a CLT resident named Jason, who lives in another building. He shared his story on the impact that supportive services and the housing provided by CLT has had on his journey to addiction and recovery.
“All the things I have accomplished is because of CLT and their staff. That’s why I’m honored to be here to celebrate the breaking ground of this building, which is going to grant the people who live there an opportunity to rebuild their lives,” he said to a standing ovation and roar of applause from the audience.
