From the New England Real Estate Journal:
According to The Schochet Companies, Rindge Associates LP has executed an agreement with the city to preserve as affordable 504 housing units at Fresh Pond Apartments.
The agreement will preserve 166 former Below Market Interest Rate (BMIR) units as affordable for at least 50 years through city funding and commits the owner to renew its contract with the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to maintain 338 apartments as project-based Section 8 units for the term of the agreement. The former BMIR units will be preserved in two tiers, one for low-income households (available to households earning at or below 80% of Area Median Income adjusted for family size (AMI)) and one for moderate-income households (available to households earning 80% to 95% of AMI). Rindge Associates is a limited partnership of investors with day-to-day decisions made by the general partner, an affiliate of The Schochet Companies.
Mayor Sumbul Siddiqui said she was particularly proud of the preservation transaction because Fresh Pond Apartments (formerly known as Rindge Towers) is where she grew up and where she and her family had a stable foundation for opportunity and growth. She said, “I am so pleased this deal has been finalized and that these units will remain affordable for the next 50 years. Having lived in the Fresh Pond Apartments, I know how essential each of the 504 units are to the community. Approving the appropriation to keep these units affordable was the most important vote I’ve taken, and I am so glad to have worked with the owner and the city to move this process forward."
“This $32.5 million loan from the Cambridge Affordable Housing Trust demonstrates the City’s ongoing commitment to affordable housing efforts,” said city manager Louis DePasquale. “I want to thank our city staff, the mayor, the city council, the Affordable Housing Trust, and the Cambridge Housing Authority. Their close collaboration with the residents of Fresh Pond Apartments and its owner, Rindge Associates, has ensured these apartments will remain affordable for another generation of families.”
Read the New England Real Estate Journal's article "Affordability preserved at Fresh Pond Apartments," featuring the Cambridge Housing Authority.