Matters ▸ Attachment
SAHTF qtrly upd_ 4th qtr_Oct-Dec 2018 — File 207771
SOMERVILLE AFFORDABLE HOUSING TRUST FUND (SAHTF) – SELECTED SUMMARY OF ACTIVITY
FOR ACTIVITIES DURING 4th CALENDAR YEAR QUARTER, 2018 (OCTOBER, NOVEMBER, DECEMBER)
At the request of the City Council’s appointee to the SAHTF, Trust staff prepare the information below
summarizing actions taken at Trust meetings on a quarterly basis, in an effort to keep City Council
members and the public abreast of Trust activity over the course of the year.
October 2018
Preservation of affordable unit at 88 Wheatland Street – In order to ensure the preservation of a City
affordability restriction on a condominium at 88 Wheatland Street, the City had limited time to market
the unit and find an eligible qualified buyer who then needed to get their financing in place. In the
absence of a sale completed by the deadline of October 23rd, the affordability restriction on the unit
would have been lost, and the unit would have been sold for full market value and removed from
Somerville’s inventory of affordable units. Trustees voted to issue a loan up to $160,000 of non‐CPA Trust
funds to enable the purchase of the unit by the Somerville Community Corporation (SCC) to hold and then
resell the unit at its affordable price to the eligible household, preserving the unit as affordable in
perpetuity.
Alewife‐Sydney Homeless project (100 Homes) – Trustees approved a request from SCC for $196,621 in
CPA funds to close a gap on the Alewife‐Sydney Homeless project. The shortfall related to creation of an
additional affordable rental unit, in addition to the number of units initially funded with CPA resources. In
total 5 units affordable to very low income (below 50% AMI) households were created at the two
properties.
November 2018
Pilot Phase of 100 Homes – Trustees approved a request from SCC asking the Trust to allocate $275,709 in
Trust or CPA funds to address budget shortfalls in the acquisition and initial operation of 38 of the first 43
units acquired by SCC in the pilot phase of the 100 Homes program. When considered as part of what is a
$15 million effort to date, this amounts to a 1.8% overrun, or $7,237 per unit in additional subsidy.
December 2018
Linkage payments – The Trust received $683,451 in linkage payments from Federal Reality Trust for eight
developments in Assembly Square, and a $26,374 linkage payment from Greentown Labs. Most of these
payments represent annual installments of linkage payments being made over a five‐year period.