We are delighted to see that the new 54-unit, all affordable Chapter 40B development at 108 Centre Street, which B4E strongly supported, is making progress. While it won’t open until Winter 2025, Hebrew SeniorLife (the nonprofit developer and owner) just announced that it will be holding a lottery for the 54 affordable homes that are under construction. Applicants (or a member of their household) must be 62 years old or older to live there. 16 units are reserved for seniors earning at or below 30% of Area Median Income ($34,260 for one person or $39,180 for two people), and 38 units are reserved for seniors earning at or below 60% of AMI ($68,520 for one person and $78,360 for two people). To apply for the lottery, click here to download the application, or pick it up at the Brookline Library, Brookline Senior Center, or 100 Centre Street. You can also email CCBCentreStreetCampus@hsl.harvard.edu or call 617-363-8392 | Relay 711 for more information.
Town Meetings of Interest This Week
Now, on to the week.
The next meeting of the Affordable Housing Overlay District (AHOD) Study Subcommittee will be on Monday, July 22, via Zoom, at 7:30-9:00 pm (Zoom link here, no registration required). The meeting will include an update on the RKG financial model and policy implications, as well as a “Training/Overview on LIHTC/Low-Income Housing Tax Credits and Affordable Housing Development Finance” (presented by Committee Chair, and your humble editor, Jonathan Klein) to help the Committee members, and the public, better understand the how 100% affordable developments are subsidized, financed and built. You can find all the Committee’s background documentation and work to date in their AHOD Study Committee Rolling Meeting Agendas and Minutes.
The Community Preservation Act Committee (CPAC) will hold a “Mandatory Meeting” for all organizations interested in submitting an “Community Housing” application for CPA funds on Tuesday, July 23rd at 1:30 PM. You can find more detail about the CPA Committee’s aggressive timeline for this year’s applications here. We encourage anyone interested in applying for CPA funds for an affordable housing development to contact the committee now at cpa@brooklinema.gov to register for the meeting.
For your Calendar: Coming Next Week
Next Wednesday, July 31, we have two meeting to choose from:
The Housing Advisory Board will meet on Wednesday, July 31 at 5:30-7:30 via Zoom, replacing its regular July and August meetings. The Zoom link and detailed agenda have not been posted yet, but we will include the details in next week’s newsletter.
The Zoning Board of Appeals holds a public hearing, via Zoom, on Wednesday, July 31, 7:00 pm on a Chapter 40B application to build 105 residential units in Chestnut Hill on the block bounded by Hammond, Sheafe, and Heath Streets, with 26 of the 105 homes restricted as affordable at 80% Area Median Income. We are excited to see a substantial project being proposed on Boylston Street (Route 9) near the commercial district abutting the Newton line. The project plans are available on the Brookline Town website here, and you can register for the Zoom meeting here. We expect there to be many comments from concerned neighbors, and, if you are supportive of more housing at this site, as we are, we encourage you to attend or submit written comments for the ZBA to Polly Selkoe, Director of Regulatory Planning, at pselkoe@brooklinema.gov.
Worth Reading. This week we recommend a recent Globe article by Andrew Brinker, How a construction apprenticeship requirement could impede the $2 billion repair of the state’s public housing. Building and renovating housing (of all types, but especially public and affordable housing) is expensive and complex, and getting the job done can often be slowed down by other social priorities. We’ve written often here about Governor Healey’s Housing Bond Bill and Affordable Homes Act, which has now passed both the House and Senate in slightly different forms and is in Conference Committee. Now, concerns have been raised about how a special provision requiring apprenticeship programs could make the urgently needed public housing renovation much more difficult and costly. We don’t have an opinion about the solution, but urge you to read the article as an example of how additional regulatory requirements — however well intentioned — can interfere with urgent social priorities like upgrading our deteriorated public housing, building more housing for everyone, and addressing the challenges of climate change.