ARCHIVES OF LEAD STORIES
April 28, 2005
Jamaica Plain NDC cuts ribbon on new Lamartine
Street homes
Scott T. Daugherty
A ribbon-cutting ceremony for eight new affordable homes in Jamaica
Plain drew a standing-room-only crowd earlier this month.
While the mood was celebratory, officials spoke of the realities
faced by those creating affordable housing.
“These funds are endangered,” said Kate Racer, associate
director of the Mass. Dept. of Housing and Community Development,
referring to federal and state housing funds that may be cut.
“Lift your voice and you’re going to have to lift
your voice loudly if you want that money,” she added.
The Bush administration is trying to consolidate or eliminate
many of the programs that provide federal monies to affordable
housing, according to Richard Thal, executive director of the
Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Development Corporation. The cuts and
consolidations could amount to a 40 percent reduction in funding
at the federal level, he added.
Federal funds are essential in getting affordable housing built
according to Jim Barnes, acting regional director of the U.S.
Dept. of Housing & Urban Development. He pointed out that
federal housing funds — funneled through the state and city
— contributed about $1 million to build the “Lamartine
Street” homes. That is about one third of the cost of building
the new housing, according to Thal.
Barnes emphasized the role that government funding plays in these
developments.
“Nonprofit organizations cannot do it alone. They’re
only effective if they work against a backdrop of a larger vision,
a mission, a strategic plan. And the mayor’s strategic plan
is the best in the nation at providing affordable housing,”
said Barnes.
Michael Hatfield, an executive vice president with Bank of America,
agreed that federal funding was important and said that Bank of
America senior management recently testified before Congress in
support of federal funding and that “some of the very successful
projects in Boston were cited,” in their testimony.
At the state level there are two trust funds that provide money
to affordable housing projects, both of these trusts are in need
of re-funding by legislative action according to Thal.
However, he is hopeful and notes that there is very strong and
clear support from state legislators but warned of less-than-clear
support from the Romney administration.
“We are optimistic that the money will be
there at the end of the day,” he said in a later interview.
Money from the state to clean up polluted urban land, known as
brownfields, is also running dry according to state Rep. Jeffrey
Sanchez. Sanchez is leading the legislative effort to replenish
these funds.
“It’s also critical to get the support and the private
financing we got,” said Thal referring to the financing
provided by private banks for both the construction of the homes
and the mortgages for the new tenants.
The high price of housing is what forced Cherose Singleton, one
of the new homeowners and a human services worker who grew up
down the street, to move out of the area.
According to data supplied by the JPNDC the average home price
on Lamartine Street in J.P. – where most of the new homes
are located – rose from slightly over $100,000 in 1995 to
over $400,000 in 2004.
The affordable homes sold for almost a third of the average price,
allowing people like Singleton to return to Jamaica Plain.
“Now I’ve come back to my neighborhood,” said
Singleton, “Now I am back in a familiar area and my son
goes to school down the street.”
All the homes were purchased by first-time homebuyers and were
the culmination of years of effort by a public-private partnership
involving the JPNDC, city, state and federal officials, community
activists, bankers and community-conscious landowners —
who sold their land for less than market value.
Back
to Lead Story Archives
Home
Page
