Limited Equity Cooperative Apartments Project
Berkshire Veterans Village
Project Update
December, 2007
The tip of the iceberg here will be the actual construction of the 39 units of limited-equity cooperative apartments. The submerged, much larger, part of the iceberg is the deals that must be put together to support construction. We are happy to report that some significant resources have been secured to advance this project.
- Congressman John Olver has included in the HUD/Transportation Subcommittee budget a direct federal appropriation of $900,000; as this is written, that budget is on the President's desk. In the past Congressman Olver secured a direct federal appropriation of $800,000 which, after a Department of Defense rescission of 1%, resides at HUD awaiting drawdown. If the President does not veto the FY08 budget bill, or if his veto is overturned, the federal commitment to this project will stand at $1.692 million. In addition to Congressman Olver, Congressman Neal and Senators Kennedy and Kerry have worked to secure these funds.
- The HUD budget also contains language that would fund HUD-VASH after years of zero funding. HUD-VASH is a subset of the Section 8 rental assistance program that offers supportive housing subsidies to eligible veterans. We believe that these new HUD-VASH units will be available as both tenant-based and project-based subsidies - another potential source of equity financing for this project.
- We continue to work with Berkshire Housing Development Corp. as our development consultant. In February, 2008, BHDC will be preparing another OneStop Application for funding to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD). The previous DHCD commitment of $750,000 from the Housing Innovations Fund (HIF) remains in the mix. Eventually, the state's commitment will approach $3 million.
- This past summer, the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative awarded the project $40,000 toward a feasibility study of the proposed bio-diesel co-generation plant for this project. The feasibility study is nearing completion.
- In addition to last year's gift of $15,000, TD Banknorth recently awarded the project their top gift this year of $30,000, bringing TD Banknorth's commitment thus far to $45,000. TD Banknorth is the project's most generous private supporter. TD Banknorth's contribution will help write down pre-development soft costs, i.e. the balance of the feasibility study mentioned above.
- We plan to submit an April, 2008 application to the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston's Affordable Housing Program. We will be seeking a $400,000 direct subsidy and a $400,000 loan from this program.
- We hope to fill the finance gap with private contributions. Soldier On's board of directors and CEO Jack Downing have been busy putting together a strategy for fund development from the private sector and from individuals. Staff currently is preparing foundation proposals. Soldier On will be placing ads in national periodicals, and we will continue to work the halls of Congress.
Please check this page for updates. If all goes well, we hope to get a shovel in the ground by late spring or early summer, 2008.
.PDF diagram of the location .PDF diagram of the Building Front Elevation