E Henry Twiggs Estates (courtesy photo)

MassHousing announced yesterday it provided $10.8 million in financing to the nonprofit developer Home City Development Inc., to advance the second phase of the substantial rehabilitation of the 136-unit E. Henry Twiggs Estates in Springfield. The project will complete major renovations of 61 scattered-site apartments for low-income families in the Mason Square neighborhood of Springfield.

MassHousing is supporting the redevelopment of E. Henry Twiggs Estates by issuing $10.8 million in short-term, tax-exempt debt, in a private placement with TD Bank. TD Bank will serve as both construction and permanent financing lender on the project. Permanent financing will result from a taxable execution with the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston. This transaction is MassHousing’s first tax-exempt conduit loan outside Greater Boston.

“MassHousing’s partnership with TD Bank, and Home City Development, will preserve a key affordable housing resource in Springfield,” MassHousing Acting Executive Director Tom Lyons said in a statement. “Safe, modern affordable housing supports healthy families. Many of properties involved in this transaction are more than 100 years old and in need of major upgrades. By delivering major renovations to the interiors and exteriors of the E. Henry Twiggs Estates properties, this project will dramatically improve the quality of life enjoyed by the residents of the Twiggs Estates, and support the revitalization of the surrounding neighborhood.”

The E. Henry Twiggs Estates are comprised of 136 affordable units located in 59 scattered-site buildings, including 41 more than 100 years old, and 18 structures built in the 1980s. Phase One of the rehabilitation effort, which MassHousing was not involved with, completely renovated 75 affordable housing units. The second phase of the project will completely upgrade the remaining 61 units, delivering upgraded heating systems and insulation, new kitchens and bathrooms in all units, new roofing and siding and energy efficiency upgrades, including the replacement of boilers and updated electrical wiring.

Of the 61 units in Phase Two, 16 will be reserved for households at or below 30 percent of the Area Median Income ($24,600 a year for a family of four), and 45 units will be for households earning at or below 60 percent AMI ($39,960 a year for a family of four). Twenty-eight of the units are supported through the Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program and four units are subsidized through the Massachusetts Supportive Housing Initiative.

In addition to the MassHousing and TD Bank financing, the transaction involved $13.8 million in equity from an allocation of Low-Income Housing Tax Credits by the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), $1.9 million in DHCD financing, $1 million from the Affordable Housing Trust Fund, which MassHousing manages on behalf of DHCD, a $2.5 million seller note, $450,000 from the Massachusetts Facilities Consolidation Fund, which supports housing for clients of the Department of Mental Health and Department of Developmental Services, and $50,000 from the city of Springfield.