Longtime renters in the Boston’s Fenway neighborhood have felt the squeeze from rising rents and conversion of apartments into off-campus housing.

The acquisition of the Burbank Gardens property by the Fenway Community Development Corp. will retain 52 income-restricted units for low-income and disabled residents, averting the Haviland Street complex’s conversion to market-rate housing. Renovations to the property are scheduled to begin in January.

The complex is one of 12 in the city that will lose their funding under the state’s 13A mortgage subsidy program in the next few years. The property is the first in Boston to be acquired by a nonprofit group.

“The seller had an opportunity to sell it on the full market and we were able to strike a deal (through) some shrewd negotiating by our real estate director and maintain the affordability in perpetuity for the residents in the 52 units residing in this absolutely beautiful building,” said Leah Camhi, executive director of the Fenway CDC.

The financing package includes $2.5 million in acquisition financing and $2.5 million in permanent financing from community development block grant funding from the city of Boston. MassHousing provided $5 million in acquisition debt, a $3.8 million construction and permanent tax-exempt bond financing and a $5.4 million bridge loan. Community Economic Development Assistance Corp. provided a $8.3 million temporary acquisition loan.

As a result, 39 units will be retained for households earning a maximum 60 percent of the area median income. Nine will be set aside for households earning 80 percent of AMI, and four will be preserved at 90 percent of AMI.

Leah Camhi, executive director of the Fenway CDC, discusses the preservation of affordability at Burbank Gardens: