Commonwealth Housing Task Force

Quarterly Summary of Progress as of March 30, 2013

Note: in order to reduce the size of these reports, we have condensed the description of

regular ongoing activities, and have moved much of the Chapter 40R update to

Appendix I of this report. For background, please visit www.tbf.org/chtf or

www.commonwealthhousingtaskforce.org and click on “Quarterly Updates”. A key to

the Appendices and the Appendices themselves follow at the end of this quarter’s report.

During the very active first Quarter of 2013, the Commonwealth Housing Task

Force focused its efforts on:

1. The implementation and monitoring of Chapter 40R, including advocacy for pending legislation and funding.

2. The call for an increase in state funding for affordability, and monitoring of both state and federal legislation and programmatic developments.

3. Strategic planning for new initiatives of the Task Force, including assuring that the benefits of new construction under 40R and other state programs are available

to the widest range of households, work with the committee to focus on public

housing, and work with the State Administration to maintain a focus on housing

programs.

4. An expansion in participation in the Task Force itself, with a focus on diversity. 5. Working in close partnership and collaboration with other groups to support our

missions.

Barry Bluestone, Eleanor White, and Ted Carman, working through the

Dukakis Center for Urban and Regional Policy at Northeastern University, have carried

out the staff work in coordination with active subcommittees and Boston Foundation

staff.

Housing Market Updates

Coverage this Quarter about news in the housing market, continuing the trend we

reported on in the last two Quarters, was optimistic. The Quarter began with a very

upbeat story from the Washington Post of January 29, reporting on the positive trend in

the national housing market. On February 13, Banker and Tradesman highlighted the

degree to which multifamily housing has a major impact on the New England economy.

And on February 26, the Boston Business Journal reported on the spike in building

permits for multifamily housing (and the greater receptivity of communities to such

housing) in Massachusetts in 2012. By March 17, Business Insider was exulting that

“The U.S. housing recovery is one of the most exciting economic stories in the world

today.” Read more about this national story at: http://www.businessinsider.com/florida-

housing-market-on-fire-2013-3#ixzz2NzMQRRyo

A new report by the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Research Institute

for Housing America (RIHA) highlights the degree to which increasing immigration will

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have an effect on the housing market, as covered by Banker and Tradesman in an article

on March 6, 2013.

We have in recent Quarterly Reports covered the huge jump in rents in

multifamily rental housing in Massachusetts, particularly in the Greater Boston area, and

that trend continues unabated. On March 13, 2013, Affordable Housing Finance

magazine covered the sobering findings of the new report issued by the National Low

Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) about the national rental housing market and its

effect on lower-income households; that same day, Banker and Tradesman brought those

findings down to the Massachusetts market. Both stories indicate that in no state in the

country can an individual making the minimum wage afford to rent the average cost two-

bedroom apartment in that state. With the national minimum wage at $7.25 an hour, the

“housing wage” nationally (what an individual would need to earn to afford a two-

bedroom unit with 30 percent of income) is $18.79. That “housing wage” in

Massachusetts is $24.05, or more than 3 times the minimum wage.

Finally, on the single-family side, Banker and Tradesman on March 21, 2013

wrote about a new Zillow report showing strong gains in the residential sales market.

All of the articles mentioned above are included in Appendix II to this Report.

Student Housing Effort

Barry Bluestone continues to pursue efforts to deal with the issues in the housing

market presented by Boston’s being such a center of higher education. We house more

than 100,000 full-time 4-year college students on campus in the Boston area, but nearly

180,000 live off campus, putting huge pressure on an already-overheated rental housing

market. Further, whereas 50 percent of undergraduates live on campus, only 8 percent of

graduate students do. Barry has developed an innovative model of seeking to develop

graduate student villages (described in several past CHTF Quarterly Reports).

We were very pleased to note that MassDevelopment has financed a new

dormitory for Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston. The residence hall at 525

Huntington Ave. in Boston's Fenway neighborhood will have 71 apartments totaling 305

beds and one resident director apartment, which should help to take the pressure off the

housing market in that very crowded area of the city. (See the full article from Banker

and Tradesman of March 5, 2013 in Appendix III to this Report.)

Barry Bluestone continues to meet regularly with interested parties to explore

where and how a multi-university graduate student village can be built. During the past

quarter, the Dukakis Center worked with Samuels & Associates (Trilogy) on encouraging

the development of a large graduate student housing complex in the Fenway area. This

work included:

Holding 3 graduate student focus groups to assess the type of housing needed and at which various price points,

Commonwealth Housing Task Force Quarterly Report

March 30, 2013

Page 3

Working with the developer to re-imagine micro units with 1 and 3-bedroom configurations,

Helping to prepare a housing proposal for submission to Northeastern University for a master lease.

And Barry continues to meet with David Geller of Geller & Co. exploring ways to

encourage Northeastern University to join with other Colleges of the Fenway to offer

Master Leases for the development of a Fenway “Multi-University Graduate Student

Village.”

Other Programmatic Developments

Probably the most significant programmatic event this quarter was watching the

twin fiscal crises play out in Washington: the “fiscal cliff” at the beginning of the year

and the “sequestration” of March 1, 2013. See a discussion of these issues at the end of

this section of this Report.

The Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation (CEDAC) has

presented a progress report on Chapter 40T, the State’s affordable housing preservation

statute long supported by CHTF. Their recent newsletter applauds the “success of the

state’s housing preservation law, Chapter 40T, which just celebrated its 3rd

birthday,” and

“highlight[s] its effectiveness in preserving long-term affordability. Namely, in the three

years since the law’s enactment, there have been 39 sales of existing affordable housing

developments and yet no affordable housing has been lost as a result of a sale to a new

property owner under the 40T regulatory process. More than 7,500 affordable housing

units have been preserved through our state initiative since 2010.” Click on CEDAC’s

fact sheet or go to

http://cwc.cedac.org/Uploads/Files/AffordableHousingPreservationChapter40TFactSheet.

pdf to learn more about the state’s achievements in affordable housing preservation

during the past few years.

And, in more good news, we were thrilled to note a press release in which

MassHousing and the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD)

announced $8.2 million in Affordable Housing Trust Fund (AHTF) loan closings at the

end of 2012 for affordable housing communities in Arlington, Beverly, South Boston,

Salem, Somerville and Yarmouth. AHTF is one of the most important sources of funding

for affordable housing in the Commonwealth. And shortly thereafter, the Boston Herald

reported on The Patrick administration’s announcement that “it has committed $67

million in affordable housing resources and tax credits towards 23 housing developments

in 21 communities….that will create 1,326 units of housing and an estimated 1,710

construction jobs” across the State.

The full text of both stories can be found in Appendix III to this Report.

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We were also very pleased to learn of DHCD’s intention to phase out the use of

motels as temporary housing for the homeless, a controversial strategy for housing a very

vulnerable population. Read the full Boston Globe article in Appendix III of this Report.

Barry Bluestone reports that he has recruited Michael Glebe, a Ph.D. student of

his (and an attorney), to spend the Spring semester on an independent study devoted to

documenting the zoning laws and regulations in all 161 communities in the Greater

Boston metropolitan region. This research will document current zoning practices in

each community and changes in zoning provisions, including adoption of new regulations

regarding multifamily housing, accessory units, and minimum lot sizes. He will be

preparing a major report on this subject which will be the basis for a chapter in this year’s

forthcoming Greater Boston Housing Report Card for 2013.

We noted in the last Quarterly Report the completion of another housing

development in a Chapter 40R district: 30 Haven Street in Reading, MA. This month

finds the start of construction of another project in a Chapter 40R district: 25 units in

Brockton.

Also last Quarter, we noted the passage of the new Chapter 23L program of tax-exempt financing for public infrastructure that may be needed to support housing (and

other) development. Passed in August, the law went into effect in November of 2012. A

very useful section-by-section analysis of the act, prepared by William F. Griffin, Jr. at

the law firm of Davis, Malm & D’Agostine, P.C., can be found at

http://www.davismalm.com/UploadedDocuments/Articles/Griffin_23L_Analysis.pdf .

And MassDevelopment is highlighting its Multifamily Loan Program to be used

for rental housing developments in downtown and transit-oriented locations, perfect for

both 40R and the new Compact Neighborhoods program. The Agency points to low

interest rates and a flexible application process as reasons for developers and

communities to consider this financing source. More information can be obtained at

www.massdevelopment.com .

The lack of planning grant funds for 40R continues to be a significant

challenge, especially in view of the fact that 40R is the program with the most promise

for facilitating large-scale housing production in Massachusetts in the coming years, and

with the most potential to avert the effects of the projected housing shortage and increase

in rents over the next decade. During the last three years, DHCD has made critically-

important planning grants to communities under the Priority Development Fund (PDF)

program. Although the program is almost out of funds, planning for Chapter 40R

(including the preparation of an application to DHCD) remains an eligible activity

supported by this program. The MassHousing Guideline for its PDF program identifies

eligible projects as including those that “promote transit oriented development and/or

smart growth initiatives particularly in the early stages of development, through the

provision of seed capital, technical assistance and/or funding of pre-development

activities.” We would hope to see affordable housing developers explore the use of this

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source of funding to assist in the creation of Chapter 40R districts. See the Guideline text:

https://www.masshousing.com/portal/server.pt/gateway/PTARGS_0_2_4485_0_0_18/PD

F_Guidelines.pdf .

As we reported before, the MA Department of Housing and Community

Development (DHCD) is accepting applications from Gateway Cities for the new

Housing Development Incentive Program (HDIP—Chapter 40V) to facilitate the

development of primarily market rate housing in existing non-residential properties

within new Housing Development Zones in “Gateway” Cities in Massachusetts. The

program is limited to developments in which at least 80% of the units will be priced at

“market rate” (the level affordable to households at 110% of area median, using a flexible

definition of area). Municipalities that participate must offer at least a partial property tax

exemption on the increase in value attributable to the market rate units, and developers

can apply for a state tax credit for to up to 10% of the cost of developing the market rate

units. The total value of state credits that can be authorized is capped at $5 million a year,

and DHCD is proposing a per-project cap of $1 million. Full information about HDIP can

be found on DHCD’s website at www.mass.gov/dhcd (search keyword HDIP).

Applications are currently being accepted on a rolling basis.

The Fiscal Cliff and Sequestration

The Housing Advisory Group prepared an excellent summary of the Fiscal Cliff

results and its effect on housing programs immediately after its enactment in early

January. And the Banker and Tradesman story on January 3 focused on the fiscal cliff

bill’s effects in Massachusetts. On February 19, 2013, the National Association of

Housing and Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO) presented an interesting series of

scenarios relative to housing funding this year. Refer to Appendix III for all of the above

articles.

And the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities in Washington prepared (updated

to March 4, 2013) a comprehensive analysis of the effects of sequestration. A portion of

that analysis is in Appendix III to this Report, and the full paper can be accessed at

http://www.cbpp.org/files/2-26-13bud.pdf . Shorter summaries are also provided later in

this Report in the section titled Funding and Legislation for Affordability.

Implementing Smart Growth Zoning: Continuing Interest from Municipalities and

Local Groups

Chapters 40R and 40S have now been on the books and implemented since 2006.

The programs have resulted in the passage of 33 Chapter 40R smart growth zoning

districts in 31 municipalities, totaling approximately 12,350 zoned units supported by

their communities, with continuing interest in many more. Please refer to Appendix I to

this report for the regular detailed update on progress under the Chapter 40R

program.

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Commonwealth Housing Task Force Quarterly Report

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Thanks to the Economic Development and Jobs bill that was passed by the

Legislature and signed into law by the Governor in July, 2012, the Smart Growth

Housing Trust Fund has been replenished with a deposit of $4,000,000. DHCD

currently estimates that the Trust Fund will have sufficient resources to cover required

payments through FY2014 (through June 30, 2014). This includes the funding needed

for making payments under Chapter 40S for school costs.

Communities can now move forward with proposals for Chapter 40R with

reasonable assurance that the funds will be available to make payments as promised by

the legislation. In addition, replenishing the Trust Fund has made it easier for DHCD

and others to actively promote the program in their outreach and education efforts.

With regard to the State Historic Tax Credit program, a bill filed by the

Gateway City Caucus, House 311, provides for changes to the program, as follows:

1. The annual amount of authorization for the Credit is increased to $60,000,000 (from $50,000,000);

2. When the Secretary of State makes an allocation to a project, the allocation must be for the full amount authorized by the legislation (that is,

an allocation equal to 20% times the eligible renovation costs);

3. A mechanism is set in place to allow for Credits to be transferred to a new owner of the subject property;

4. Additional flexibility is provided to the Secretary of State in applying the historic renovation standards to specific circumstances.

The requirement to fully fund developments that are approved would eliminate

the difficulty that developers face when they are allocated small amounts of credit in

successive funding rounds (of which there are three per year). This often means that the

funds are not available for some period of years, making it extremely difficult to retain

control over the properties and to pull together the full complement of needed financing

sources.

As stated before, CHTF feels strongly that the Legislature should repeal the

“clawback” provision in Chapter 40R, which states that communities have three years

after the passage of a Chapter 40R Smart Growth Zoning District and drawdown of

incentive funds to issue building permits and have construction commence. Absent a

construction start, the community must repay the State for the amount of the initial

Incentive Payment. The three year window has now come up for a number of

communities where construction has not yet commenced (often due to the state of the

economy) for reasons beyond the control of the community, and repeal of this provision

would be highly desirable. Its existence makes it more difficult to obtain local approval

if new districts.

It is estimated that half a dozen communities have received letters from DHCD

informing them that three years have passed since their Smart Growth Zoning Districts

were enacted, and requesting documentation of either a start of construction or, in the

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absence of such start, a statement of “good cause” as to the reason for construction not

starting. To date, all requests for extensions of time have been granted by DHCD, which

is working with the communities to assist in getting construction underway.

To resolve this problem, Senator Chandler has refiled her bill which would

repeal the “Clawback” provision (Senate 97). We are very grateful to Senator

Chandler for her support on this bill.

As mentioned above, local resources to plan smart growth districts are scarce, and

this scarcity has been one of the reasons for few new proposed districts recently. For

instance, some projects have gone forward in the Pioneer Valley (Western

Massachusetts) because the Pioneer Valley Regional Planning Commission was able to

provide the staffing needed to move the developments through the approval process.

However, other districts have been unable to proceed in the absence of a ready source of

planning funds for the significant amount of planning and outreach necessary to get a

two-thirds vote from the local governing body for a new 40R District.

Recently, however, DHCD has made changes in the Priority Development Fund

Program to make funding more available for both Chapter 40R proposals and for the new

Compact Neighborhood program. There is currently a total of approximately $180,000

available for planning for these new districts, with neither program having preference.

The funding will be available for the following eligible uses:

Planning, outreach and adoption of smart growth zoning overlay districts under M.G.L. Chapter 40R.

Planning, outreach and adoption of other high impact up-zoning approaches that increase unit-per-acre zoning regulations within city/town centers and/or near

transit, employment, retail and services, and other appropriate areas to facilitate

more compact, vital development areas, including other types of as of right zoning

districts for DHCD approval.

The Compact Neighborhood program will provide incentives to communities that

have or create districts that allow as-of-right districts with 4 units per acre for single

family homes, and 8 units per acre for multifamily units. The incentives will include

priority for certain State discretionary funding. We believe that the Compact

Neighborhood program will offer another welcome alternative for communities that wish

to encourage the development of new housing.

DHCD is also actively looking to find additional sources of PDF funding in order

to be able to support additional higher density zoning proposals.

We believe there is an opportunity, however, for property owners and developers

to step forward to contribute the funds necessary and to work in partnership with

municipalities to plan 40R districts. The time for communities to be proactive and plan

for their future is when the construction industry is somewhat dormant; when the

economy does improve to the point where new housing construction is determined to be

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feasible, these projects will be ready to go. As the recent Housing Report Card has set

forth, now is clearly the time for more zoning and housing development.

With the affirmation of the state’s affordable housing program under Chapter

40B, the interest level in Chapter 40R is continuing, And now that concerns have been

addressed about the Smart Growth Trust Fund running out of funds, it is likely that new

activity will emerge in the months ahead. Increasing funding to local communities to

pursue smart growth districts is the prudent way to provide a “relief valve” for

communities facing Chapter 40B developments that may be considered to be

inappropriate for the location based on local comprehensive planning, site conditions, etc.

Chapter 40R is an important tool for facilitating the development of new affordable

housing units at a time when some units may leave the inventory as a result of the

expiration of their federal contracts (an issue which has been discussed at length

previously).

Other states have also taken notice of the results that 40R has produced, most

especially in Connecticut and New Jersey, as described in detail in previous Quarterly

Reports.

Commonwealth Housing Task Force Quarterly Report

March 30, 2013

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Implementation of Chapter 40R and 40S (the School Cost “Insurance Policy”),

Funding for both Chapters 40R and 40S, and a Technical Amendment to 40R

The Massachusetts Department of Revenue (DOR) issued an “Informational

Guideline Release” for Chapter 40S, dated June 2010. More detail can be accessed in

previous CHTF Quarterly Reports.

The final state budget for FY2013 made available $500,000 to cover Chapter 40S

reimbursements as required by the Chapter 40S statute.

For FY 2012, to be received in FY 13, two communities are expected to receive

funds under Chapter 40S: Chelsea ($76,444) and Lakeville ($166,497). The fact that

these projects are eligible for the payments is evidence that in some situations

communities need the financial assistance Chapter 40S was designed to provide. Chapter

40S payments are made when the cost of educating the children in new developments in

Chapter 40R districts exceeds the sum of one half of the property taxes and the

incremental new Chapter 70 money that is allocated to the community because of the

increase in the school population.

The map below, provided by the MA Department of Housing and Community

Development (DHCD), indicates the communities that have already implemented

Chapter 40R and those in the process of doing so. The table following the map outlines

the current funding sources and obligations for Chapter 40R.

Commonwealth Housing Task Force Quarterly Report

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Page 10

Note: Updated through March, 2013. Source: DHCD

Communities currently considering Chapter 40R districts include Ludlow,

Southampton, Easthampton, Lowell (expansion of an existing district), Dennis, Medford,

and a second project in Haverhill, in the Bradford section. Permitting for specific

developments and construction activity is underway in Brockton, Lakeville, Lawrence,

Pittsfield, Natick, and in both of the Districts in Reading.

The following chart shows the current status of the Smart Growth Housing Trust

Fund. It reflects the additional $4,000,000 that was passed in the Economic

Development and Jobs Bill in 2012. The $4,000,000 consists of amounts in excess of

$10,000,000 that are actually received from the settlements or judgments. Initial Funds from sale of Surplus State Land $ 3,349,370

Appropriations – Transfers, October, 2007 $10,000,000

Sales of Surplus State Property, 2007 $ 78,000

Sales of Surplus State Property, 2008 $ 7,772,440

Sales of Surplus State Property, 2009 $12,000,000

Miscellaneous $ 165,440

Deposit pursuant to 2012 Jobs Bill $ 4,000,000

Total Sources of Funds $37,365,250

Less Transfer to General Fund, 2009 ($18,004,810)

Net Sources $19,360,440

Less Payments and Obligations to Communities to date: ($14,850,000)

Balance in Fund as of March 25, 2013 $ 4,510,440

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Given the new funding in the Economic Development and Jobs bill, as described

earlier in this Report and shown in the table above, the Smart Growth Housing Trust

Fund is now expected to have sufficient resources to make the payments that will

become due during to communities through FY2014—through June 30, 2014. (The Trust

Fund provides the funding for the Incentive Payments and the Density Bonus Payments

for Chapter 40R.) These additional funds will be required as more districts are passed

and as more specific properties begin construction.

Limited funds, as described above, $180,000 ±, are also now available under the

Priority Development Fund (PDF) program through DHCD for planning in communities

with approved Housing Production Plans (HPPs) which have specific, eligible plan

implementation needs. 40R Communities with current HPPs include Amesbury, Easton,

North Andover, Plymouth, Reading, and Sharon. Medford and Dennis have HPPs, and

are giving consideration to Smart Growth Districts.

To date, 12 communities have permitted/started or completed construction on

housing within 15 of the 33 approved 40R Districts, comprising 1423 Units. We are

extremely pleased that almost half of the approved Chapter 40R districts have

reached this important milestone. This has resulted in Density Bonus Payments to

communities of $4,005,000.

We are pleased to report that Senator Harriette Chandler and Representative

Kevin Honan have refiled previous legislation to provide for a continuing and reliable

source of funding of the Smart Growth Housing Trust Fund, as discussed in detail in

previous Quarterly Reports. The Senate bill is Senate 96. The House bill is House 170.

Both are being referred to Committee for consideration. We are very grateful to Rep.

Honan and Sen. Chandler for their strong and continuing leadership on this legislative

effort. Despite the success in obtaining funds for the next fiscal year for the Smart

Growth Housing Trust Fund, there remains ongoing uncertainty because of the lack of a

consistent, predictable revenue source. It is therefore important that we not lose sight

of this bill, and that efforts continue to have it passed in the next session of the

Legislature. Refer also to the previous section for a detailed discussion of the bill filed by

Senator Harriette Chandler to repeal the “clawback” provision of Chapter 40R.

Spreading the Word about Chapter 40R and Smart Growth

Barry Bluestone, Eleanor White, and Ted Carman continue to respond to

requests for meetings, discussions, and presentation of material about Chapter 40R from

planning officials, local elected officials, affordable housing advocates, realtors and

others to assure widespread education about the benefits of Chapter 40R.

Please visit the Boston Foundation/CHTF website, www.tbf.org/chtf or

www.commonwealthhousingtaskforce.org and consult previous Quarterly Reports for a

detailed description of this ongoing activity. Chapter 40R is often the subject of news

and feature articles in the general press and other media. The topic has also continued to

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attract interest from trade and industry groups, and is regularly featured as a topic at

various conferences and workshops.

The Greater Boston Housing Report Card of 2012 includes specific action

recommendations for housing agencies to assist in spreading the word about Chapter

40R/S, and CHTF staff will be working with many of them to implement those

recommendations.

During this quarter, Barry Bluestone has continued an active schedule of

speaking about the need for housing development and trying to develop support for it in

individual communities. Speaking engagements this quarter included the following:

January 17, 2013: Barry addressed the Hyams Foundation Board on Affordable

Housing Production with the prospect of Hyams increasing their already significant

involvement in housing issues. Barry led a comprehensive discussion that included the

following:

- Assuring an adequate supply of low and moderate income housing - Production of housing for graduate students and professionals - Inclusionary Zoning - Section 8 Housing Vouchers - Rent Control - Limits on rentals to unrelated individuals - Restrictive Suburban Zoning - Racial outcomes in housing - Racial Segregation - Homeownership Rates - Foreclosure Rates - “High Opportunity” vs. “Low Opportunity” Communities

January 24, 2013: Barry addressed the Westborough, Massachusetts Economic

Development Team on Demographic Change and the Need for Zoning Reform for

Multifamily Housing

February 5, 2013: Barry was the Keynote Speaker at the Lynn, Massachusetts

Chamber of Commerce, speaking about “Demographic Change, Housing Demand, and

Economic Development”

And on March 22: Barry was a panelist (with Greg Bialecki) at the Urban Land

Institute Conference on Housing Affordability in Seattle, Washington. The panel was on

“Setting Goals for Housing Opportunity—Lessons from Massachusetts”. Barry’s

presentation covered the main points in the 2012 Greater Boston Housing Report Card.

We encourage you to regularly visit the CHTF website, and we welcome all comments and suggestions for improvement. Please note that in addition to its former

address (www.tbf.org/chtf ), the website can also now be accessed directly at

http://www.tbf.org/chtf

Commonwealth Housing Task Force Quarterly Report

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www.commonwealthhousingtaskforce.org. The website serves as the central repository

for documents, status reports and resource material on the Task Force itself, Chapter 40R,

Chapter 40S, press coverage, and related matters. Dukakis Center staff, led by Barry

Bluestone, is responsible along with Tim Gassert at the Boston Foundation for updating

the CHTF website on a regular basis. We also encourage you to visit the new and

improved Boston Foundation website at www.tbf.org .

Funding and Legislation for Affordability

A coalition of affordable housing and homelessness prevention organizations

convened by CHAPA, including many members of CHTF, has established the list of

FY14 state budget requests that will form a joint agenda. The groups will work together

to advocate for these issues in the coming year. The group will seek:

$60 million for MRVP, an increase of $18 million over FY13 and $13.5 million over the Governor’s House 1 proposal.

$71 million for public housing, $6.6 million above the Governor’s House 1 proposal.

$4.5 million for the Alternative Housing Voucher Program, $1,050,000 over the Governor’s House 1 proposal.

$8.76 million for RAFT homelessness prevention, matching the Governor’s House 1 proposal and level funding from FY13.

$3 million for the Housing Consumer Education Centers, $1.6 million over the Governor’s House 1 proposal.

$700,000 for the Tenancy Preservation Program, double the Governor’s House 1 proposal.

$2.2 million for Home and Healthy for Good, $800,000 over the Governor’s House 1 proposal.

$80,000 for the Mass Access Affordable Housing Registry, matching the Governor’s House 1 proposal and level funding from FY13.

$2.6 million in dedicated funding for Foreclosure Prevention Counseling, matching the Governor’s House 1 proposal and level funding from FY13.

The coalition is also working to continue funding for HomeBASE rental

assistance. HomeBASE, which began in 2011, provides time-limited rental assistance

paired with support services for homeless families. Because the demand for the assistance

exceeded budget authorization, the short-term rental assistance option for new

households has been eliminated. Instead, the Administration is making $4,000 in

financial assistance available to families, and has reduced the maximum length of rental

assistance for families in the program from 36 months to 24 months. Currently, families

receiving HomeBASE rental assistance earn an average monthly income of $795 and

their monthly housing costs exceed $1,173.

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With rental assistance scheduled to end in FY14, families are in danger of once

again becoming homeless. By restoring the third year of rental assistance to HomeBASE,

families will be provided with a year to access resources, such as childcare assistance,

workforce readiness programs, and transportation that can help to increase their incomes

and maintain their housing when their rental assistance ends. The coalition is also

working for solutions that will not require additional funding, such as allowing families

to maintain their homelessness preference for subsidized housing, removing credit

barriers for subsidized housing, and working with developers to move families into

subsidized units. The total request for HomeBASE for FY14 is $88,674,471, level

funding with FY13 and $30 million over the Governor’s House 1 proposal.

Federal Housing Budget

Sequestration: The across-the-board cuts, known as the sequester, took effect on

March 1, 2013. Almost all of the HUD programs, and USDA Rural Housing programs,

are now subject to a 5.1% cut. The programs will actually see an effective 9% reduction

because the cuts are being enacted with only seven months of FY13 remaining.

Although plans are still being made, HUD expects to furlough staff, reduce grant

funds to states and localities, and make changes in administration of other funding.

Already, public housing authorities across the country are announcing that they will

reduce the number of tenant-based vouchers they administer.

FY13 Appropriations: The 112th Congress did not finalize its FY13

appropriations bills by the October, 2012 start of the new fiscal year and instead passed a

6-month Continuing Resolution (CR) to fund the government through March 27, 2013.

The CR provided FY12 funding levels to federal agencies for the first 6 months of the

fiscal year.

Fortunately, Congress met its goal to complete FY13 appropriations by the March

27, 2013 expiration of the current CR, by passing a new Continuing Resolution on March

20. The full year CR would not have provided sufficient funding for HUD or USDA to

maintain current levels of housing program operations. The new Continuing Resolution

will maintain funding at $984 billion and the sequester remains in place; however, the

Defense Department has more flexibility with its funds. The agreement helped to avert a

broad government shutdown on March 27.

The President’s FY14 budget request is delayed and is expected to be submitted

on April 8, 2013. Both the Senate and House have moved forward with their budget

resolutions, marked them up during the week of March 11, and must pass a budget

resolution by April 15. The House budget resolution would decrease non-defense

discretionary spending by $700 billion, a deeper cut than sequestration, and would not

share discretionary cuts between defense and non- defense. The Senate budget resolution

would cut non-defense discretionary spending by $150 billion. The struggle to develop

Commonwealth Housing Task Force Quarterly Report

March 30, 2013

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and pass a budget, along with the fiscal cliff and sequestration discussions, has been one

of the most divisive political events this year at the national level.

FY14 Appropriations: The House has moved forward with its FY14 work. The

Appropriations Committee has set deadlines for Members to submit program funding

requests, and the appropriations subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban

Development and Related Agencies (THUD) has started holding FY14 hearings on HUD

appropriations.

2013-2014 State Legislation

One of the most important housing bills of this session at the State level is the

Housing Bond Bill: An Act Financing the Production and Preservation of Housing for

Low and Moderate Income Residents. Housing Committee Chairs (Representative.

Kevin Honan and Senator James Eldridge) have filed H. 1127, which can be accessed

at ((http://mahouse.gov/Bills/188/House/H1127), and the Governor just recently filed his

own bill, H. 3333 (http://www.mass.gov/legis/journal/desktop/2013/H3333.pdf) with the

same title. To summarize provisions of these bills:

The Honan-Eldridge bill extends the Low Income Housing Tax Credit at $20 million annually. The Governor’s bill does not include the Low Income Housing

Tax Credit.

The Honan-Eldridge bill authorizes funds for five years. whereas the Governor’s bill authorizes funds for four years.

The Honan-Eldridge bill authorizes $1.4 billion. The Governor’s bill authorizes $567 million, but also carries over $540.5 million in uncommitted balances from

the 2008 bond bill for a total of $1,071,500,000.

The Governor removes burdensome repayment and refinancing language that had previously applied only to the Facilities Consolidation Fund and Community

Based Housing.

The mixed-use language CHAPA proposed as part of Commercial Area Transit Node Housing Program was not included in the Governor’s bill, but is included

in the Honan-Eldridge bill.

The Early Education and Out of School Time Capital Fund CHAPA proposed was not included in the Governor’s bill, but is included in the Honan-Eldridge bill.

There will be a public hearing for both bills on April 4th

at 10:00 am in State House

Room B-2.

Gateway Cities: Legislation has also been proposed to stimulate development in

gateway cities. The bill, An Act to Promote Transformative Development of Gateway

Cities, H311 (accessed at http://mahouse.gov/Bills/188/House/H311), was filed by

Representative Antonio Cabral and Senator Benjamin Downing. The legislation

contains several provisions to expand and enhance programs that incentivize economic

development in gateway cities, including changes and more funding for HDIP and the

Historic Tax Credit, as well as the extension of the brownfields tax credit which is set to

http://mahouse.gov/Bills/188/House/H1127http://www.mass.gov/legis/journal/desktop/2013/H3333.pdfhttp://mahouse.gov/Bills/188/House/H311

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expire on August 5, 2013. In addition to this legislation, Representative Cabral and

Senator Barry Finegold have filed a stand-alone bill extending the brownfields tax credit

through 2018.

Zoning Reform: Representative Stephen Kulik and Senator Daniel Wolf have

filed An Act Promoting the Planning and Development of Sustainable Communities, H.

1859, (accessed at http://mahouse.gov/Bills/188/House/H1859), which updates

Massachusetts’ land use laws to meet the state’s need for workforce housing, reduce

commutes, and preserve farmland and forests.

The bill provides benefits to municipalities through statewide reforms, and offers

enhanced incentives and tools to communities that choose to opt in. Those communities

could opt in by changing select local regulations in order to meet economic development,

housing, and natural resource protection goals. This bill takes pieces of zoning reform

efforts from prior sessions to create a more streamlined bill that gives cities and towns the

tools they need to shape their futures, while providing more certainty to landowners and

developers. Key provisions include: providing explicit statutory language allowing

municipalities to require the creation of affordable housing projects, which can count

towards their 40B requirements; increasing local oversight by providing the option to

adopt regulations for minor subdivisions in place of Approval Not Required (ANR)

provisions; consolidated permitting that brings all decision-making boards together at the

beginning of project reviews; establishing a clear process for development impact fees;

addressing vested rights by providing standardized zoning protections for development

projects proposed in building permits, special permits, and subdivision plans; and

creating the Planning Ahead for Growth Act which grants additional tools and incentives

to communities that choose to opt-in by making specific zoning changes consistent with

the state’s Sustainable Development Principles.

Benefits of planning ahead for growth include broader use of impact fees, natural

resource protection zoning at very low densities, shorter vesting periods, the ability to

regulate the rate of development, and priority for state infrastructure funding.

Public Housing Reform: The Governor and MassNAHRO have filed two

different versions of public housing reform, both aimed at long term sustainability of our

public housing stock. The Administration proposes the consolidation of 240 housing

authorities into 6 regional housing authorities (RHAs) in order to modernize operations

and financial management. The RHAs would take ownership of all public housing assets

currently owned by local housing authorities, and assume responsibility for fiscal and

operational management of all state and federal public housing in each region. Each of

the six RHAs would consist of one executive director, a governing board appointed by

the Governor, regional management staff, and local site managers. The legislation allows

communities to retain control over land use and significant redevelopment decisions

including change of use, ownership or the financing structure of an existing building or

vacant land.

http://mahouse.gov/Bills/188/House/H1859

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Page 17

MassNAHRO proposes encouraging collaborative administrative functions such

as waiting lists, vacant unit turnover, procurement and capital improvements as well as

strengthening accountability at the local level. The MassNAHRO proposal includes a

provision for an assessment and evaluation tool that would make it possible to identify

troubled housing authorities and direct corrective action and technical assistance

accordingly. In addition, all housing authorities with state-funded units would be subject

to mandatory annual independent public audits.

Also refer to the extensive discussion of these policies in the Public Housing

Committee section with source documents in Appendix IV of this Report.

In addition to the public housing reform efforts of the Governor and

MassNAHRO, An Act Relative to Public Housing Innovations Pilots, H. 1146, and S.

592, (accessed at http://mahouse.gov/Bills/188/House/H1146 ), a bill supported by CHTF

last session, was refiled as a way to promote innovative strategies in public housing.

This legislation, filed by Representative Sanchez and Senator Chandler would reduce

and streamline regulatory and statutory requirements for participating housing authorities.

The program would maximize the efficient use of funds received by a housing authority.

By not restricting the use of appropriated funds to one narrow purpose, the

Commonwealth would allow housing authorities to more effectively address local needs,

which differ by locality. The bill would also authorize innovative program design on

issues such as rent calculation; this could serve to reduce the administrative burden and

cost on the housing authority, and to reduce the burden on tenants to produce the personal

information often necessary to document income and exclusions.

Legislation to dedicate energy efficiency funding for improvements in affordable

rental housing was re-filed by Representative Honan and Senator DiDomenico: There is

a significant capital cost involved in constructing or rehabilitating housing to ensure that

the structures minimize energy use. However, if the capital investment can be absorbed,

the energy savings are significant, and can reduce both the rental income necessary to

maintain the property and the impact on the environment. An Act Relative to Affordable

Housing Energy Efficiency, H.1122 and S.1574 (accessed at

http://mahouse.gov/Bills/188/House/H1122 ) would dedicate funding to make new and

existing multifamily affordable housing more energy efficient. We would appreciate

feedback from CHTF members on this issue.

Members interested in supporting or learning more about these proposals should

contact Eleanor White at ewhite@housingpartnersinc.com or Rachel Heller at

rheller@chapa.org .

Foreclosures and the “Stuck” Home Mortgage Market Although there was some positive news this quarter, foreclosure issues continue

to be a serious problem for both homeowners and municipalities in Massachusetts. The

Boston Globe announced on January 19, 2013 that foreclosures in Massachusetts were

declining. A good description of how the new foreclosure law affects owners and lenders

http://mahouse.gov/Bills/188/House/H1146http://mahouse.gov/Bills/188/House/H1122mailto:ewhite@housingpartnersinc.commailto:rheller@chapa.org

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can be found in the Banker and Tradesman article of February 17, 2013. And a good

example of how the foreclosure process is working on the ground for renters can be

found in the Boston Globe story of March 20, 2013. All of these stories can be found in

Appendix III to this Report.

Key changes in the Mortgage Servicer Settlement -- replacing Independent

Foreclosure Review: The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the

Federal Reserve Board have reached a settlement with ten major mortgage servicers that

would replace the Independent Foreclosure Review (IFR) designed to compensate

homeowners damaged by improper foreclosures that occurred in 2009-2010. The new

settlement, announced on January 7, 2013, includes $3.3 billion in cash payments and

$5.2 billion in non-cash relief such as mortgage modification and forgiveness of

deficiency judgments. Fraught with excessive costs and complications, the IFR required

case by case reviews and a finding of wrongdoing before an award was made. The new

agreement does not require a borrower to apply for relief to be eligible to receive

compensation. Borrowers will receive compensation “ranging from hundreds of dollars

up to $125,000, depending on the type of possible service error.” For a detailed analysis

of the changes under the new settlement agreement, and the complete release from the

Federal Reserve Board, go to: http://www.federalreserve.gov/consumerinfo/independent-

foreclosure-review.htm.

Statewide Foreclosure Counselor Workshops Well Received: In February,

2013, CHAPA and the Mel King Institute, in conjunction with the Office of the Attorney

General, convened two statewide training sessions for foreclosure counselors. The

trainings marked the first anniversary of the historic National Mortgage Settlement and

the creation of the Massachusetts HomeCorps Initiative. Attorney General Martha

Coakley and Deputy Attorney General Chris Barry-Smith delivered opening remarks at

the Boston and Springfield events, respectively. Panelists from the Office of the

Attorney General, the Division of Banks, the Consumer Rights Unit of Boston Legal

Services and key foreclosure counselors presented and discussed the National Mortgage

Settlement, the legal and regulatory framework of Massachusetts foreclosure prevention

statute, “An Act Preventing Unlawful and Unnecessary Foreclosures”, and its proposed

regulations. The panel also discussed current servicer enforcement issues.

In total, over one hundred attendees participated in both trainings. As a follow-

up, CHAPA is hosting a monthly enforcement call open to all nonprofit foreclosure

counselors. The purpose of this call is to provide feedback to the Attorney General’s

Office on trends and patterns of servicer misconduct that foreclosure counselors are

seeing in their practices. The feedback gathered on these calls will be used to further the

Attorney General’s enforcement work related to loan modifications and servicing.

Representatives from Greater Boston Legal Services and the Division of Banks are also

on the calls. For more information and to participate in the calls, please contact Carol

Marine at CHAPA: cmarine@chapa.org.

http://www.federalreserve.gov/consumerinfo/independent-foreclosure-review.htm.http://www.federalreserve.gov/consumerinfo/independent-foreclosure-review.htm.mailto:cmarine@chapa.org

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Detailed resources from the foreclosure trainings are available at:

http://chapa.org/news/resources-foreclosure-counselor-training-ags-office-february-14-

2013.

The Expanding Opportunities Committee

This committee, meeting since July of 2006, and co-chaired by Sarah Lamitie

and Jackie Cooper, was formed to explore possible diversity initiatives, both to increase

participation in CHTF by people of color and other underrepresented groups, and to

assure that programs supported by CHTF will have a positive effect on social justice and

equity issues. The committee is implementing an action agenda to enhance inclusiveness

in housing in cities and towns throughout the state. In connection with this diversity

initiative, please extend an invitation to colleagues you may know who would be

interested in joining the Task Force. They can join the CHTF at no cost by sending their

contact information to Eleanor White at ewhite@housingpartnersinc.com.

Please refer to the CHTF website, www.tbf/chtf or

www.commonwealthhousingtaskforce.org to review previous Quarterly Reports for a

general description of this committee, and prior initiatives of the group.

The ideas explored at the Welcoming events hosted by this committee (previously

reported on in detail) have the potential to result in the creation of an extremely useful

and user-friendly interactive website. The Committee’s long-term goal is to create a

website that will offer the resource guide and other helpful information, and also an

online discussion forum to facilitate the sharing of ideas, successes and challenges of

communities engaged in this effort. The Committee would work closely with Tim

Gassert, the Boston Foundation webmaster, to provide content/updates to content, etc.

We believe that this could develop into an extremely valuable resource for

increasing the level of “welcome-ability” of communities throughout the state. We also

hope that the website would prove to be a valuable resource for families searching for

welcoming communities in which to settle, both those households already in

Massachusetts and those moving to the Commonwealth from other states. The Committee

is seeking a source of financial support to enable this website development and

management to go forward. Please contact the co-chairs of the committee or Eleanor

White (ewhite@housingpartnersinc.com) if you know of a source of support for this

effort.

In a new initiative, the committee will sponsor a competition in the Fall of 2013 to

identify student project or research ideas that will 1) promote access for people of color,

low-income people, people with disabilities and other populations that may face barriers

to access to housing associated with new housing development in Massachusetts, or 2)

promote strategies that help to create a more welcoming environment in one or more

communities for people of color, people with disabilities, low-income people and other

groups that traditionally experience challenges or barriers moving to many cities and

http://chapa.org/news/resources-foreclosure-counselor-training-ags-office-february-14-2013http://chapa.org/news/resources-foreclosure-counselor-training-ags-office-february-14-2013mailto:ewhite@housingpartnersinc.comhttp://www.tbf/chtfhttp://www.commonwealthhousingtaskforce.org/mailto:ewhite@housingpartnersinc.com

Commonwealth Housing Task Force Quarterly Report

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towns in Massachusetts. We hope to not only generate useful ideas to further the

committee’s goals, but also to generate interest among area students in this topic.

The committee is in the process of forming an Academic Advisory Committee to

promote the competition and advise CHTF regarding student involvement. Competition

winners will be recognized by the CHTF. Winners will present their project ideas to the

committee, and committee members will be available for consultation and advice to help

implement winning project and research ideas. The competition will be publicized at

Massachusetts colleges and universities at the beginning of the fall semester, 2013.

The committee is also collaborating with the Metropolitan Area Planning

Council’s (MAPC) Sustainable Communities Grant Program to support the development

and dissemination of a fair housing toolkit to assist communities and other groups in

understanding and furthering fair housing access and inclusion of diverse populations.

The toolkit is expected to be complete in November, 2013. The committee plans to work

this fall with MAPC’s fair housing caucus to help develop a plan to disseminate this

important resource in communities throughout the state.

All are welcome to join the Expanding Opportunities Committee; please send

your contact information to both Barbara Shea, committee member, at

bmcdcard@aol.com and Maura Fogarty at the Boston Foundation, at

Maura.Fogarty@tbf.org . Only those who have signed up for this committee will receive

notices of future meetings. Comments about the agenda for the EO Committee should be

addressed to Sarah Lamitie and Jacqueline Cooper, the co-chairs of the Committee.

They can be reached at slamitie@bostonprivatebank.com (Sarah) and

cooperjlw@gmail.com (Jackie) respectively. Thanks to both Jackie and Sarah for their

leadership of this effort, and to Boston Private Bank for providing the regular meeting

space for this committee.

The Public Housing Committee

CHTF has lent strong advocacy support to the effort to significantly increase

funding for state-assisted public housing development and management over the last

several years. Although current levels of funding are higher than at any point in almost

20 years, they are clearly inadequate to support either the needs of low-income

households or of aging public housing buildings. Public housing programs represent the

most efficient and effective means of providing housing for low-income people, and

include traditional public housing as well as demand-side voucher programs and major

redevelopment efforts. This committee will continue to identify programs and legislation

that could benefit from CHTF support and will bring new program initiatives forward to

CHTF.

Charles Eisenberg, an affordable housing consultant with extensive experience

with public housing, and Jim Stockard, Curator of the Loeb Fellowship Program at the

Harvard Graduate School of Design (and a long-time member of the Board of a local

mailto:bmcdcard@aol.commailto:Maura.Fogarty@tbf.orgmailto:slamitie@bostonprivatebank.commailto:cooperjlw@gmail.com

Commonwealth Housing Task Force Quarterly Report

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Housing Authority), are serving as co-chairs of this CHTF committee. As with all CHTF

committees, membership is open to all. We particularly invite local public housing

authority staff and board members, and members of community-based nonprofit

organizations, to consider participating in this committee.

Please refer to the last several CHTF Quarterly Reports for a comprehensive

discussion of the issues currently being addressed by this committee, and see detailed

descriptions of funding for public housing programs in the Programmatic Developments,

Funding, and State Legislation sections earlier in this report.

Over the past year, there has been considerable attention paid in the Boston area

press to issues relating to public housing and local housing authorities. (See the most

recent Quarterly Reports for detailed reporting of this public discussion and continuing

coverage later in this section.) This resulted in the establishment of the Governor’s

Commission for Public Housing Sustainability and Reform and the significant expansion

of membership of this Committee. Through 2012, we developed comprehensive position

papers and recommendations for the Commission and testified during the public hearing

process. Please refer to previous CHTF Quarterly Reports for a copy of the CHTF

recommendations.

This past summer the Governor’s Commission released its report, which

incorporates most of recommendations of the CHTF report. The emphasis on achieving a

broad consensus among a diverse group of interests appears to have been heavily

influenced and informed by the CHTF process, report, and testimony.

Following the issuance of the Commission Recommendations, DHCD established

an Advisory Committee, and the CHTF Public Housing Committee reconvened on

December 10, 2012 to discuss the recommendations coming out of these groups.

However, in January the Governor rejected the Commission recommendations and filed

legislation to combine all Housing Authorities into six regional authorities with Boards

appointed by the Governor. Refer to the Boston Globe editorial of January 12, 2013 for

its position in favor of the Governor’s proposal, included in Appendix IV of this Report.

In response, the Massachusetts chapter of the National Association of Housing

and Redevelopment Authorities (MassNAHRO) filed its own reform bill providing for

voluntary consolidation and stronger oversight. Refer to MassNAHRO’s Position Paper

in Appendix IV of this Report to see their rebuttal. Both bills are currently before the

Joint Committee on Housing, as described earlier in this Report.

And the Massachusetts Union of Public Housing Tenants released a

comprehensive and thoughtful response to both the Governor and MassNAHRO. The

MUPHT Position Paper is also in Appendix IV of this Report.

Since the two bills were filed, leadership of the Public Housing Committee has

attempted to work with all sides to reach enough of a consensus to pass legislation that

will achieve at least some of the reforms that all sides agree are necessary. We have

Commonwealth Housing Task Force Quarterly Report

March 30, 2013

Page 22

individually engaged our membership, (which includes people from the Administration,

the Legislature, MassNAHRO, MUPHT, and advocacy groups), participated in

presentations to many other organizations, and offered our good offices as mediators.

When public hearings are held this spring or summer, we expect to be active participants,

basing our recommendations on those that we submitted to the Commission a year ago.

The Public Housing Committee will be meeting on April 1, 2013 at Nixon,

Peabody to discuss this and several other crucial matters. Sequestration is already having

a profound effect on public housing, heavily impacting operating and capital subsidies.

Efforts to revise the Mixed Finance regulations in Massachusetts continue, as does the

discussion about reforming Chapter 149 bidding laws. Finally, the Committee will

continue to monitor and comment upon the current budget processes on both the State

and federal levels.

Based on this quarter’s update, it is clear that public housing will continue to be in

the forefront of housing policy discussion for some time. CHTF members interested in

signing up for this committee and receiving notices of future meetings can reach Charles

Eisenberg at 617-901-3378 or ceisenberg@comcast.net , and Jim Stockard at (617)

495-5988 or jstockard@gsd.harvard.edu . Many thanks to Nixon Peabody for providing

the meeting space for this committee.

Work with the Urban Land Institute Housing and Economic Development Council

Eleanor White and Ted Carman have represented CHTF with the local district

council of the Urban Land Institute, ULI Boston, particularly with the Housing and

Economic Development (H&ED) Council, chaired by Nancy Ludwig, President of

ICON architecture, and co-chair, Bert Rodiger, of Schochet Associates.

This multi-disciplinary group is intended to build on the ULI membership of for-

profit housing developers, multi-family lenders & investors, CDC’s, public officials, and

housing design and construction firms, and is topically focused around the creation,

development and financing of multi-family housing and economic development. The

H&ED Council will continue to work on initiatives and pursue strategic alliances that can

effect change on a regional basis, and is pleased to be an active partner of CHTF.

On February 27, 2013, the H&ED Council held a very successful program entitled

“Lower Cost Market-Rate Housing: Who’s Getting it Done?” Meeting market demand

for less expensive housing has proven to be a challenge, often requiring subsidy or public

support. However, a number of developers are, in fact, finding creative and different

approaches to hitting an underserved market price point in both the inner and outer

suburbs. Focusing on city-center, outer-urban, and suburban models, the panel illustrated

what it takes to complete lower cost projects, from financing to design to completion.

The panelists included Gary Campbell, COO, Gilbert Campbell Real Estate;

Patrick Kennedy, Owner, Panoramic Interests; Peter Mahoney, Developer, John M.

mailto:ceisenberg@comcast.netmailto:jstockard@gsd.harvard.edu

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Corcoran and Company; and Kyle Warwick, Principal, Gate Residential. H&ED Council

Co-Chair Nancy Ludwig, Principal, ICON Architecture, moderated the panel discussion.

For more in-depth speaker bios and presentation slides, please visit the events section of

the ULI Boston website at www.boston.uli.org.

The H&ED Council meets every other month on the second Wednesday of the

month. The Council is implementing a new meeting format: meetings will be two hours

in length and will include 1) a speaker with a question and answer session, and 2) a

working business session to discuss initiatives and trends. The Council’s next two

meetings will be on Wednesday, April 10, 2013, and Wednesday, June 12, 2013 from 8-

10AM at the ULI Boston offices at Edwards Wildman. CHTF members who are

interested in more information on becoming a member of ULI Boston and its Housing &

Economic Development Council may contact Michael Keimig, at

Michael.Keimig@uli.org, 617-239-0124, or get in touch with the current Council Chairs,

Nancy Ludwig, at nludwig@iconarch.com, or Bert Rodiger at

albert.rodiger@schochet.com.

Legal Issues Involving Chapter 40R and Affordable Housing

We are not aware of any current litigation involving policy issues relating to

Chapter 40R at this time. CHTF members are welcome to bring any such litigation to our

attention. Please contact the Chair of the Legal Committee (and co-Chair of the CHTF)

Larry DiCara at ldicara@nixonpeabody.com .

In other legal issues, CHAPA’s Housing Briefs of January 16, 2013 reported on

two SJC cases involving 40B. “The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) issued

two opinions this month [January, 2013] upholding decisions by the Housing Appeals

Committee (HAC) to grant comprehensive permits to projects after local zoning boards

of appeals denied their applications in 2007 and early 2008. Both opinions – Zoning

Board of Appeals of Sunderland vs. Sugarbush Meadow, LLC & another (January 14)

and Zoning Board of Appeals of Lunenburg vs. Housing Appeals Committee & another

(January 8) are on the SJC slip opinions page or go to

http://www.massreports.com/slipops/default.aspx .

“In both cases, the Zoning Boards of Appeals argued that the HAC erred in

refusing to count low-cost market rate housing toward the 10% threshold for appeal. The

SJC rejected that argument, noting that the comprehensive permit statute and regulations

clearly define low and moderate income housing as housing ‘subsidized by the federal or

state government’ and that the definition brings with it a number of requirements that

market rate housing does not have to meet, including a long term use restriction, housing

quality standards, affirmative marketing and ongoing monitoring. The Sunderland

opinion also upheld the authority of the HAC to define the region when examining

regional need, to limit its consideration of the fiscal impacts of new development and to

decide when a legal fee charged by the ZBA to the developer violates HAC rules.

file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/EleanorW/My%20Documents/Dropbox/Library/Caches/TemporaryItems/AppData/Local/Microsoft/Windows/Temporary%20Internet%20Files/Content.Outlook/6BLQVFT5/boston.uli.orgmailto:Michael.Keimig@uli.orgmailto:nludwig@iconarch.commailto:albert.rodiger@schochet.commailto:ldicara@nixonpeabody.comhttp://click.icptrack.com/icp/relay.php?r=11358211&msgid=1280102&act=3JSZ&c=239188&destination=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.massreports.com%2Fslipops%2Fdefault.aspxhttp://www.massreports.com/slipops/default.aspx

Commonwealth Housing Task Force Quarterly Report

March 30, 2013

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“The Lunenburg opinion also addressed the question of when maintaining

consistency with a local master plan is a sufficient local concern to outweigh regional

housing needs. The SJC agreed with the HAC that the Lunenburg plan did not outweigh

regional needs since it had not yet produced affordable units and furthermore, the

proposed project was not inconsistent with the Lunenburg plan and would not undermine

it. It also rejected the argument that the HAC decision was invalid due to one of five

HAC seats being vacant at the time.”

Banker and Tradesman (February 4, 2013) also covered a case concerning a 40B

developer in Lenox, who won the right to appeal his adverse local decision to the Boston-

based Land Court (instead of Western Massachusetts Housing Courts, the usual venue) in

order to expedite the process.

On March 21, 2013, the Boston Globe carried a story about a bill proposed by the

Town of Norton that would count toward the subsidized housing inventory (the “40B

count”) 40B projects that had been approved by the Town but not yet built. The full story

can be found in Appendix IV of this Report.

Congratulations and Work with the Local, State, and Federal Administrations

Congratulations to our friend and CHTF member, Aaron Gornstein, on his

interview with the Boston Globe which appeared on January 20, 2013 and can be found

in Appendix V of this Report. Aaron, the Undersecretary of DHCD and immediate past

Executive Director of CHAPA, has spent his entire career to date advocating for and now

administering programs of affordable housing, and has played a major role in the

affordable housing world in Massachusetts and throughout the US..

Congratulations also to our long-time colleagues at the Boston-based Housing

Partnership Network, led by Tom Bledsoe, on its selection in February. 2013 for a

MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions, one of only 13 nonprofit

organizations in the United States to be so honored. The award carries with it a $1.5

million prize. The concept of local housing partnerships began in Massachusetts in the

1980’s and has had a significant impact on affordable housing development efforts

throughout the country. The announcement of this Award is in Appendix V to this

Report.

Harvard University has announced that the policy advisory board of the Harvard

Joint Center for Housing Studies has selected Michael H. Thaman as its chair. Mr.

Thaman is the chairman and CEO of Owens Corning. Eric Belsky, managing director of

the Joint Center said in a statement. "He brings a deep knowledge of the building

materials sector, strong commitment to advancing housing as a national policy priority,

and keen interest in expanding our understanding of the challenge and promise of

sustainability along with the economic and demographic trends that will shape future

demand." The Joint Center also appointed Jeffrey Mezger, President and CEO of KB

Home, as the board's new vice chair. The announcement of this appointment, as carried

Commonwealth Housing Task Force Quarterly Report

March 30, 2013

Page 25

in Banker and Tradesman of March 6, 2013, is in Appendix V to this Report. We would

welcome Mr. Thaman’s participation in CHTF.

Congratulations as well to John Polanowicz , who was sworn in as Secretary of

the Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS) by

Governor Deval Patrick on January 22, 2013. And to Michael Festa, former State

Representative and former Massachusetts Secretary of Elder Affairs, on his appointment

as State Director of AARP Massachusetts; he assumed his position also on January 22,

2013. We wish these distinguished and experienced professionals great success in their

new positions. Information about both can be found also in Appendix V to this Report.

A small working group, including representatives of CHTF, DHCD and others,

has met under the direction of Jennifer Raitt of MAPC to discuss 40R issues, and the

group plans to continue these discussions. In the group, there is general consensus on

support for adequate funding for 40R, for more PDF planning money, and for repealing

the “clawback”/recapture provision in the 40R statute.

Many members of CHTF have provided advice and guidance (both formally and

informally) to the staff of Governor Deval Patrick, Secretary of Housing and Economic

Development Greg Bialecki, and DHCD Undersecretary Aaron Gornstein. We have

been encouraged by Governor Patrick’s support of both 40R and 40S and the smart

growth and affordable housing concepts underlying these initiatives, as well as his

demonstrated support for increased funding for affordability, and his support for Chapter

40B. Clearly the state fiscal situation is still difficult, and we appreciate all efforts to

prioritize affordable housing.

We have continued to work closely with Undersecretary Aaron Gornstein of

DHCD, especially on issues relating to Chapter 40R and the new Compact

Neighborhoods program, mentioned earlier in this Report.

Over a number of years, Eleanor White represented the CHTF in a series of

meetings of the Governor’s Zoning Reform Task Force, and CHTF has been represented

in a series of Stakeholders’ Meetings with the Secretary for Elder Affairs of the

Commonwealth, Ann Hartstein. The Elder Stakeholders’ Group includes

representation from more than 20 organizations and coalitions dealing with issues

affecting older adults in Massachusetts. The most recent meeting of the Stakeholders’

Group was held on February 21, 2013 with the new Secretary of EOHHS, John

Polanowicz, and the new State Director of AARP, Michael Festa, in attendance. The

discussion focused on the state budget, the home care wait list, and proposed MBTA fare

increases. The Coalition for Senior Housing, an advocacy group chaired by Mark

Hinderlie of HEARTH and made up of representatives of sixteen organizations involved

in advocacy for seniors—of which Eleanor White is a founding member—continues

to encourage support for housing and service options that enable older adults

to affordably live in homes in their community.

Commonwealth Housing Task Force Quarterly Report

March 30, 2013

Page 26

Barry Bluestone continues to serve as a member of Governor Patrick’s

Economic Development Strategy Council which, under legislative directive, is tasked

with coming up with a full-scale strategic plan for economic development in the

Commonwealth. Barry serves on the full committee along with membership on two of its

seven subcommittees. Among the final recommendations of the Council will likely be

streamlined permitting that should allow not only expedited review of commercial and

industrial developments, but affordable housing developments as well.

And Barry Bluestone has joined the Metro Boston Population Projections Advisory

Team of the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC), which is charged with developing

a projection methodology for estimating the number of housing units needed over the next ten

years in the Greater Boston metropolitan region. This projection tool will provide guidance to

local communities and the state on the number and types of units that will likely be needed to

meet affordability and economic development goals. As mentioned above, this group provided

information central to Governor Patrick’s recent announcement of housing development goals for

Massachusetts.

Expansion of the Task Force and the Search for Resources

We have been gratified again this Quarter with requests from new people to

participate in the Task Force, especially those interested in diversity initiatives, public

housing and historic tax credits. We are particularly interested in increasing our

representation of people of color on our email list, and in their active participation in

committees and plenary meetings.

The Boston Foundation, under the leadership of Paul Grogan and Mary Jo

Meisner, continues to play the critical role of both convener and major funder of the

Commonwealth Housing Task Force. Many thanks to the Boston Foundation for

allowing CHTF work to go forward without interruption. We are particularly grateful for

The Boston Foundation’s ongoing confidence in CHTF and for their support during these

difficult economic times. The staff is investigating other institutional sources of support,

which are scarce, and financial contributions from the business community and

individuals are always most appreciated.

Also thank you to all of the CHTF participants. Please send updates to your

contact information to ewhite@housingpartnersinc.com. You can reach Eleanor White

at Housing Partners, Inc. (617-965-1065 before 4PM Boston time or

ewhite@housingpartnersinc.com); Barry Bluestone at the Northeastern Dukakis Center

for Urban and Regional Policy (617-373-8595 or b.bluestone@neu.edu) ; and Ted

Carman at Concord Square Planning and Development (617-482-1997 or

carman@concordsqdev.com). Please note that email messages about CHTF will often

be coming from Maura Fogarty at The Boston Foundation (maura.fogarty@tbf.org).

Respectfully submitted: Eleanor White, Barry Bluestone, Ted Carman

March, 2013 (APPENDICES FOLLOW)

mailto:ewhite@housingpartnersinc.commailto:ewhite@housingpartnersinc.commailto:b.bluestone@neu.edumailto:carman@concordsqdev.commailto:maura.fogarty@tbf.org

Commonwealth Housing Task Force Quarterly Report

March 30, 2013

Page 27

NOTES TO APPENDICES

As we have provided increasing amounts of source documents in the Appendices,

we thought it would be helpful to point you to the various sections. This should make it

easier for you to find specific documents that you may want to review in their full and

original context.

Appendix Starts on Page

Appendix I: Progress of Chapter 40R 28

Appendix II: Housing Market 32

Appendix III: Student Housing/Programmatic Devs/Foreclosures 40

Appendix IV: Public Housing/General Legal Issues 50

Appendix V: Congratulations and Work with Others 83

Commonwealth Housing Task Force Quarterly Report

March 30, 2013

Page 28

Appendix I to CHTF Quarterly Report March, 2013

Update of Progress under Chapter 40R: Smart Growth Zoning

and Housing Production Act The current housing market in Massachusetts appears to be stabilizing, with rents

increasing. Nonetheless, housing markets are just beginning to show more vigor, and it will be

months before the return of what we formerly considered normal–and even that will depend on

the country avoiding a double dip recession. New home construction continues to be far below its

past levels. In this environment, communities across Massachusetts continued to explore the

adoption of Chapter 40R smart growth zoning districts during this period. As was the original

intent of Chapter 40R, these districts and the expedited as-of-right permitting process they

offer will make it possible to increase production rapidly once the economy and housing

market strengthen, thus providing the opportunity for housing supply to keep up with demand

when market conditions warrant.

Other states—notably Connecticut and New Jersey—have also taken notice of the results

that 40R has produced. Specific information has been provided in previous Quarterly Reports.

As detailed in this Appendix, more than 50 cities and towns in the Commonwealth have

either passed Chapter 40R districts, or are in some stage of consideration. The map in this

Appendix shows these municipalities, their district status, and data regarding their districts. We

would like to convey our thanks to Bill Reyelt of DHCD for the preparation of this information.

Since 2006, in Massachusetts the towns of Belmont, Grafton, Lunenburg, Norwood,

North Reading, Plymouth, Dartmouth, Lakeville, Natick, Amesbury, Kingston, Lynnfield, North

Andover, Reading (two districts), Bridgewater, Easton, Westfield, Marblehead (two districts),

Sharon, and the cities of Boston, Brockton, Chelsea, Chicopee, Easthampton, Haverhill, Holyoke,

Lawrence, Lowell, Northampton, Fitchburg, and Pittsfield have all successfully had Chapter 40R

applications approved by DHCD and have passed Chapter 40R districts. Among them, these 31

localities have provided zoning as-of-right for over 12,350 units of housing, at least 20 percent

of which will be affordable to households earning less than 80% of the area median income.

Within the 40R Districts, 1423 units of building permits have already been issued. And we

believe that an additional 599 residential units have received Plan Approval from the permit

granting authority, but have not yet applied for building permits due to other permitting (MEPA)

and market conditions.

More municipalities are actively exploring 40R. In addition to those having passed

districts, At least five localities have applied for or received state Priority Development Fund

planning grants to pursue 40R zoning, including: Amesbury (a second district), Dennis, Ludlow-

Southampton (combined), and Norfolk. Andover, after having received a 40R Letter of Eligibility

has decided to move forward in the district with a fully market rate development. Although this

will not count towards the number of 40R units approved or built, it appears that high density

housing, generally consistent with the density requirements of Chapter 40R, will move forward in

Andover.

Ludlow has recently submitted an application for a new Chapter 40R District containing

350 future zoned new housing units; DHCD expects to issue a letter of eligibility before the end

of March, 2013.

Commonwealth Housing Task Force Quarterly Report

March 30, 2013

Page 29

Southampton has submitted a highly creative preliminary application to DHCD for its

review that consists of 100 acres along the Route 10 corridor at the north end of the Town. This

district has just 3 acres of developable land, with 70 potential 40R Units. However, the size of

the proposed district means that in other areas where there may currently be development (such as

an older, perhaps outmoded, strip shopping center or other lower density residential or

commercial parcels), the property owners will have an as-of-right ability to redevelop their

properties with Chapter 40R densities and with mixed use.

This proposal is being carried out in cooperation with Easthampton which is considering

a companion district that would abut the Southampton District. In addition, the proposals would

result in an extension of the sanitary sewer line in Easthampton along Route 10 into

Southampton. This would, of course, make it easier to carry out redevelopment projects with

higher density – very much meeting the goals of Smart Growth Zoning.

The Pioneer Valley Regional Planning Commission and John Furman, the chair of the

Southampton Planning Board, are to be commended for the creativity they have brought to the

situation.

Although not all the news is rosy these days, progress continues on 40R; with the

economic problems facing both municipalities and property owners, four towns that had been

considering using 40R have recently decided to abandon thei