Newton Among Municipalities To Win Housing Grant

NEWTON, MA – Newton was one of 15 municipalities awarded a grant by the governor in an effort to help create new affordable housing across the state by 2025, the governor's office announced today.

“Our economy continues to create new jobs and attract top talent in life sciences, healthcare, academia, advanced manufacturing, and in our thriving innovation eco-system from across the country, and the world,” said Housing and Economic Development Secretary Jay Ash in a statement. “We must accelerate housing production, for all of our residents, to keep pace with our growing economy, and keep Massachusetts an attractive place to live, work, and thrive.”

With the grant, Newton will create a "data transparency toolbox" that will model the fiscal impact and economic development opportunities created by new housing development. The data toolbox will support the City’s Washington Street Corridor master planning project, allowing the city to engage residents and stakeholders by modeling various development scenarios in real time.

This project will support the creation of 2,500 new housing units, including 325 new affordable housing units, according to a release.

The Baker-Polito Administration announced the news as part of its Housing Choice Initiative, a comprehensive new effort to create 135,000 new housing units by 2025. The initiative, announced in December 2017, includes a new set of incentives and rewards for municipalities committed to sustainable housing growth in their communities.

“Our Administration’s Housing Choice Initiative aims to maximize collaboration between state agencies, support innovation and data-driven policies, and provide cities and towns across the Commonwealth with tools to drive housing production in their communities,” said Governor Charlie Baker in a release.

Some 67 communities were designated Housing Choice Communities, and, in partnership with MassHousing, 15 towns and cities were given technical assistance grants with help from Planning for Housing Production to help municipalities achieve their affordable housing goals and deliver new mixed-income housing in a manner that is consistent with local priorities. This means $2 million will be available to grantees in new technical assistance funding.

Participating grantees have already engaged in local housing planning, but have identified obstacles that prevent the realization of their planning vision; MassHousing’s grants will provide grantees with the technical expertise to implement housing planning, and deliver new housing. By assisting municipalities in progressing toward, achieving and exceeding Chapter 40B's 10 percent affordable housing goal, MassHousing's Planning for Housing Production Program is attempting to help reset the way cities and towns interact with Chapter 40B, and forge new partnerships between MassHousing and participating municipalities to meet the Commonwealth's housing challenges.

“The communities recognized today are already working hard to help create more housing opportunities across Massachusetts,” said Lt. Governor Karyn Polito in a statement. “We are proud to support our Housing Choice Communities in their efforts to build new housing and create vibrant, welcoming communities for our families, workforce and residents.”

The Housing Choice Initiative is a multi-pronged effort, which includes today’s Housing Choice Designation, new technical assistance through MassHousing, and proposes legislative changes, through An Act to Promote Housing Choices, to deliver smart, effective zoning at the local level.

Communities who received the Housing Choice Designation have produced a total of nearly 60,000 new housing units over the past five years. These 67 communities each have proven track records of pursuing substantial housing production, and are committed to continuing that trend.

The program is designed to be simple, flexible and achievable for municipalities. The 67 communities will be able to take advantage of new financial resources, including exclusive access to new Housing Choice Capital Grants, and preferential treatment for many state grant and capital funding programs, including MassWorks, Complete Streets, MassDOT capital projects, and PARC and LAND grants.

“By engaging with cities and towns on site feasibility, public infrastructure design, data transparency and rezoning, MassHousing’s Planning for Housing Production program will remove barriers to the realization of local planning priorities,” said MassHousing Executive Director Chrystal Kornegay.

Last year, Governor Baker filed a housing bond bill seeking $1.287 billion in additional capital authorization and increased funding for affordable housing by 19 percent and is on course to invest $1.1 billion over five years in affordable housing, according to a press release.

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