Cambridge, MA – Just A Start and project partners recently broke ground on 52 New Street, which will create 106 new rental homes for residents with various incomes on the site of a vacant building and parking lot in North Cambridge. Just A Start is developing the new housing in a 6-story building that will also include 3,500sf of commercial space on the first floor.
There will be 22 one-bedroom apartments, 62 two-bedroom apartments, and 22 three-bedroom apartments. The development will be located adjacent to Danehy Park and within close proximity to the Alewife MBTA station; bus routes; and retail, commercial and educational amenities. The contractor is Callahan, Inc.; the architect is RODE Architects; and the management agent will be the Wingate Management Company LLC.
52 New Street rendering
MassHousing is providing Just A Start with $41.6 million in financing for the project, including $15.4 million in permanent financing, $24.7 million in tax credit equity bridge financing, $1 million in Middle Income Housing financing and $500,000 in Capital Magnet Fund financing. Other financing sources include approximately $43 million in tax credit equity from an allocation of state and federal Low Income Housing Tax Credits by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (EOHLC); $4.2 million in direct support from EOHLC; $8.7 million in Cambridge Affordable Housing Trust and Community Development Block Grant financing; $47.5 million in construction financing from Santander Bank; $1 million in American Rescue Plan Act financing through the Affordable Housing Trust Fund, which MassHousing manages on behalf of EOHLC; $1.3 million in sponsor loans; and $57,422 in Solar Tax Credit financing. RBC Community Investments will be the tax credit syndicator.
“Callahan Construction is honored to be a part of the project team responsible for bringing this much-needed housing development to life,” said Steve Callahan, Jr., vice president of business development at Callahan. “Just A Start is a pioneer in creating solutions for Massachusetts families where they need them the most, and the 52 New Street project will change lives for the better for years to come.”
“As the first project permitted under Cambridge’s Affordable Housing Overlay, 52 New Street proves that the spirit of that ambitious city initiative can be met with equally transformative design,” said Ben Wan, principal at RODE Architects. “The building will enrich the lives of its residents, with universal accessibility, an array of interior and exterior amenity spaces that engage the neighboring Danehy Fields, and sustainability-centered concepts that meet Passive House energy standards.”
Of the 106 new apartments, 17 will be restricted to households earning up to 30% of the Area Median Income (AMI) and supported by either a federal Section 8 Housing Assistance Payment contract (eight apartments) or by the Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program (nine apartments), 79 apartments will be restricted to households earning up to 60% of AMI, and there will be 10 Middle Income housing units for households earning up to 80% of AMI. The AMI for Cambridge is $149,300 for a household of four.
Construction, which began in December, is expected to be completed by the fall of 2025.
