Strategies for Creating More Affordable Housing - Oct 17th, 2024
Meeting held via remote participation. Materials were available from https://www.arlingtonma.gov/Home/Components/Calendar/Event/35168/. Around 60 people signed on at the beginning of the meeting.
(Sarah Suarez, Assistant Planning Director) Ms. Suarez says the Affordable Housing Trust Fund (AHTF) was created by town meeting in 2020, and they subsequently adopted a five-year action plan.
Why do we need more affordable housing in Arlington? Based on 2022 figures, nearly one-third of Arlington Households make less than 80% of the area median income, which is the income level at which one begins to qualify for affordable housing. Over 25% of Arlington households are cost-burdened, meaning they spend more than 30% of their income on housing. There are also long wait lists for vouchers and units in the Arlington Housing Authority (AHA) and Housing Corporation of Arlington (HCA).
We have 713 affordable units from the AHA, plus 146 mobile vouchers. All of their buildings were built between 1940 and 1983. HCA has 151 units, with 43 more permitted at 10 Sunnyside Ave. We have another 292 affordable units through inclusionary zoning and other sources. Arlington is approximately 700 units short of chapter 40B's 10% affordable housing requirement; 6.38% of our homes are affordable.
Arlington has a number of tools available for providing affordable housing. These include: AHA, HCA, inclusionary zoning, Chapter 40B, the Community Preservation Act, Community Development Block Grants, the Affordable Housing Trust Fund, and accessory dwelling units (ADUs). In the future we might have the option for a real estate transfer fee and an affordable housing overlay.
The Affordable Housing Trust Fund has supported a number of projects. They provided $260k of pre-development funding for 10 Sunnyside Ave, which went on to receive millions of dollars in state subsidies. They also provided $260k towards the construction of HCA's affordable ADU at 40 Dorothy Road.
The Trust received $3M of ARPA funds that were earmarked for affordable housing, and they developed a program to subsidize property owners who were interested in using their property to provide affordable homes; it's a subsidy of up to $250k per affordable unit. There was a range of interest in the program.
Ms. Suarez shows a list of affordable housing projects in the pipeline. Several were permitted under Chapter 40B, some come from inclusionary zoning, and the AHA is pursuing a supportive housing project.
(Erica Schwarz, HCA) Ms. Schwarz shows slides of three of HCA's tenants. There's Jane, who's an Arlington resident that became homeless; Sherika, whose apartment provided stability for her and her sons; and Gloria, a widow that wanted to live nearby her sons.
(Beth Elliot) Ms. Elliot has been an affordable housing financing attorney for 15 years. The AHTF has a five-year plan with three main goals: to preserve existing affordable housing, to create new affordable housing, and to build the financial strength of the trust. Their goal is to see 100 new affordable units created or permitted in the next five years. One of the challenges is finding sites. Another is the permitting process. This is not a one-size fits all kind of problem.
Ms. Elliot says that one of the ATHF's goals is to address the needs of very low-income (VLI) and extremely low-income (ELI) households. There aren't any new operating subsidies for housing at these income levels. Several grant programs require 15% of units to be restricted to VLI and ELI households.
(Note: VLI households earn 50% of the area median income or less, and ELI households earn 30% of the area median income, or less).
Leveraging state and federal subsidies is key to funding affordable housing projects. In this context, we are competing with other communities for grant money. Another strategy is to get developers to pay for it, through programs such as 40B and inclusionary zoning. However, these programs tend not to produce housing at VLI or ELI income levels.
(Erica Schwarz) Ms. Schwarz says that HCA has done three developments of the size most feasible for funding:
- Capitol Square. 32 units at a cost of $14.5M. 16x leverage of local funds.
- Downing Square/Broadway. 48 units, with 19x leverage of local funds.
- 10 Sunnyside Ave. 43 units, with 25x leverage of local funds.
Town-provided funding was essential for these projects, but it took lots of work to get the rest of the money together.
(Beth Elliot) Ms. Elliot says the AHTF has talked with affordable housing developers, regarding what they need in order to do projects. These developers said it's important to have land, financing, community support, and a transparent permitting process. Long, discretionary permitting processes are a disadvantage.
(Karen Kelleher) Ms. Kelleher introduces the panel portion of the presentation. The panelists are Erica Schwarz (HCA), Jack Nagle (AHA), Shaina Korman-Houston (Planning office of Urban Affairs), and Kate Casa (an affordable housing consultant).
Ms. Kelleher asks the panel about the pros and cons of working in Arlington.
(Shaina Korman-Houston) Ms. Korman-Houston says that Arlington is an attraction by itself. It's a fabulous place to live and there's good local community support. Identifying sites here is a challenge. Ms. Korman-Houston doesn't believe that any town is fully built out. Working in a new town is a risk, and developers will often look at what other developers have done in the community.
(Kate Casa) Ms. Casa works works with non-profit developers. She says that community support -- financial or otherwise -- helps a lot. The length of the permitting process is a critical cost factor, and quicker is better. It's good to get support and funding early. Pre-development funds are especially helpful.
(Karen Kelleher) Ms. Kelleher says that both residents and Town Meeting have articulated a desire to have more affordable housing in Arlington. She asks the panelists how well their organizations are positioned to provide that.
(Erica Schwarz) Ms. Schwarz echoes the importance of municipal support; she says this is crucial. HCA's capacity is limited, both in terms of staff and financing. They'd need to bring on a partner in order to ramp up what they're doing.
(Jack Nagle) Mr. Nagle says the housing authority is working on a new public housing project for individuals with special needs. He says they're looking at ways to grow their portfolio. The new building will be constructed on the Chestnut Manor site. The Massachusetts Department of Developmental Services says that supportive housing is in very high demand. DDS likes to place people in supportive housing within 12 months, but it typically takes two or three years.
(Karen Kelleher) Ms. Kelleher asks how we can serve VLI and ELI households, which is financially hard to do.
(Jack Nagle) Mr. Nagle says we can't create public housing as we've done in the past, and we won't see new subsidies from the state. He says there are funding challenges to preserving the existing housing stock. AHA's senior units typically rent for $450/month and the Authority gets another $50/month from the state. It's hard to keep up with maintenance when units are only generating $500/month. He's excited about the state's Affordable Homes Act, which will help with preservation.
(Erica Schwarz) Ms. Schwarz says that affordable housing costs as much to build as regular housing does. HCA tries to get subsidies in order to have a smaller mortgage. They also need help with operating costs. She says that 53% of the 10 Sunnyside apartments will be for VLI and ELI households. HCA also has a partnership with the Somerville Homeless Coalition, which provides some rental income. They also seek out project-based rental vouchers.
(Karen Kelleher) Ms. Kelleher notes that subsidies are necessary for building, and they're also necessary to cover operating expenses. She asks if the housing providers on the panel could provide all ELI housing.
(Erica Schwarz) Ms. Schwarz says absolutely not -- subsidies for that aren't there.
(Karen Kelleher) Ms. Kelleher says the federal and state governments really set the financial picture.
(Kate Casa) Ms. Casa says the federal government has been an absent partner. Their funding made a huge difference in the past.
(Erica Schwarz) Ms. Schwarz says the housing crisis has gotten worse, because more households are qualifying as low income.
(Shaina Korman-Houston) Ms. Korman-Houston says there's also a need for shelter beds and supporting housing.
(Karen Kelleher) Ms. Kelleher asks about the criteria for getting funded.
(Kate Casa) Ms. Casa says the state dictates what they'll fund with a document called the Qualified Allocation Plan. They typically require some ELI units, some accessible units, and a certain level of energy efficiency. They're looking for density -- larger buildings with more units -- in order to take advantage of cost sharing. She says that 50 units seems to be a nice number for getting funded.
(Karen Kelleher) Ms. Kelleher asks about the options for producing 50-unit apartment buildings in Arlington.
(Shaina Korman-Houston) Ms. Korman-Houston says the options include parcel assembly, houses of worship, municipally-owned spaces, and underutilized buildings (like vacant commercial space or warehouses). She says that some will require zoning relief. You'll get to 50 units by going taller and being more creative with dimensional regulations.
(Karen Kelleher) Ms. Kelleher asks about having multiple, smaller buildings.
(Shaina Korman-Houston) Ms. Korman-Houston says this can be a good approach, but it's usually more expensive on a per-unit basis.
(Kate Casa) Ms. Casa would like to clarify what she said earlier about 50 units being a good number. It's really projects in the range of 35--55 units.
(Karen Kelleher) Ms. Kelleher says that developing affordable housing is expensive. There are also contradictions that sometimes cause people to say they don't want it -- things like traffic and taxes. She asks how communities manage to walk the walk.
(Erica Schwarz) Ms. Schwarz thinks 10 Sunnyside Ave is a good example of this. It's a dense building, but it's designed to look good. She says that a neighborhood group is forming to work on traffic safety concerns around Broadway. She says that resident groups help a lot.
(Shaina Korman-Houston) Ms. Korman-Houston says that partnerships between developers and communities are helpful. Her organization did a successful affordable housing project in Wayland. They collaborated with the town on what would be a good fit for the community, and how to best facilitate the permitting process.
(Jack Nagle) Mr. Nagle says that other housing authorities have advised AHA to have conversations with neighbors, and to do community engagement.
(Kate Casa) Ms. Casa says that municipalities can assess properties according to their highest and best use, but you can work with assessors to bring the assessment in line with the rents you'll be bringing in.
(Karen Kelleher) Ms. Kelleher asks is the panelists if they know of any program that allow tenants to build equity through something like a rent-to-own program. She asks about affordable housing ownership opportunities.
(Shaina Korman-Houston) Ms. Korman-Houston says that ownership is starting to become a state priority. It's hard, because there are fewer resources for it.
(Beth Elliot) Ms. Elliot says that it's hard to build ownership units, because of the lack of subsidies. She says there are programs to help tenants transition to being homeowners.
(Karen Kelleher) Ms. Kelleher says the MBTA Communities Act is a tool for creating additional housing. Arlington asked the state for permission to apply its existing inclusionary zoning policies, that request was approved. As a result, we may get some affordable units from the MBTA Communities act, but we won't get them at scale.
Ms. Kelleher opens the meeting up to questions from the public.
(Carl Wagner) Mr. Wagner says that everyone in Arlington wants the costs to be more affordable, but new buildings raise the cost of homes. He says this is a tightly controlled zoom meeting, and we don't want large buildings. He asks how the public will be involved.
(Karen Kelleher) Ms. Kelleher says the affordable housing trust fund was formed by town meeting, and has a mandate; so she doesn't understand Mr. Wagner's question. She invites people to read the trust five-year action plan.
(Annie LaCourt) Ms. LaCourt thinks that zoning is a constraint on this process. She asks what what kind of things tend to allow more units, and what tends to create restrictions.
(Shaina Korman-Houston) Ms. Korman-Houston says that a clear process with clear expectations is helpful. She says that zoning issues tend to be site-specific.
(Beth Elliot) Ms. Elliot says it's helpful to have a clear, transparent process with clear and transparent guidelines. Processes that involve a lot of discretionary authority are more challenging.
(Carol Kowalski) Ms. Kowalski says that Arlington has a number of underutilized commercial sites that weren't include in the MBTA multi-family district. She says we could allow higher densities at these sites. New housing could be built there, without displacing anyone.
(Karen Kelleher) Ms. Kelleher says there was a question about rent control. We're not legally permitted to do that.
(Kristin Anderson) Ms. Anderson says she's concerned about Arlington's trend of losing businesses. She feels fortunate to be able to work in the same town that she lives in, and zoning is what allows her to do that. She thinks we'll lose businesses if we change our zoning. She asks people to imagine not needing to leave town for services. She asks what "underutilized commercial space" means.
(Shaina Korman-Houston) Ms. Korman-Houston offers to send Ms. Anderson a link to the state's underutilized commercial properties program.
(Kristin Anderson) Ms. Anderson says that Arlington doesn't have enough businesses.
(Karen Kelleher) Ms. Kelleher thinks there's a desire to have more businesses in town, but there's also a desire to have more affordable housing. One of tonight's goals is to talk about those tradeoffs.
(Erica Schwarz) Ms. Schwarz thinks we can do a lot without losing commercial spaces.
(David Bean) Mr. Bean is concerned about open space. He says that industrial properties are like a kind of open space. Once a property is housing, it stays that way forever, and if our industrial properties become housing, they'll stay that way forever. Mr. Bean says that Arlington Center was full of businesses when he moved here in 1984, and they've been dropping one by one.
(Karen Kelleher) Ms. Kelleher asks Mr. Bean if he wants to see Arlington create more affordable housing, and if he'll help us figure out how to compromise in order to make that happen.
(David Bean) Mr. Bean says our system of rules is complicated. He thinks that most of the housing that gets built isn't affordable, and it drives us prices across the board. He says that 40B provides more market rate housing.
(Erica Schwarz) Ms. Schwarz says that what we're talking about can feel scary. But we are talking about projects with more affordable housing that 40B provides. She says that change happens, but we can shape it. She asks if we can set values and have them play out. She's optimistic that we can do that. Under our current system of land ownership, we can't stop development from happening.
(Karen Kelleher) Ms. Kelleher notes that HCA build an affordable housing development on Broadway, with a commercial space for Arlington EATS. This is hard to do, but it can be done.
(Grant Cook) Mr. Cook says that some housing authorities have pursued public/private partnerships in order to redevelop some of their older buildings. The Boston Housing Authority's property at Bunker Hill, for example. He asks if AHA has ever considered doing something like that.
(Jack Nagle) Mr. Nagle says they're looking into that. He says that the Executive Office of Housing and Liveable Communities is committed to understanding the need for redevelopment, in order to preserve existing units. AHA was recently awarded a technical assistance grant to look into this.
(Anton Rapetov) Mr. Rapetov says he's grateful for the work that's being done here. He says we're hearing from a number of people who are scared of change and redevelopment; but some of us like that idea. He says that a good project that's done is better than a perfect project that's not done.
(Steve Moore) Mr. Moore says he bristles at the idea that the opposition comes from fear. He says that Arlington's geographic footprint isn't getting bigger, and affordable housing is joined at the hip with more housing and increased density. He says he's not trying to keep people out of town, or to keep certain people out of town. He says that people come to Arlington because they didn't want to live in Cambridge or Somerville. There's nothing wrong with change, but it should happen slowly. He thinks the opinions of people who value single-family zoning, commercial, and open space more than affordable housing matter too.
(Colleen Donohue) Ms. Donohue says she's here because of what happened with MBTA Communities, and that we're talking about changing single-family zoning again. She asks what the trust funds mandate is.
(Karen Kelleher) Ms. Kelleher says that was covered earlier in the presentation. She invites Ms. Donohue to read the trust's five year action plan.
Meeting adjourned.