A communication transmitted from Owen C. O'Riordan, Acting City Manager, relative to the submission of the Affordable Housing Overlay Annual Report

C I T Y O F C A M B R I D G E Community Development Department 1 IRAM FAROOQ Assistant City Manager for Community Development SANDRA CLARKE Deputy Director Chief of Administration KHALIL MOGASSABI Deputy Director Chief Planner 344 Broadway Cambridge, MA 02139 Voice: [phone removed] Fax: [phone removed] TTY: [phone removed] www.cambridgema.gov To: Owen O’Riordan, Acting City Manager From: Iram Farooq, Assistant City Manager for Community Development Date: August 1, 2022 Re: Affordable Housing Overlay Annual Report Per the requirements of Section 11.207.11 of the Cambridge Zoning Ordinance, we are pleased to submit the first Annual Report of the Affordable Housing Overlay (AHO) which provides a summary of affordable housing development activity under the AHO. The Zoning Ordinance requires that the annual report include the following: (1) A list of sites considered for affordable housing development under the AHO, to the extent known by CDD, including: • Site location • Actions taken to initiate an AHP project • Site status (2) A description of each AHO project underway or completed, including: • Site location • Number of units • Unit types/number of bedrooms • Tenure • Project status • Number of residents served by AHO project As summarized in the attached report (Affordable Housing Overlay Annual report), more than 25 sites have been assessed for potential development under the Affordable Housing Overlay and there are currently five AHO developments actively underway. Two of the AHO projects, Jefferson Park Federal and 52 New Street, have completed both the AHO Community process and the AHO Advisory Design Review process and are now ready to request building permits once the final pieces of funding needed to begin construction have been secured. Jefferson Park Federal involves the comprehensive redevelopment of a former public housing development to result in 278 new affordable rental units. The New Street development involves the new construction of 107 affordable rental units on a site adjacent to Danehy Park.

2 Two AHO projects, 49 Sixth Street and 116 Norfolk Street, have held several AHO community meetings and are in the process of completing the Advisory Design Review at the Planning Board. The 49 Sixth Street development involves the conversion and historic reuse of a portion of the Sacred Heart church property to create 46 new affordable rental units and began the Advisory Design Review process in April 2022. The 116 Norfolk Street development involves the historic renovation and expansion and conversion of an existing building of single-room-occupancy (SRO) units to 62 new studio units for individuals transitioning out of homelessness and will begin the Advisory Design Review in July 2022. The fifth AHO project, Walden Square Phase 2, has extended its AHO Community Process after a redesign and will be beginning the Advisory Design Review process when their community process is complete. The attached report only lists the sites which have been assessed as potential AHO developments, to the extent known by CDD staff. However, the list does not include other sites, such as existing multi-family buildings, which were assessed during this time period as potential opportunities to create affordable housing through means other than the AHO zoning provisions. We are pleased that there are already five active AHO developments underway and we will continue to work with affordable housing providers to identify, assess and secure additional sites for development under the AHO provisions.