A communication transmitted from Yi-An Huang, City Manager, relative to the submission of the 2023 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 MEMORANDUM To: Yi-An Huang, City Manager From: Iram Farooq, Assistant City Manager for Community Development Date: August 3, 2023 Re: 2023 Affordable Housing Overlay Annual Report Per the requirements of Section 11.207.11 of the Cambridge Zoning Ordinance, we are pleased to submit the 2023 Annual Report of the Affordable Housing Overlay (AHO) which provides a summary of affordable housing development activity under the AHO. The 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: • Developer name; • Site location; • Actions taken to initiate an AHO project; • Site status. (2) A description of each AHO project underway or completed, including: • Developer name; • Site location; • Number of units; • Unit types/number of bedrooms; • AHO project status; • Number of residents served by AHO project; • Tenure. As summarized in the attached report, a total of 16 sites are under active review for potential development under the Affordable Housing Overlay including 13 new sites first evaluated in 2023 and 3 sites reported last year which continue to be under review (See Table-1 & Table-2 in the excel sheet). There are currently six AHO developments with a total of 616 units actively underway (See Table-3). Four of the AHO projects (Jefferson Park Federal, 52 New Street, 49 Sixth Street, and 116 Norfolk Street) have completed both the AHO community process and the AHO Advisory Design Review process. Construction began at 116 Norfolk Street in December 2022. We expect that 52 New Street and Jefferson Park Federal will begin construction in the coming months, and 49 Sixth Street will begin construction in early 2024 once all funding has been committed.

2 Jefferson Park Federal involves the comprehensive redevelopment of a former public housing development to result in 278 new affordable rental units. The 52 New Street development involves the new construction of 106 affordable rental units on a site adjacent to Danehy Park. The 49 Sixth Street development involves the conversion and historic reuse of a portion of the Sacred Heart property in East Cambridge into 46 affordable rental units. 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. The fifth AHO project, Walden Square Phase 2, has restarted its AHO Community Process after a redesign and will begin the Advisory Design Review process when its community process is complete. The sixth AHO project, 1627 Massachusetts Avenue, involves the historic preservation and conversion of an existing building into affordable housing and the creation of new affordable housing in a rear addition. The 1627 Mass Ave development has completed the AHO community process and began the Planning Board Advisory Design process in July 2023. The attached report lists the sites which have been evaluated 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 six active AHO developments underway which together will create 616 affordable units, and we will continue to work with affordable housing providers to identify, assess, and secure additional sites for development under the AHO provisions.

Developer Name Address of potential AHO development Fiscal Year (FY) First Evaluated Steps taken to pursue site as AHO: Bnai B'rith Blanchard Rd, 87 FY23 Site visit, feasibility analysis, offer made JAS Brookline St, 37 FY23 Site visit, feasibility analysis, offer made HRI Lesley portfolio II (Phillips Place, 3, 5, 7 & Wendell St, 14, 16-18, 20, 22-24, 28, 30, 34) FY23 All sites: site visit Wendell St, 28 & 30:site visit, feasibility analysis, offer made HRI Main St, 805 FY23 Site visit, feasibility analysis, offer made JAS Mass Ave site (address confidential) FY23 Feasibility analysis JAS Mass Ave site (address confidential) FY23 Site visit, feasibility analysis JAS Mass Ave, 1906 FY23 Site visit, feasibility analysis JAS Mass Ave, 2343 FY23 Site visit, feasibility analysis HRI Mass Ave, 2500 FY23 Site visit, feasibility analysis, offer made JAS Mid Cambridge area (address confidential) FY23 Site visit, feasibility analysis HRI & JAS Neighborhood 9 (address confidential) HRI: FY22 JAS: FY23 HRI: Site visit, feasibility analysis, offer made JAS: Site visit, feasibility analysis Private Rindge Ave, 336 FY23 Feasibility analysis Developer Name Address of potential AHO development Fiscal Year (FY) First Evaluated Steps taken to pursue site as AHO: HRI Concord Ave, 641 FY21 Site visit; feasibility analyses; offer made to purchase HRI Fresh Pond area (address confidential) FY21 Site visit, feasibility analyses, offer made to purchase HRI Spring Street (address confidential) FY22 Site visit; feasibility analyses Developer Name Address of AHO development / Planning Board # Number of Units: Bedroom Size Mix: AHO Project Status Est'd # of residents to be served Tenure Just A Start 52 New Street (AHO-1) 106 0BRs: 0 1BRs: 22 2BRs: 62 3BRs: 22 4+BRs: 0 AHO Process Complete: AHO Community meetings held on 2/25/21,3/25/21, and 4/15/21. Planning Board design consultation held on 10/26/21 and 1/4/22. Design consultation completed January 2022; Final Planning Board report issued 1/20/22 and was transmitted to the Trust in its 1/27/22 briefing materials. JAS is preparing for construction closing. 318 Rental Cambridge Housing Authority Jefferson Park Federal (45-60; 61-75; 77-92; 93-108; Jackson Circle; 1; 2-19, 21-42; 109-124; 1000 Jackson Place) (AHO-2) 278 0BRs: 0 1BRs: 37 2BRs: 111 3BRs: 111 4+BRs: 19 AHO Process Complete. AHO Community meetings held on 3/2/21, 4/1/21, and 10/19/21. Planning Board design consultation held 11/9/21 and 2/15/22. Final Planning Board report issued 3/9/22 and was transmitted to the Trust in its 3/24/22 briefing materials. CHA is preparing for construction closing. 1002 Rental Affordable Housing Overlay (AHO) Annual Report Decided not to pursue Decided not to pursue Offer rejected Under continued review Offer accepted Under continued review Offer rejected Under continued review Owner no longer selling Table-1: New Sites Evaluated as Potential AHO Developments (March 2022 - June 2023): Site Status Offer accepted HRI: Offer rejected JAS: Decided not to pursue Table-3: AHO Developments Actively Underway: Under continued review Table-2: Previous Sites Evaluated as Potential AHO Developments Still Under Current Review: Site Status Under continued review Under continued review Under continued review Page 1

Walden Square 2 102 Sherman Street (AHO-3) 95 0BRs: 0 1BRs: 33 2BRs: 33 3BRs: 23 4+BRs: 6 AHO Process Underway. AHO Community meetings held on 3/23/21, 4/13/21, 5/27/21 and 2/23/22. Submission for first Planning Board advisory design consultation was withdrawn by developer on 11/16/21. New community meetings underway Summer 2023. 288 Rental Preservation of Affordable Housing 49 6th Street (AHO-4) 46 0BRs: 0 1BRs: 14 2BRs: 20 3BRs: 11 4+BRs: 1 AHO Process Complete. AHO Community meetings held on 7/27/21 and 11/3/21. Planning Board advisory design consultation meeting held 4/5/22 and 6/28/22. Final Planning Board report issued 7/14/22 and transmitted to the Trust in its 8/4/2022 briefing materials. Assembling remaining funding needed to begin construction. 137 Rental Cambridge Housing Authority 116 Norfolk Street (AHO-5) 62 0BRs: 62 1BRs: 0 2BRs: 0 3BRs: 0 4+BRs: 0 AHO Process Complete. AHO community meetings held 2/10/22 and 4/26/22. Planning Board advisory design consultation meetings were held on 7/5/22 and 9/13/22. Final Planning Board report issued on 10/28/22 and transmitted to the Trust in its 11/17/2022 briefing materials. Closed 12/2022; currently under construction. 93 Rental Homeowners Rehab Inc (HRI) 1627 Massachusetts Avenue (AHO-6) 29 0BRs: 0 1BRs: 10 2BRs: 12 3BRs: 7 4+BRs: 0 AHO Process Underway. AHO community meetings held 9/15/22 and 3/15/23. The first Planning Board advisory design meeting held 7/18/23. 84 Rental 616 units 0BRs: 62 1BRs: 116 2BRs: 238 3BRs: 174 4+BRs: 26 1,922 Six AHO developments underway Page 2 Continued - Table-3: Affordable Housing Overlay (AHO) Annual Report