A communication transmitted from Yi-An Huang, City Manager, relative to the submission of the 2024 Affordable Housing Overlay Annual Report

C I T Y O F C A M B R I D G E Community Development Department IRAM FAROOQ Assistant City Manager for Community Development SANDRA CLARKE Deputy Director Chief of Administration 344 Broadway Cambridge, MA 02139 Voice: [phone removed] Fax: [phone removed] TTY: [phone removed] www.cambridgema.gov MEMORANDUM To: Yi-An Huang, City Manager From: Iram Farooq, Assistant City Manager for Community Development Date: August 5, 2024 Re: 2024 Affordable Housing Overlay Annual Report Per the requirements of Section 11.207.11 of the Cambridge Zoning Ordinance, we are pleased to submit the 2024 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: • Site location; • Actions taken to initiate an AHO 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, a total of 32 sites were reviewed in FY24 for potential development under the Affordable Housing Overlay, including 25 new sites first assessed in 2024 and 7 sites reported previously which continued to be reviewed in FY24. There are currently ten AHO developments actively underway and two additional developments which are anticipated to begin the AHO process in FY25 (Corcoran Park and 2072 Massachusetts Avenue).

Three AHO developments (4 Mellen Street/1627 Massachusetts Avenue, 87-101 Blanchard Road, and Walden Square II) completed the AHO advisory design review process in FY2024. This brings the total number of projects that completed the AHO advisory design review process to seven (including Jefferson Park Federal, 49 Sixth Street, 116 Norfolk Street, and 52 New Street). Three AHO developments (116 Norfolk Street, 52 New Street, and Jefferson Park Federal) are now under construction. Four other developments (4 Mellen Street/1627 Massachusetts Avenue, 87-101 Blanchard Road, 49 Sixth Street, and Walden Square II) are currently in different stages of securing financing needed to begin construction. The AHO community process is now underway for three new AHO developments: 28-30 Wendell Street, 35 Cherry Street, and 37 Brookline Street. The 28-30 Wendell development involves the construction of a new affordable rental building on two adjacent sites in the Baldwin neighborhood; the sites were each acquired recently from Lesley University in two separate transactions. The 35 Cherry Street development involves the construction of new affordable homeownership units on a City-owned parcel in the Port neighborhood. The 37 Brookline Street development involves the construction of a new affordable multi-family rental development, replacing the existing triple-decker building, in the Cambridgeport neighborhood. The attached report lists the sites which have been assessed as potential AHO developments, to the extent known by CDD and Housing staff. The AHO report 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 currently ten active AHO developments underway which together will create more than 725 affordable units, with other new AHO sites where additional new affordable housing will be proposed. Housing Staff will continue to work with affordable housing providers to identify, assess, and secure additional sites for development under the AHO provisions.