MassDevelopment Bond Helps Renovate New Bedford Affordable, Market-Rate Housing

April 06, 2016

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contacts:
Kelsey Abbruzzese, MassDevelopment, 617-330-2086 & 617-448-9077 (cell)
kabbruzzese@massdevelopment.com

Daniel Cruz Jr., Cruz Development Corporation, 617-445-6901
dcruz@cruzcompanies.com

MassDevelopment has issued a $7.2 million tax-exempt bond on behalf of New Verdean, LLC, which will use bond proceeds to acquire and renovate Verdean Gardens, a 110-unit multifamily rental housing facility in New Bedford. Planned renovations include masonry repair; new cabinets, countertops, carpet, flooring, air conditioning, roofs, gutters, downspouts, appliances and boilers; and painting of common areas. Verdean Gardens contains eight buildings made up of seven one-bedroom units, 87 two-bedroom units, 10 three-bedroom units, and six four-bedroom units. Fifty-six units will go to households earning up to 60 percent of the area median income, with 54 units designated for market-rate housing. Cruz Development Corporation, the project’s developer, is a third-generation family-owned business and of the oldest and largest minority-owned companies in the Northeast, having developed more than 1,600 units of mixed-income housing. Rockland Trust purchased the bond. MassDevelopment also helped the Department of Housing and Community Development with the approval of federal low-income housing tax credits that will provide $2.6 million in equity for the project.

“Providing accessibility to affordable housing is vital to the competitiveness of the Commonwealth,” said MassDevelopment President and CEO Marty Jones. “Renovating and improving Verdean Gardens will increase the housing supply in a Gateway City.”

Senior Vice President of Cruz Development Corporation Daniel Cruz, Jr. said, “In the world of shrinking housing resources, MassDevelopment is an invaluable partner in the creation of affordable housing; coupled with the agency’s knowledge and committed staff, they are a pleasure to deal with. We commend them for being a real difference maker in the Commonwealth.”

MassDevelopment, the state’s finance and development agency, works with businesses, nonprofits, financial institutions, and communities to stimulate economic growth across the Commonwealth. During FY2015, MassDevelopment financed or managed 294 projects generating investment of more than $2.5 billion in the Massachusetts economy. These projects are projected to create about 6,100 jobs and build or rehabilitate about 2,000 residential units.