Lexington's National Guard Armory, Bedford St.
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Ruth Thomas
May 16, 2022, 9:58:19 AM5/16/22
to Town Meeting Members, Ciccolo, Michelle - Rep. (HOU)
In yesterday's Sunday Globe, notice of an event to be held at a former armory reminded me to remind our state representative to be vigilant regarding the Lexington armory's fate. Newton "bought" their armory from the state for $1.00 on the promise to create affordable housing. While the Lexington building is not nearly the size of Newton's castle, the site on the MBTA bus line is perfect for affordable housing.
Somerville also acquired an armory for a different purpose, but I can't help adding a link to its Center for Arts at the Armory.
The National Guard is deaccessioning armories across the country. Let's not miss out!
Ruth Thomas, 4
Vicki Blier
May 17, 2022, 3:52:42 PM5/17/22
to LexTMMA
To add to Ruth Thomas' posting about Newton's Armory/affordable housing efforts, Melinda Walker asked me to post this link to the City of Newton's web page that details the process of acquiring the West Newton Armory and developing it for affordable housing.
The total project cost is estimated @ $27,844,312.00 which comes from 14 different funding sources.
She adds that "projects of this nature, built by non-profit community development corporations can take up to five years to get built, individual situations vary, of course..."
Melinda notes that the project will yeild 43 units BELOW 60% AMI with some of the 43 for households @ 30% AMI*
The total project cost is estimated @ $27,844,312.00 which comes from 14 different funding sources.
She adds that "projects of this nature, built by non-profit community development corporations can take up to five years to get built, individual situations vary, of course..."
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Here is a link that shows what the AMI (Area Mean Income) is for our area. Contrary to popular misconception, our AMI is not based on Lexington's mean income. The AMI that applies to Lexington comes from our location in HUD's Boston-Cambridge-Quincy area, which is the second group on the PDF linked below. The Boston-Cambridge-Quincy area extends as far north as a slice of Southern NH, and as far south as Wareham in Plymouth County. It extends as far west as Ashby and Hopkinton.... in total, an area with a population of almost 3.5 million people.
Vicki Blier
Pct. 9
Harry Forsdick
May 17, 2022, 5:50:21 PM5/17/22
to Vicki Blier, LexTMMA
Vicki,
Thank you for offering information about how Newton managed to develop new housing on the West Newton Armory site.
Also, the table of AMI is very informative.
Can you tell us more about how the four categories (30%, Very Low Income, 60%, and Low Income) are used? I.e. when do each of these upper limits apply in determining the affordability of housing built in such projects?
Thanks,
— Harry Forsdick
Precinct #7
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Vicki Blier
May 17, 2022, 7:10:56 PM5/17/22
to Harry Forsdick, LexTMMA
The info about Newton came from Melinda Walker, who is no longer a Town Meeting Member. I was the conduit.
In very general terms, affordable units are rented to people whose incomes qualify them to be tenants. The qualifying income level is expressed in terms of a percentage of the AMI (Area Mean Income). Units can be designated for people whose income is 60%, or 30%, etc. of the AMI as shown on the HUD chart for the Cambridge-Boston-Quincy area. Other factors may enter into the process, but this is the base concept.
Vicki Blier
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