BOSTON – April 9, 2025 – The Healey-Driscoll Administration and MassHousing announced today the first financing commitment under the Momentum Fund, a first-in-the-nation state revolving fund to support mixed-income housing production. This initial public equity financing will advance the development of the Residences at East Milton in Milton, creating a total of 92 new mixed-income rental homes, including 23 new affordable rental homes. It is the first transaction of its kind in Massachusetts.
The Momentum Fund was created by the Healey-Driscoll Administration under the Affordable Homes Act, the largest and most ambitious housing bond bill in Massachusetts history. This is a new tool in the state’s housing toolkit to accelerate the production of housing – especially middle-income units – without relying on typical grant and subsidy resources. With this fund, the concept is to leverage low-cost capital with the expertise of private developers and incentivize already permitted and much needed housing projects to commence construction. By leveraging this new financing tool, more homes can be built, faster and help provide much needed units for families, seniors and young adults. MassHousing aims to support the creation of 1,000 new units of multifamily housing with $50 million of state investment capital and is evaluating how to further expand this goal with co-investment partnerships.
"We passed the $5 billion Affordable Homes Act to increase the production of reasonably priced housing across the state," said Governor Maura Healey. "We are excited to announce this major milestone in its implementation today – a public-private partnership that will create hundreds of new homes for folks of all income levels. We look forward to continuing to expand the impact of the Momentum Fund to lower the cost of housing across the state."
"We know that to meet our housing production goals and drive down costs for everyone, we need to build more housing at all income levels," said Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll. "The Momentum Fund is a transformative opportunity to increase the development of mixed-income, multifamily housing across the state, and we’re excited to see the impact that it is already having."
Massachusetts is a national leader in financing the production and preservation of affordable housing. The state's housing needs reach beyond traditional affordable housing. The Healey-Driscoll Administration's new statewide housing plan found that Massachusetts must create 222,000 new homes by the year 2035, in order to support a growing economy and meet housing needs of residents of all ages and incomes. The need for new housing production exists across Massachusetts, at all income levels.
Prior to the Healey-Driscoll Administration's Affordable Homes Act, Massachusetts lacked an effective tool for supporting the production of new market-oriented, mixed-income homes. The $50 million Momentum Fund, proposed by Governor Healey and enacted as part of the Affordable Homes Act, allows public financing to partner with private capital, in order to build more homes, more quickly, in more Massachusetts communities.
"The Momentum Fund will help expand our state’s housing supply in a way that incentivizes the market to build housing for people of all income levels," said Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities Secretary Ed Augustus. "And the revolving nature of the fund ensures continued funds for future developments for years to come."
"The housing crisis impacts residents of all means, in all regions of Massachusetts," said MassHousing CEO Chrystal Kornegay. "Providing flexible public funding to this dynamic new development will unlock private investment and deliver new housing opportunities to working families, across a broad range of incomes. We are grateful for the Healey-Driscoll Administration’s bold leadership on housing, and we look forward to continuing to deploy resources from the Affordable Homes Act, for the benefit of residents in need of new housing options."
The Momentum Fund offers developers of mixed-income housing an efficient and predictable source of stable equity financing. Momentum Equity is not a subsidy or a grant, but it is designed to be flexible compared with other equity available in the commercial market. Momentum Equity financing is designed to blend with privately financed equity and revolve over time, creating a permanent source for mixed-income housing growth.
These new equity and mortgage financing solutions will lower the financing costs faced by housing developers and mobilize private investment in housing production, allowing new housing to proceed to construction in a higher-cost environment, and ultimately helping to deliver more housing to Massachusetts residents.
Committed project
The Residences at East Milton, Milton
The Residences at East Milton will create 92 new mixed-income rental homes, including 23 new affordable rental homes, on the site of an underutilized commercial property. In addition to new housing, the Residences at East Milton project will deliver streetscape improvements that will advance the revitalization of East Milton Square. The sponsor is a joint venture between Joseph J. Corcoran Company and Falconi Properties. MassHousing is committing $5 million in Momentum Equity funding to the project. Joseph J. Corcoran Company and Falconi Properties permitted the new housing under Chapter 40B, the state's affordable housing development law.
"We're grateful to the Healey-Driscoll Administration and its entire housing team for their dedication to creating housing options for all. With strong leadership, creative policy, strong partnership and the right resources, this collaboration demonstrates that, together, we can move the needle on affordable housing solutions across the Commonwealth," said Joseph J. Corcoran, founder and CEO of Joseph J. Corcoran Company. "We are proud to work with state partners to create much needed housing that will contribute to the vibrancy of East Milton Square. We look forward to welcoming new families to this community and providing new, affordable options to our neighbors who already call Milton home and want to stay."
About Joseph J. Corcoran Company
As a mission-driven private development company, JJC partners with municipalities and housing authorities to realize projects that create and preserve the diverse types of housing that enrich our communities. The firm has previous experience working with the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (EOHLC) as the recipient of the first demonstration of the Partnership to Expand Housing Opportunities (PEHO) with the Chelsea Housing Authority on the $155 million redevelopment of the Innes Apartments into a mixed-income community. Additionally, JJC is the designated developer on the $1.5 billion redevelopment of the Boston Housing Authority’s Bunker Hill development, a massive undertaking that, at completion, will reconstruct over 1,000 units of federal public housing alongside market-rate apartments with top-notch amenities. JJC takes great pride in its ability to work closely with residents, communities, and public entities to guide ambitious and innovative projects from concept to completion.
About MassHousing
MassHousing (The Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency) is an independent, quasi-public agency created in 1966 to confront the Commonwealth’s housing challenges. The Agency raises capital by selling bonds and lends the proceeds to low- and moderate-income homebuyers and homeowners, and to developers who build or preserve mixed-income rental housing. MassHousing does not use taxpayer dollars to sustain its operations. As a mission-driven agency, MassHousing uses housing finance to strengthen communities and lay the foundation for economic prosperity. Since its inception, MassHousing has provided more than $29 billion in housing finance. For more information, visit the MassHousing website at www.masshousing.com.
Statements of Support
Tamara Small, CEO of NAIOP Massachusetts
"The Momentum Fund is a first-in-nation tool designed to advance the production of mixed income housing and we are thrilled to see it being implemented to create desperately needed new housing. NAIOP is proud to support the Healey-Driscoll Administration’s commitment to partnering with the private sector to address the housing crisis."
Rachel Heller, CEO of CHAPA
"It's exciting to see this new program put to work, accelerating housing production to meet people's needs now as we work towards the goal of creating 222,000 homes over the next decade. The Momentum Fund, legalizing Accessory Dwelling Units in every community, and putting multifamily zoning in place in our MBTA Communities are solutions the Commonwealth is putting in place for the homes that people, our communities, and the Commonwealth need to thrive."
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