Civico Development sought a letter of support at a Newton Housing Partnership meeting on March 26.
The letter from the board would support an amendment to Civico’s pre-existing permit, allowing the group to pay in lieu for a new housing project on Hancock Street.
To amend a permit, Newton City Council must find an unusual net benefit to achieving housing objectives through a payment in lieu, which is the payment of funds equivalent to the value of the land that the County would otherwise have been entitled to for development.
Taylor Bearden, a partner at Civico Development, explained that a letter of support from the Newton Housing Partnership would help Civico’s request of Newton City Council, and that a payment in lieu would be beneficial for Newton’s housing objectives.
“We are proposing that we pay an additional $100,000 per unit for the two units for which we would be paying in lieu,” Bearden said.
The additional $200,000 could be useful in achieving the city’s housing objectives as those funds can be distributed to several housing projects and for other various purposes, according to Bearden.
Another benefit is the city of Newton would be provided with 16 units of “attainable market-rate housing,” Bearden said.
The location of the project was formerly the Walker Center for Ecumenical Exchange, a nonprofit education and retreat center. According to David Oliveri, a partner at Civico Development, historic elements of the site must be preserved while building condominium units, but such conservation increases construction and development costs.
“Just asbestos alone is costing us almost $400,000 to remove out of this building,” Oliveri said.
Payment in lieu, according to Bearden, would reduce the total development costs sufficiently, and the project would become commercially financeable for Civico.
Ward 4 City Councilor-at-Large Leonard Gentile said he’s open to the amendment.
“[The project] is just a perfect location for affordable housing,” Gentile said. “It’s literally next door to an elementary school. It’s within walking distance of Riverside T station and Auburndale Square.”
Gentile predicts the payment in lieu must be for the sole purpose of affordable housing, or else Civico likely will not earn the City Council’s support.
“I, for one, am not going to support a cash payment if it does not directly help to develop affordable housing at the site, and I think that there are a number of other counselors that agree with that,” Gentile said.
Oliveri responded by saying this amendment is not an abandonment of affordable housing, but rather an attempt to save the project entirely.
“We are not afraid of affordable housing … It’s not something that we’re trying to skirt,” said Oliveri. “This is specifically a financial constraint.”
After deliberation, the Newton Housing Partnership voted to postpone its decision on providing Civico a letter of support to a later meeting.
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