The Marblehead Housing Authority voted unanimously Oct. 15 to designate WinnDevelopment as a partner in a $67 million project at the Broughton Road housing community — subject to agreement on terms within the next 90 days.
“Awesome guys,” said MHA Chair Jenn Schaeffner after the vote on Oct. 15. “This is very exciting. We’re moving forward.”
The only developer to bid on the Broughton Road project, Winn has a portfolio of 100,000 units nationwide, including 50,000 affordable units, according to MHA Director Cathy Hoog.
Winn’s proposal is to renovate 62 existing units and build an additional 35. The project could take three years to complete, including 18 months of building.
During construction, Broughton Road residents impacted would be temporarily relocated to other public housing units or provided with subsidized housing options in the private market, according to Kurt James with Marblehead’s Fair Housing Committee.
Some of terms in the agreement include the following:
- MHA will lease the land to Winn for 99 years. Winn will purchase the buildings for $6.2 million, some of which will be paid upfront with the remaining amount due over 40 years.
- Winn will have overall responsibility for planning and implementing the redevelopment project, subject to MHA approval of “critical decisions,” including financing and design, and management and tenant selection plans.
- Winn will have principal responsibility for day-to-day activities and operations.
- Winn will advance funds for MHA’s legal and development consulting costs during the predevelopment period.
- MHA will receive an asset management fee of $6,200 per year with 3% annual growth.
- If the state does not award funding for the project by Dec. 31, 2027, the MHA can revoke Winn’s designation.
MHA consultant Emily Achtenburg said Winn had not seen this latest version of an agreement, but she hoped there wouldn’t be many changes. (The agreement can be viewed in this MHA meeting packet.)
The MHA meets next in November.
