Forty rental units will soon be available for Methuen residents once construction is complete on a new housing development called the Broadway Building, the Baker-Polito Administration said last week.
The new development under construction in the city’s downtown district is taking shape using federal and state low-income housing tax credits, Gov. Charlie Baker and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito said while unveiling the 2019 affordable rental housing awards at a presentation in Swampscott. Methuen’s housing project is one of more than 1500 rental units being produced across the Commonwealth, they said.
Polito is hopeful the program will spur growth in downtown districts like Methuen’s. “Each housing unit advanced today will benefit entire communities, by bringing more people to downtowns, transforming long-vacant properties, and providing new customers for local businesses,” she said. “Housing is both a valuable tool and critical precursor for economic development, and these projects will provide stability to many households in need.”
As part of the program, the Broadway Building project plans to offer units to households earning less than 60 percent of the area median income. Four units are reserved for extremely low-income households earning less than 30 percent of AMI.
Methuen’s housing boom is the latest in Baker’s Housing Choice legislation effort, unveiled in February. Targeting zoning reform in an effort to benefit communities that pursue housing production, Baker make a trip to Haverhill to applaud local leaders including Mayor James J. Fiorentini and others who are working to ready several area apartments for rent or purchase.