Needham housing project advances despite EOHLC setback; committee approves reimbursement and discusses funding strategy

Project leads told the Town of Needham Finance & Housing Oversight Committee on March 9 that the proposed replacement housing project is pursuing state and federal funding after a competitive round left the team out of the next stage.

"Our project wasn't selected to advance to submit a full application," Phil Kreen, project manager with the planning office for urban affairs, said in the committee’s quarterly update. He said the team is requesting a follow-up meeting with EOHLC to get feedback and better position the project for the next funding round.

Betsy (referenced in the meeting packet and thanked by the chair) said the team is submitting two applications in March: a one-stop financing/tax-credit application and a Public Housing Innovation (PHI) application. She said advancing drawings to a higher completion level (up to 90%–construction bid set) and demonstrating realistic construction pricing should strengthen future applications.

"We are submitting 2 applications to, HLC in March," the presenter said, and described a partnership with the Taunton Housing Authority that would augment rental subsidy availability for the project and identify 41 units for replacement or repositioning in application materials.

Presenters described funding sources and structure in detail: 9% federal tax credits as an equity source; multiple forms of soft debt (Housing Stabilization Fund, Affordable Housing Trust loan, facilities consolidation fund), and a PHI entry listed in packets at roughly $12,000,000. They also noted the project will be built under Davis-Bacon and Massachusetts prevailing wage rules, which increases construction costs.

Staff said the project completed 50% and 90% construction documents, is preparing a guaranteed-maximum-bid RFP to procure a general contractor, and plans to resubmit for a $500,000 site-readiness grant in May after returning a previous award that lapsed when timelines did not match. Committee members asked for operating and development budgets to be provided regularly; staff agreed to share both.

Procedural business: the committee approved reimbursement request number 26, covering three invoices for BH+ architectural work. The packet listed total invoices of about $169,001.16, with the reimbursable portion at 21.2% (approximately $35,005.82); members resolved a small numeric transposition in the packet and recorded a roll-call vote approving the reimbursement (motion moved and seconded; unanimous yes).

Next steps: the project team will seek EOHLC feedback, submit the March applications, pursue PHI and tax-credit awards this summer, finalize the RFP and contractor procurement in the spring, and return to the committee with budgets and schedule updates.

(See 'Votes at a glance' below for recorded motions and outcomes.)