Retirement Housing Foundation, Schochet Companies Secure $18M for Attleboro Affordable Community

MassHousing has provided a total of $18 million in affordable housing financing to the non-profit Retirement Housing Foundation and its development consultant, the Schochet Companies, for the refinancing, preservation of affordability and renovation of the 100-unit Hillcrest Acres Apartments located in Attleboro, MA.

RHF, in partnership with the Schochet Companies, purchased Hillcrest Acres in July 2020, at a time when the property was in danger of converting to market-rate housing. This financing transaction will ensure long-term affordability protections remain in place at the property, and that significant capital needs there are addressed. RHF plans to complete approximately $9.9 million in property improvements.

 MassHousing provided the ownership team with a $7 million tax-exempt construction and permanent loan, a $7.2 million bridge loan, $2.7 million from the Agency’s Workforce Housing Initiative, and $1 million in additional financing from the CDFI Fund’s Capital Magnet Fund.

 Other financing sources included $9.6 million from an allocation of Low Income Housing Tax Credits by the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), $4.2 million in direct support from DHCD, and a $1.4 million sponsor note. The tax credit investor was R4 Capital.

RHF and Schochet acquired Hillcrest Acres in 2020 through Chapter 40T, a state law designed to help prevent affordable housing from being sold and converted to unrestricted rents. The Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation (CEDAC) provided an $8.4 million acquisition loan for the transaction.

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