Applications are now available for affordable rental housing at The Victor development, 110 Beverly Street (along Causeway Street) in the Bulfinch Triangle, West End. There will be 10 affordable rentals available through a lottery process. The lottery is being conducted by the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) through Maloney Properties.
Affordable rental units include 2 studios at $1,024/month, 7 one bedrooms for $1,194/month and 1 two bedroom for $1,365/month. Income limits apply. Applications will be available through January 26th with expected move-in February-March 2014.
Click here for an outreach letter that explains more about the lottery (pdf).
Also, there is more information at www.victorlottery.com.
For non-affordable housing units, studios at the Victor start around $2,800 a month, 1-BRs at around $3,000 and 2-BRs at $3,940, according to Curbed Boston.
The Victor apartment tower will have 286 apartments and ground floor retail space that has been leased by Tavern on the Square. More information about the rental development at The Victor Website.
Please note the minimum income requirements. Something that makes the eligibility window quite small for “affordable” housing. I called the BRA, the BHA, HUD, and the Fair Housing Commission when I first ran across this at another lottery. I wanted to know who set the minimum. Everyone told me it wasn’t their lottery and they did not know.
Finally got someone to call me back.
The answer was that the management company gets to set it. When I pointed out that the window was less than $7000 I was told that was their right. Quite hefty tax breaks for so little help with providing affordable housing in Boston!
When I tried to explain that, if someone was making over $45k, they could pay the market rents around town and I thought the idea was for people who made too much for section 8 but were struggling – I was told that people did not need to live in Boston if they couldn’t afford it. Not what I expected to hear from someone at the Mayor’s office.
Could never get an answer regarding oversight. Unfortunately another grey area that reeks of political favoritism.
Liz
The prices do not fall under the umbrella of ‘affordable’ housing, in my opinion. And as for the response from the Mayor’s office……..not acceptable !
what do you want liz? brand new apartments in the heart of downtown for $500 a month? sorry, but this type of housing is not a god-given right. if you are on a crusade, why don’t you buy a building in the north end and charge $500 an apartment? guess what, you won’t make any money!! at least at the victor for these prices, one gets a brand new apartment with all the amenities. in the north end for the same price (or not much less), one usually gets a borderline slum. i agree that we need all kinds to make a city, but i certainly don’t feel like subsidizing for someone else an apartment that i can’t afford myself.
I am not on a crusade by any means. Affordable housing means housing that is affordable for low-income people. Hence, the label ‘affordable’. You say you “don’t’ feel like subsidizing for someone else an apartment that” you can’t afford yourself. There are affordable housing apts. in the North End that are subsidized by HUD. NE residents are not supporting (subsidizing) those units.
Many apts in the NE are renovated and are quite nice. Are you calling the NE a slum?
If you pay taxes, you already do.
liz – you lost me when you said hud units are not supported by north end residents. i can assure you that if a north end resident is paying taxes, he or she is subsidizing those units. then again, hud may grow money on trees.
Liz, et al.
These are “Affordable Housing Units” not “Section 8, Low Income Housing”.
The difference is that “affordable housing units” target the moderate/middle income bracket and rents at or below market rates. It is created through collaboration between the City, BRA and developers (I believe credited to the Menino administration).
Section 8 / Low Income Housing targets low income (impoverish households), tends to be wholly government funded. You more often than not see this housing in the form of housing developments managed/owned by the municipality or federal gov’t.
http://www.bostonredevelopmentauthority.org/opportunities-properties/affordable-housing/non-bra-affordable-housing-resources
Sean. Thank you for setting the record straight. I appreciate it. Sometimes I react to those who make comments, not necessarily the topic at hand. I find some responses quite
abrasive.