Dive Brief:

• Work has started on the 71-unit Gateway North project in Lynn, MA, north of Boston, which is the first development to be funded under MassHousing’s $100 million Workforce Housing Initiative, Multi-Housing News reported.

• The project is being developed by Hub Holdings and the Lynn Housing Authority & Neighborhood Development. Designed by The Architectural Team, it is scheduled for completion in the spring of 2018.

• Once finished, the five-story development will contain 18 one-bedroom units, 46 two-bedrooms units and seven three-bedrooms units. 

Dive Insight:

Gateway North intends to provide low- and middle-income households access to housing close to transportation hubs that can connect them with area job centers.

It forms part of the state's Workforce Housing Initiative unveiled in May to provide housing for individuals and households with incomes 61% and 120% of the area’s median income. It also subsidizes the creation of 1,000 units of new workforce-housing across the state.

The initiative comes as many areas of the country face a severe shortage of affordable housing, with growing demand underpinned by rising populations and elevated home prices.

New York, for example, recently revived the city’s 421-a tax break, which incentives developers to offer a percentage of a project’s units to qualifying candidates at below-market rates. It forms part of New York Mayor Bill de Blasio’s plan to provide 200,000 new or existing affordable homes over the next decade.

Last month, Seattle City Council gave the green light to a 30-year, $29 million affordable housing bond for the city’s 2017 budget following a $290 million affordable-housing levy passed by voters in August.

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