MassHousing Gains National Award For Momentum Fund

MASSACHUSETTS — A Massachusetts housing initiative has gained national recognition for its ingenuity, officials announced.

The National Council of State Housing Agencies (NCSHA) has recognized MassHousing for program excellence for the Agency's Momentum Fund, a first-in-the-nation revolving fund to support mixed-income rental housing production.

MassHousing received NCSHA's award for Rental Housing: Encouraging New Construction and Promoting Preservation with the Agency’s entry, The Future Is Now: MassHousing's Momentum Fund.

The Healey-Driscoll Administration created the Momentum Fund under the Affordable Homes Act. It is a new tool in the state's housing toolkit to accelerate housing production – especially middle-income units – without relying on typical grant and subsidy programs, officials said.

"MassHousing was proud to accept this award on behalf of the Agency and all our collaborative partners who share in our mission to confront the housing challenges faced by Massachusetts residents," said MassHousing CEO Chrystal Kornegay. "The Momentum Fund provides flexible public funding that unlocks private investment and delivers new housing opportunities to working families across a broad range of incomes."

Prior to the passage of the Healey-Driscoll Administration's Affordable Homes Act, Massachusetts lacked an effective tool for supporting the production of new market-oriented, mixed-income homes.

The $50 million Momentum Fund, proposed by Governor Healey, allows public financing to partner with private capital, to build more homes, more quickly across Massachusetts.

The Momentum Fund offers developers of mixed-income housing an efficient and predictable source of stable equity financing.

Momentum Equity is not a subsidy or a grant, but it is designed to be flexible compared with other equity available in the commercial market.

Momentum Equity financing is designed to blend with privately financed equity and revolve over time, creating a permanent source for mixed-income housing growth.