POAH - Preservation of Affordable Housing

The Preservation Challenge
The Central Annex and Union Court buildings, which started out as a high school and a hotel respectively, were 'joined' to create 101 subsidized housing units for elderly and disabled residents in 1980. The two sites are located about one half mile from each other, and both are within close walking distance of downtown Pittsfield, area shopping, city offices and other important amenities.

The opportunity to purchase this property came unexpectedly, with the death of one of the general partners in the ownership group. A special rule allows the remaining general partners to transfer ownership, but only within a limited time of the partner's death. While POAH was very interested in the opportunity to preserve Central Annex and Union Court, the transaction required creative collaboration on a streamlined time schedule.

POAH’s Role
Prepaying the property's mortgage was prohibited, and instead, the POAH team worked closely with the state housing finance agency to develop a transfer protocol with terms friendly to a non-profit purchaser. All of the units have project-based Section 8 rent subsidies, which POAH acquired as well.

POAH's financing package allowed significant and necessary improvements to both properties, including facade repairs, new mechanical systems to increase both resident comfort and energy efficiency, and enhanced accessibility for the common areas, including management offices.

99 Second Street/10 Union Court Pittsfield, MA 01201 Central Annex and its neighbor, Union Court, have been operated as one property serving low-income families, elderly and disabled residents of Pittsfield since 1980. They are two distinguished structures: Central Annex was formerly a high school, and Union Court began life as a hotel.	Project Partners • MassHousing • Prudential Social Investment Fund • Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development • U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) The Preservation Challenge The Central Annex and Union Court buildings, which started out as a high school and a hotel respectively, were 'joined' to create 101 subsidized housing units for elderly and disabled residents in 1980. The two sites are located about one half mile from each other, and both are within close walking distance of downtown Pittsfield, area shopping, city offices and other important amenities. The opportunity to purchase this property came unexpectedly, with the death of one of the general partners in the ownership group. A special rule allows the remaining general partners to transfer ownership, but only within a limited time of the partner's death. While POAH was very interested in the opportunity to preserve Central Annex and Union Court, the transaction required creative collaboration on a streamlined time schedule. POAH’s Role Prepaying the property's mortgage was prohibited, and instead, the POAH team worked closely with the state housing finance agency to develop a transfer protocol with terms friendly to a non-profit purchaser. All of the units have project-based Section 8 rent subsidies, which POAH acquired as well. POAH's financing package allowed significant and necessary improvements to both properties, including facade repairs, new mechanical systems to increase both resident comfort and energy efficiency, and enhanced accessibility for the common areas, including management offices.
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