Cambridge Housing Committee Hears Broad Updates on Pandemic-Era Affordable Housing Work

CAMBRIDGE -- January 25, 2022, Cambridge affordable housing providers report $600 million in CHA investment since 2010, but warn a 21,000-person waiting list is growing faster than supply. At the Housing Committee's first meeting of the 2022 term, Cambridge Housing Authority Executive Director Michael Johnson said 6,730 Cambridge residents and workers are now on various waiting lists, up from roughly 5,000 about 18 months ago, and that only 221 private-market landlords in the city currently house CHA voucher holders. Deputy Development Director Margaret Donnelly-Morin said the authority spent $113 million on construction in 2021 and is on track for two major closings this year, Jefferson Park and 116 Norfolk Street, that will add 128 new deeply affordable units. Community Development Department Director Iram Farooq announced that Fresh Pond Apartments is now preserved affordable for at least 50 years via a $32.5 million Affordable Housing Trust loan, and that community consensus has emerged for affordable homeownership on a Cherry Street parcel to be transferred from MIT. City Manager's Office housing liaison Maura Penzak warned that market rents are spiking sharply, citing one tenant facing a $700 monthly lease-renewal increase, and said the state's rental-arrearage relief program is on the verge of running out of funds.