The Housing Partnership Fund closed in this month on a $2 million acquisition and construction loan for the St. Aidan’s development, a 59-unit mixed-income, mixed-tenure development sponsored by the Planning Office for Urban Affairs. Located in Brookline, Massachusetts, the project, when completed, will provide deeply-targeted affordable housing in a prosperous Boston suburb with excellent access to employment centers and services.

The project includes a mixture of affordable rental units, affordable condominiums, and market-rate condominiums. Despite strong local and state government support, the project was delayed over a year by opposition from a group of neighbors. Resolution of their lawsuit was made in 2006 with very minor changes to the project design.

“We appreciate that the Fund stuck with us while we reached agreement with the community, and resolved contract and pricing problems created by the delay,” said Lisa Alberghini, President of the Planning Office. “The project turned out to be much more difficult than any of us wanted, and the Fund’s ability to continue to fill the gap was critical.”

The Fund provided a $2 million subordinate loan for up to three years. In doing so, it helped repay a local source that could no longer stay with the project after financing the initial purchase.

The project itself involves the conversion of a retired Parish property. This is the first of several such projects the Planning Office is undertaking, as it has secured rights to attractive sites being sold by the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston. As a matter of historic interest, St. Aidan’s was the family parish and site of the Christening of John F. Kennedy.