Mass. State agency ignores own guidelines in condo loans

The Boston Globe reports:

A state agency created to help foster affordable housing ignored its own guidelines by awarding more than $20 million in housing loans to the controversial Columbus Center development.

A spokesman for MassHousing, a quasi-public agency, acknowledged that the money for the low-interest loans will come out of funds specifically set aside for affordable rental apartments, not condos in a high-end complex such as those planned above the Massachusetts Turnpike between Back Bay and the South End.

"Columbus Center at this point is the one exception of a project that isn't rental and doesn't meet the guidelines," said Eric Gedstad, MassHousing's communication manager. "But it is still a worthy project, so we made a commitment to it."

The $700 million megadevelopment, which will span three city blocks, is one of 36 projects to get money from the $100 million "priority development fund" created by Governor Mitt Romney in 2004. MassHousing approved the Columbus Center loans last year, although they have not yet been paid out.

Governor Deval Patrick's administration came under fire recently when it awarded developers Arthur Winn and Roger Cassin a $10 million grant to construct a deck over the turnpike. Lawmakers and community activists said the developers had repeatedly said they would not seek public subsidies for the project, an assertion that Winn and Cassin deny. A request for an additional $10 million grant is still pending.

House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi, who urged Patrick to rescind the $10 million grant, said the project should not receive MassHousing loans that were designated for another purpose.

"Funds set aside to encourage affordable rental housing should not be used to help subsidize multimillion-dollar condos," DiMasi said last week.

It really is time to separate housing from state.