Briston Arms - 247 Garden Street
In early July 2015, the tenants of Briston Arms Apartments received the news that they had been waiting almost a year to hear: Briston Arms Apartments has been successfully preserved and will continue to be an affordable housing resource for years to come. This came after the property was purchased by a new owner who committed to long-term affordability there. The Cambridge Affordable Housing Trust provided more than $4.2 million towards the acquisition, preservation, and renovation of this important affordable housing resource.
Located on Garden Street in Neighborhood 9, Briston Arms Apartments is a mixed-income development which has been home to a diverse population of residents including low, moderate, and market-income households since it was first built in the early 1970s.
The preservation of this property had been a priority for the City as it was at risk of market-rate conversion when its underlying affordability restrictions expired in 2018. However the purchase of Briston Arms by Preservation of Affordable Housing (POAH), a local Boston-based non-profit, ensures that long-term affordability will remain while needed rehab occurs in the buildings.
The successful purchase, preservation, and upcoming renovation of Briston Arms was made possible through the coordinated efforts among the City Council, City staff, the Cambridge Affordable Housing Trust, POAH, the Cambridge Housing Authority, tenant advocates, state agencies, and the tenants, as well as the willingness of the former private owners to sell to a group that would preserve affordability.
In addition to making site improvements and building upgrades, POAH will increase the number of affordable units at the property from 105 to 119 apartments, while continuing to operate 35 units as market-rate housing. POAH’s acquisition and preservation of this former expiring-use property will ensure that this important housing resource will be preserved for generations of families.
“Preservation of existing affordable housing remains a top priority for the City,” said City Manager Richard C. Rossi. “In addition to our ongoing work creating new affordable housing opportunities, Cambridge works hard to ensure that those units in danger of losing affordability are maintained as a community resource for future generations. Briston Arms is a terrific example of public and private entities working together to not only preserve, but expand and improve access to affordable housing in Cambridge.”
“POAH appreciates the support it received to acquire one of Cambridge’s most highly visible and important affordable housing developments,” said POAH President/CEO Aaron Gornstein. “This was a complex transaction and we would not have been successful in preserving the affordability of these apartments without the assistance of a range of partners at the local, state and federal level, in particular the City of Cambridge.”
“The preservation of Briston Arms Apartments is the most recent in a series of significant preservation successes” noted Christopher Cotter, Housing Director for the City of Cambridge. “In the last five years, the City and Trust have provided $23 million to preserve affordability at eight developments where affordability was at risk, resulting in the preservation of more than 530 affordable rental units.”