CommonWealth Builder Program

The CommonWealth Builder Program is a $60 million fund intended to spur the construction of single-family homes and condominiums that are affordable to households with moderate incomes, particularly in communities of color.

CommonWealth Builder Program Highlights

The CommonWealth Builder Program

  • Provides subsidies of up to $150,000 per unit, and no more than $5 million per single project
  • Supports production of homes affordable to households earning between 70% and 120% of area median income (AMI)

Eligible Projects

Projects eligible for the CommonWealth Builder Program are

  • Located in Boston, the Commonwealth's 26 Gateway Cities,* qualified census tracts and communities disproportionately impacted by COVID-19
  • Projects of Scale: 20 units minimum, with at least 10 workforce-affordable units
  • New construction or adaptive re-use projects only; no scattered-site proposals

*The Gateway Cities are Attleboro, Barnstable, Brockton, Chelsea, Chicopee, Everett, Fall River, Fitchburg, Haverhill, Holyoke, Lawrence, Leominster, Lowell, Lynn, Malden, Methuen, New Bedford, Peabody, Pittsfield, Quincy, Revere, Salem, Springfield, Taunton, Westfield, and Worcester.

Preference will be given to

  • Mixed-income developments
  • Projects with units restricted to residents with incomes at 70% of AMI
  • Developers requesting less than $150,000 per unit

For more information, please contact MassHousing’s Rental Business Development Team.

Interested in Rental Housing?

MassHousing's Workforce Housing Fund supports the creation of rental housing that is affordable for households whose incomes are too high for subsidized housing but are priced out by market rents.