Beverly & Salem Housing Group Merger

Following-up on our post in February, the Salem Gazette is reporting that the merger between the Salem Harbor Community Development Corporation and Beverly Affordable Housing Coalition is expected to be completed by end of July.

The CDC has developed around 180 units of affordable housing since it was founded in 1979, but its high-profile development for buyers, the Palmer Cove Condominiums, was threatened with foreclosure and was converted into a rental property.  The CDC’s English for Speakers of Other Languages classes serve about 100 students each year through an active volunteer instructor program.

The smaller BAHC broke ground earlier this year on one of two new affordable housing developments in Beverly, the 43-unit Cabot Street Homes, and has secured funding for the 65-unit Holcroft Park Homes slated to begin construction in 2011. Founded in 2000, BAHC oversees about 70 affordable apartments, but hopes to have closer to 100 units by the end of this year.

According to David Jacobson, president of the Salem Harbor CDC Board of Directors: "The board is going to be a mixture of both Salem and Beverly, and we’re developing contacts and deepening the roots in both cities… We expect it to really be a good organization, one that will be stronger and better able to satisfy our clients.”

Read the entire Salem Gazette article.