MassHousing has finalized $50 million in financing to launch the first phase of the redevelopment of the Campello Apartments public housing campus in Brockton. The transaction supports a multi-phase plan led by the Brockton Housing Authority in partnership with the Cambridge Housing Authority to replace an aging, distressed public housing complex with new multifamily buildings.
The $50 million financing package from MassHousing is structured across several components tailored to the redevelopment plan. The agency is providing $28.2 million in permanent financing, which will support the long-term stability of the project once the new housing is delivered and occupied. In addition, MassHousing has committed $20.7 million in tax credit bridge financing, designed to advance funds ahead of the realization of low-income housing tax credit equity. A further $1 million comes from the Capital Magnet Fund, adding another layer of mission-driven capital to the capital stack.
The first phase of the project calls for the construction of a seven-story, 144-unit residential building on the Campello site. This new building will initiate a three-phase redevelopment program intended to replace obsolete public housing structures originally built in 1972. All 144 apartments in the Phase 1 building are planned to be subsidized with project-based Section 8 vouchers, ensuring that current and future residents continue to have access to deeply affordable housing.
Beyond MassHousing’s direct financing, the redevelopment is expected to benefit from more than $60 million in additional funding from other state and local sources. These supplemental contributions underscore the scale and public-policy priority of the Campello effort, which aims to revitalize an older public housing asset and modernize the residential offering on the site.
The broader redevelopment plan for Campello Apartments includes the demolition of a single-story building and two existing high-rise buildings that together currently contain 398 public housing units. In their place, the plan calls for three newly constructed residential buildings with 398 replacement units, along with two additional units, for a total of 400 apartments when all phases are complete. The new construction will fully replace the existing public housing inventory on the campus while modestly increasing total unit count.
By closing this initial $50 million package, MassHousing has effectively set the financial foundation for the redevelopment to move from planning into execution. The combination of permanent financing, tax credit bridge funding, Capital Magnet Fund support, and supplementary public sources illustrates the layered capital approach often required to reposition older public housing campuses into new, long-term, income-restricted multifamily communities.
