To the City of Lynn (Mayor's office), Lynn Housing and Neighborhood Development, and Governor Healey:
[Español aquí] We object to the proposed use of public funds for a development project at 144 Market Street, Lynn, MA that will create expensive new homes that will cost far too much for most residents of our city.
Why should a private corporation be given $8.15 million of public funds by the state and city governments when most of the homes created will be unaffordable?
Public funds should be used to support housing that is affordable to the majority of the people of Lynn, not for a project that will exclude us.
By continuing the gentrification of the downtown area, this project will go beyond just excluding most of us and will actually be harmful. It will contribute to pushing housing costs in the neighborhood upward. And that will mean pushing more people out of their homes and even out of their city.
The developer, "Real Estate Collaborative LLC," plans to build 35 condominiums. 20 of the homes will be targeted as "affordable" for families with incomes at 100% AMI (upwards of $160,000 per year for a family of four). 12 of the homes will "affordable" for families with incomes at 80% AMI (over $130,000 per year for a family of four). And just 3 of the homes will be "affordable" for families with incomes at 60% AMI (just under $100,000 per year for a family of four). These "affordability" levels are not in line with average incomes in Lynn.
This project should not be given any public funds at all unless the plans are adjusted so that a majority of the new homes will be truly affordable to most Lynn residents.