808 Memorial Drive

808 Memorial Drive is a 300-unit apartment complex overlooking the Charles River.  Homeowners Rehab (HRI) used Cambridge Affordable Housing Trust funds to preserve affordability of housing that could have been converted to market-rate housing.

Constructed in 1972, the property owners received a low-interest, 40-year mortgage in exchange for a commitment to keep rents affordable. Under the terms of the financing, owners could prepay the low interest mortgages after 20 years and terminate the rent restrictions on the affordable units. In the early 1990s, the property owners announced their intention to prepay the mortgage, potentially forcing the low and moderate-income tenants from their homes due to higher rents. Over a period of seven years, residents worked together with HRI and the Trust to acquire and renovate the property. HRI completed renovations in 1998 and this former “expiring use” property is now permanently affordable.