185 DARTMOUTH STREET
BOSTON, MA 02116
P. 617.695.9595
TCBINC.ORG
Name of Organization: The Community Builders, Inc.
1. Please identify the principal contact within your organization for this application by
name, position, email and phone number.
The principal contact will be:
Eliza Datta
Regional Vice President of Development, New England
[email protected]
857-221-8643
2. Please describe your interest in having a Kuehn Fellow.
Throughout its 50+ year history as an organization, The Community Builders, Inc. (TCB) has
provided mission-oriented growth opportunities to developing housing and community
development professionals and future leaders who have gone on to serve the field in numerous
states and a variety of non-profit, public and support organizations, as well as for-profit firms.
The breadth and diversity of TCB’s work has provided significant career development
opportunities to generations of such practitioners.
The opportunity to host another Kuehn Fellow is something that TCB is excited about, as it will
allow us to continue to develop practitioners and leaders. Building on what we learned from the
experience with our first Kuehn Fellow, we would like to host a second Fellow in our core
Development group, which is headed by Eliza Datta, our New England Development leader.
We envision the role of this Fellow as a project manager role, with a focus on a specific project
or projects, to provide broad exposure to TCB’s local development work, as well as the
opportunity to work with and learn from many TCB Development staff, including our most
experienced, senior development staff. In addition, we plan to provide a well-rounded
experience through interaction with development staff involved in project finance, NMTCs,
lending, legal, design/construction.
We are very excited about the prospect of hosting a second Kuehn Fellow, and we believe that
the program we have planned will provide significant growth opportunities for the Fellow while
creating value for TCB.
3. Please provide a brief summary of your Massachusetts affordable housing projects
developed or acquired over the past five years and expected to be developed or acquired
over the upcoming two years. Please describe or provide a list of your full existing
portfolio of affordable housing and community economic development projects.
Kuehn Fellowship Application
The Community Builders, Inc.
December 16, 2016
TCB is one of the most active developers of affordable and mixed-income housing in the
Commonwealth. Over the past five years, we’ve built or preserved nearly 1,400 housing units
totaling more than $500 million in development costs. (A full list of these projects is attached to
this application.) However, the impact of these homes cannot be counted solely in terms of
number of units or dollars. TCB strives to work with local stakeholders to create mutually
beneficial neighborhood change, to expand access to high quality, affordable homes, and to
advance innovation in affordable housing financing and design - all areas in which Bob Kuehn
was a pioneer.
In the spirit of continuing that tradition, TCB has ambitious plans for affordable and mixedincome housing development in the coming two years that reach the corners of Massachusetts.
By the end of 2016, we expect to close on the first phase of redevelopment at Lyman Terrace, a
distressed public housing development in downtown Holyoke. In 2017 we expect to close four
additional projects:
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A.O. Flats at Forest Hills, a 78-unit mixed-income rental development adjacent to the Forest
Hills T-station, which will be one of the first projects to close under MassHousing’s new
workforce housing program;
Noquochoke Village, a 50-unit development in Westport, MA that will be built on land that
was purchased with Community Preservation Act resources and donated by the town to
meet the needs of modest-income households living in Westport;
Fruit Sever Apartments, a 132-unit preservation project in Worcester, MA that TCB acquired
as DHCD’s agent under Chapter 40-T; and
The Clarion, a 40-unit mixed-income, mixed-use project on Blue Hill Ave in Dorchester.
We have several other exciting projects in the pipeline that we expect to advance through the
design, permitting and financing stages of predevelopment in 2017, in preparation for 2018
closings. These projects include:
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250 Centre Street, a 112-unit mixed-income development in Jackson Square, which just
received a $3.4 million MassWorks award;
125 Amory Street, the redevelopment of a public housing site in Jamaica Plain that will
preserve and upgrade an existing 200-unit elderly/disabled development and introduce 300350 units of new mixed-income housing; and
3368 Washington Street, the redevelopment of the Pine Street Inn’s commercial property on
Washington Street in Jamaica Plain to create a mixed-use, mixed-income development that
includes permanent supportive housing for formerly homeless households.
These new developments spans many different geographies and property types, but in each
case, TCB’s goal is to create access to opportunity for families to live in a great home where
they can be happy and successful. We are committed to sustainable design, in reducing the
environmental impact through efficiency, reuse of existing buildings whenever practical and in
longtime property stewardship executed by our property and asset management groups. Our
strategic plan and mission call for us to build and sustain communities, and to be long-term
stakeholders in the communities we build side-by-side with local partners so that our residents
and the neighborhoods they live can achieve their full potential.
Kuehn Fellowship Application
The Community Builders, Inc.
November 15, 2016
4. Please provide a job description for the Fellow, including job responsibilities.
The Kuehn Fellow/Project Associate will work with other members of the New England
development team to provide project management support to key projects in TCB’s
Massachusetts pipeline. Our goal is to give the Fellow exposure to a wide range of development
activities, to provide the kind of critical, hands-on experience that will help advance the Fellow’s
career goals. Our current thinking is that the Fellow will be assigned primarily to our Jackson
Square/Amory Street Redevelopment project, a large-scale mixed-income initiative that TCB is
undertaking in the Jackson Square neighborhood of Jamaica Plain that includes the 250 Centre
Street and 125 Amory Street projects described above, as well as extensive infrastructure and
open space improvements. This redevelopment initiative is being led by Noah Sawyer, a Senior
Project Manager who has been with TCB for 10 years. The project integrates many themes that
are important to TCB’s mission: creating housing opportunities for households with a wide range
of income and needs; designing and financing projects that support mixed-income populations;
working with experienced partners; and supporting economic development and other community
investments that strengthen neighborhoods.
The Fellow will have an opportunity to work on all aspects of the project, from defining the
program, developing the building design, securing zoning approvals, developing a
legal/financing structure to support the mixed-income components of the project, preparing
funding applications, and – ideally – seeing the project through to a construction loan closing on
the initial phase of development. This process with give the Fellow exposure to all of the
disciplines within TCB’s development group, including design and construction, legal, lending
and finance, and will also provide professional experience with tangible outcomes that will
support the Fellow’s career goals.
5. Please provide a general work plan for the Fellow’s first year, and the experiences and
goals you intend for the Fellow during his or her first year. The work plan should
additionally provide in as much detail as possible what specific projects the fellow would
work on within real estate and, if applicable, within other parts of the organization, to
whom he or she would report overall and on specific projects, the timelines for the
projects and what the outputs would be. In particular if you are anticipating project work
within other departments, please provide detail on what those projects would be, who
would be primarily responsible for overseeing the Fellow on those projects and how they
would collaborate/coordinate with the Fellow’s primary supervisor. (The work plan will be
a living document to which the organization and the Fellow may make mutually agreed
changes.)
As noted above, we envision that the Fellow will play a supporting role within the development
group, with a focus on TCB’s Jackson Square/Amory Street Redevelopment.
The following is an outline of tasks the Fellow would be assigned in the first year:
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Work with team to help advance master plan and building designs for the project.
Assist with zoning approvals process. Plan and participate in meetings with agencies,
community groups, and other stakeholders.
THE COMMUNITY BUILDERS | 3
Kuehn Fellowship Application
The Community Builders, Inc.
November 15, 2016
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Evaluate possible financing structures to support the mixed-income goals for the project.
Evaluate possible construction strategies/technologies to help control building costs for the
project.
Assist with the development of an ownership, financing and operations plan for the
infrastructure and open space components of the Jackson Sq/Amory St projects.
Prepare financing applications for the project.
The Fellow will report primarily to Noah Sawyer, Senior Project Manager and director of the
Jackson Square/Amory Street initiative, and to Eliza Datta, Regional VP of Development, but
will have the opportunity to work with many members of TCB’s development team, including:
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Tom Buonopane, VP of Finance
Morgan Wilson, VP of Development Operations and Community Lending
Zan Bross, Director of Design and Construction
Joey Smith, Deputy General Counsel
6. Please identify the person who will supervise the Fellow, including that person’s
experience and position in your organization. (word limit: 250)
Eliza Datta is Regional Vice President of Development for TCB. Eliza joined the company in
2013 and directs TCB’s development activities for the New England region, which currently
includes a pipeline of 1,500 units of housing across 15 new construction and preservation
projects in Massachusetts and Connecticut.
Eliza has 20+ years of experience in real estate development, with a focus on complex urban
and multifamily projects. Prior to joining TCB, she was a vice president for development with
New Boston Fund, a private real estate investment firm, where she managed several largescale mixed-income development projects in the Boston area. Prior to that, she was a vice
president for real estate development with Phipps Houses, New York City's largest nonprofit
owner and developer of affordable housing.
Noah Sawyer is a Senior Project Manager and director of TCB’s Jackson Square/Amory Street
redevelopment project. Noah has been part of the New England development team since 2010
and has led a broad range of affordable and mixed-income real estate projects in the region.
Previously, Noah served as a Project Manager in TCB’s Preservation group, managing
restructurings and renovations of 1,000 units of distressed and at-risk affordable housing. He
also served a Research Associate at the Urban Institute in Washington, DC, conducting
research on housing finance and community development for federal state and local
government.
Noah holds a Master’s in Public Policy and Urban Planning from Harvard University, as well as
a Bachelor in Mathematics from Vassar College.
THE COMMUNITY BUILDERS | 4
Kuehn Fellowship Application
The Community Builders, Inc.
November 15, 2016
7. Please identify the customary benefits the Fellow will receive.
TCB offers a rich benefits package. Blue Cross Blue Shield provides our health coverage with
excellent plan design through HMO & PPO plans with employees earning less than $75,000
paying between 25% and 35% of the monthly costs depending on the plan. We have a health
Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA) & Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA & DCA) available as
well. We also offer dental insurance, life insurance, a vision plan, an employer paid short term
disability plan, and a 403b retirement plan with an employer match after the first year of service.
Employees earn time off through a paid time off bank (beginning at 21 days per year) in addition
to state and federal holidays.
In addition to the benefits package summarized above, TCB will offer up to $5,000 to support
the Fellow’s professional development, including conferences and external trainings.
8. Please identify a mentor (not a member of staff ) for a Fellow who is willing to serve,
and include that person’s background and contact information.
Aviva Rothman-Shore has agreed to serve as a mentor for the Fellow.
Aviva Rothman-Shore is a leader in the field of community development currently working on
projects for Stewards of Affordable Housing for the Future (SAHF), The Neighborhood
Developers, Just-A-Start and Cambridge Housing Authority to support the creation and
implementation of high quality resident services initiatives.
Rothman-Shore spent the last three years working at The Community Builders where she led
the implementation of Community Life (resident services) at family and senior sites as well as
the strategy to expand the initiative across the TCB portfolio. She focused on achieving
operational excellence through partnerships and clear outcomes with metrics. In addition, Aviva
collaborated with the development staff to incorporate the needs of residents and
neighborhoods into the pre-development process and bridge that knowledge to operations.
Previously, Rothman-Shore worked as a Project Manager and Staff Advocate at the
Conservation Law Foundation, where she managed a wide range of projects in the areas of
clean energy, urban agriculture, smart growth development and transportation funding. Prior to
this, she worked as the Outreach and Policy Director at The Fair Housing Center of Greater
Boston. She focused on addressing discrimination in the housing market through educational
programs that promote creating welcoming communities as well policy changes to discourage
discriminatory practices. She has also held positions at the International Institute of Boston, the
Jewish Community Relations Council, and Crittenton Hastings House.
Rothman-Shore holds an MBA from the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at
Brandeis University and a Bachelor's degree in Urban Studies from Brown University.
Contact information:
[email protected]
617-359-9215
THE COMMUNITY BUILDERS | 5