Alinea Capital Partners, DHK Architects, Inc., and D.F. Pray celebrate opening of Flats At 8th in New Bedford, MA

New Bedford, MA Nearly 100 guests, including mayor Jon Mitchell and other city and state officials celebrated the official ribbon-cutting and opening of Flats At 8th, a new five-story 52-unit restricted-income apartment and mixed-use building in downtown. The new building, which also includes commercial space, was developed by Alinea Capital Partners, LLC, L. Duane Jackson, managing member, and designed by DHK Architects, Inc.

“The solution for the high cost of housing is to help increase the supply of housing, and that’s what this project does,” mayor Mitchell said. “I applaud Duane Jackson for his determination in seeing the project through, and for the work of his team, D.F. Pray, and many others for building a new landmark in our downtown.”

The fully leased residential floors include 12 one-bedroom apartments, 36 two-bedroom apartments and four three-bedroom apartments. In addition, the first floor includes a large community room with an outdoor deck, approximately 4,000 s/f of commercial space available to be leased, and 19 garage spaces. The building is walking distance from New Bedford City Hall, the courthouse and public library, as well as restaurants and stores.

“We were honored to work with Duane Jackson and his team to develop the design for this building in such a prominent location in downtown New Bedford,” said Fernando Domenech, president, DHK Architects, Inc. “This project came to fruition due to the commitment of city, state and private leaders who not only understood the dire need for affordable housing, but also the opportunities for economic development and revitalization in New Bedford.”

The building was constructed by D.F. Pray General Contractors and is managed by Winn Residential.

In addition to DHK Architects, the full design team included: Thornton Tomasetti, structural engineering; Wozny/Barbar & Associates, MEP/FP engineering; and Gale Associates, civil engineering.

Eight of the apartments are restricted to households earning up to 30% of the Area Median Income (AMI) and are supported with a federal Section 8 Housing Assistance Payment contract; 36 apartments are restricted to households earning up to 60% of AMI, and eight apartments are for households earning up to 80% of AMI.

Diverse public and private capital sources were used to fund the project, including: Federal ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) Funds, the City of New Bedford, MassHousing, and the Massachusetts Housing Investment Corporation, as well as private lenders, including JPMorganChase’s Community Development Banking and Bank of America’s National Lending department. Federal Low Income Housing Tax Credits were used to finance the project.