Olympia Square Apartments

Olympia Square Apartments is a 44-unit, 100% Section 8, fully occupied senior property in Lynn, MA - just north of Boston. Formerly known as the Sweetser Block, the building was constructed in 1874 and originally housed a shoe manufacturing operation. The property was converted to apartments during the early 1980s, and has two ground-floor commercial tenants. With its convenient location in the center of downtown Lynn and just a short walk from an MBTA commuter-rail station, Olympia Square has always enjoyed high levels of occupancy but in recent years it suffered from deferred maintenance and the previous owner sought a preservation-minded buyer with the capacity to recapitalize it.

Olympia Square is home to a diverse and active group of seniors who love their building and community but were anxious to see improvements. The Development team is formulating a substantial renovation plan which will include full window and roof replacement, life safety and HVAC overhauls, and upgrades to apartment kitchens and bathrooms. The start of that work is targeted for late 2025, and will likely entail a combination of 4% LIHTC, tax-exempt bond financing, soft funding sources, and possibly historic tax credits.

The Olympia Square acquisition includes a largely underutilized surface parking lot. In addition to completing the rehab of the existing senior apartment building. POAH intends to develop approximately 36 new family units on the parking parcel which should provide beneficial economic scale and lead to design, construction and management efficiencies and result in an active multigenerational complex with ground-floor commercial space. The new-construction component will be supported by a $1.25 million American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) award from the City of Lynn. In order to make use of these funds, The Section 8 contract, which POAH assumed as part of the purchase and is set to expire in 2032, will be renewed and extended. The transaction was financed with an $9.4 million acquisition loan from Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation (CEDAC), along with a $775,000 POAH Community Magnet Fund (CMF) bridge loan.