CSR Press Release

Wainwright Bank has provided $2.5 million in financing to the Somerville Housing Group Trust to develop the first phase of Union Place, a two acre mixed use development within walking distance of Union Square, Somerville. Groundbreaking for the first phase at 411-429 Norfolk Street took place Saturday, June 23, 2001 with Somerville Mayor Dorothy Kelly Gay in attendance.

The first phase of construction consists of 52 residential units of which 11 will be designated for low- and moderate-income individuals and families. Subsequent phases will include 30,000 square feet of office and retail space, and an additional 50 units of housing. While zoning ordinance requires only 10% of units be affordable, 18% will ultimately be designated as such. Continued affordability is guaranteed by an easement given to the City of Somerville.

Clean-up of the site, formerly a junkyard, was completed by the developer, David Aposhian and Margo Grossberg of the Somerville Housing Group. No city, state, or federal funds were used in the clean-up and the DEP did not require an Activity Use Limitation.

"This is an example of how private and public entities can work together for the benefit of the greater community. Wainwright has a long history of seeking out these types of projects for just that reason," said Henri Soucy, the project lender and Vice President of Commercial Real Estate at Wainwright Bank.

Buildings on the site will be wood frame and no higher than 4 stories. Intensive landscaping is planned for the open space, which is roughly half of the site. In addition, portions of the open space will be open to the public through an easement given to the City of Somerville Conservation Commission.

Ward 2 Alderman, Kevin Tarpley, and Mayor Dorothy Kelly Gay were instrumental in shaping and advancing the project, the first to be approved by the City of Somerville under its revised Planned Unit Development ordinance. This revised ordinance will be instrumental in the planning of the new Assembly Square.

Wainwright Bank has been nationally recognized for its commitment to social justice initiatives, most recently in New York as the recipient of the 2001 Community Partnership Award from the Center for Responsibility in Business. The bank has committed over $150 million to affordable housing and other socially responsible community development projects in the Boston area including homeless shelters, food banks, AIDS services, women's health projects, and environmental protection.

As a $450 million commercial bank with headquarters in Boston and 9 branches in Boston, Cambridge, Watertown and soon in Davis Square, Somerville, Wainwright Bank is strategically positioned to provide consumer and commercial mortgages, loans, and deposit services to individuals, families, businesses, and nonprofit organizations.

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