Following the collapse of Silicon Valley Financial institution and its purchase by First Residents Financial institution and Belief Firm, members of Massachusetts’ congressional delegation are urging the monetary establishment’s new householders to keep up intact SVB’s commitments to moderately priced housing throughout the state.
“It’s clear that SVB had in depth investments and partnerships within the inexpensive housing sector that ought to be continued,” the reps and senators talked about in a letter despatched Thursday. “In the course of a worsening inexpensive housing disaster, it’s important that there’s a continuation of those actions beneath new possession to keep away from the disruption of native inexpensive housing growth pipelines and initiatives.”
The letter is addressed to the CEO of First Residents and is signed by Reps. Stephen Lynch, Ayanna Pressley, Invoice Keating, Jim McGovern, Katherine Clark, Seth Moulton, Lori Trahan and Jake Auchincloss and Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Edward Markey.
It lays out SVB’s intensive attain in Massachusetts’s moderately priced housing sector after the acquisition of Boston Non-public Financial institution & Belief Firm in 2021, along with financing 18 moderately priced housing developments with over 800 objects in the intervening time beneath constructing which will be “largely depending on the success of the excellent lending and funding obligations made by SVB.”
Only one occasion, the letter particulars, is the 65-unit development at 1599 Columbus Avenue in Boston relying on a $24 million SVB constructing mortgage and totally different investments.
There are totally different large scale investments, in accordance with the letter, along with a partnership with Massachusetts Housing Funding Company to take a place $75 million initiative in rising housing in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island.
Of the $2 billion in loans and investments SVB reported over the last twenty years, $1.6 billion have been directed to the event or modernization of moderately priced housing all through the nation, the delegation components out.
In a message following the SVB acquisition, First Residents knowledgeable SVB purchasers there no imminent modifications to their accounts, nonetheless the monetary establishment didn’t converse definitively to greater scale investments or commitments.
The Massachusetts representatives lay out an inventory of priorities they’re “urging” the model new possession to consider, largely persevering with preexisting commitments made by SVB.
“We hope that you will notice the gravity of this request and keep the monetary commitments that assist be sure that the way forward for inexpensive housing in Massachusetts stays secure,” the letter reads.
The Herald reached out to First Residents for its response to the letter, nonetheless the monetary establishment didn’t reply immediately.
