Campello’s old high-rises are officially on the clock. MassHousing has closed on $50 million to launch Phase 1 of the Campello Apartments redevelopment in Brockton, kicking off a multi-year plan to knock down aging public-housing towers and replace them with new, modern apartments. The first structure out of the gate will be a seven-story building with 144 units, all planned to receive project-based Section 8 vouchers, in a three-phase overhaul of the Main Street campus where residents have lived for decades. Officials and developers say the goal is to keep deeply affordable homes in place while finally upgrading energy systems and amenities for long-time tenants.
Financing and partners
According to MassHousing, the agency assembled a $28.2 million permanent loan, $20.7 million in tax-credit bridge financing and $1 million from the Capital Magnet Fund to cover Phase 1. That stack is boosted by Affordable Housing Trust Fund support, direct EOHLC funds, federal and state low-income housing tax credits, Brockton Housing Authority loan financing and Brockton HOME dollars, which together push public backing well beyond the core MassHousing piece. MassHousing CEO Chrystal Kornegay said the financing will allow residents to move into “brand new, energy efficient units with deep affordability.”
What will be built
Phase 1 calls for a seven-story building with 143 one-bedroom apartments and one two-bedroom unit, including seven accessible homes, and all 144 units will be covered by project-based Section 8 vouchers, as reported by ConnectCRE. The broader plan is to demolish a single-story structure and two existing Campello high-rise towers that now hold about 398 public-housing units, then replace them with three new buildings that will deliver 398 replacement apartments plus two additional units. The Campello campus at 1380 Main St. is the Brockton Housing Authority’s largest property, according to the authority’s development pages.
Design and resident amenities
The financing announcement describes the new building as all-electric, with centralized energy-recovery ventilation, Energy Star appliances, LED lighting and solar-ready roofs, and designed to meet Enterprise Green Communities standards, per MassHousing. Planned amenities include a ground-floor lounge, laundry room, fitness area and social spaces, along with resident parking that will feature EV chargers. The site sits within a few blocks of grocery stores and about 0.3 miles from the MBTA Campello commuter-rail stop, a setup planners say reinforces the campus’s transit-oriented edge.
Next steps for Brockton
With the $50 million deal closed, the Brockton Housing Authority, which will stay on as management agent, has tapped Shawmut Construction as general contractor and BWA Architecture as project architect, Banker & Tradesman reports. Construction lending is coming from Santander, while tax-credit equity will be syndicated by The Richman Group, creating the layered public-private capital stack that will pay for demolition, staging and phased resident relocations. Local advocates and officials say the deal shows how obsolete public housing can be rebuilt in place while preserving deep affordability for long-time Brockton residents.
