Design for Aging: Affordable Senior Housing — The New State Guidelines

With current 3-5 year long waitlists there is shortage of Affordable Senior Housing in Massachusetts. Many senior living professionals, developers and state officials are working hard to increase the supply of affordable housing for seniors to ensure that the design of such buildings is supportive and flexible and allows for residents to age in their community as their needs change.

Join the DFA Committee for a discussion on the design of senior affordable housing in light of the new state funding guidelines. We will be joined by Lizbeth Heyer and Rachel Belanger from 2Life Communities' real estate team who will discuss the benefits of services in senior affordable housing and provide background on the new state funding guidelines. It will be followed by an open discussion amongst representants from the Department of Housing and Community Development, affordable housing developers, and architects on the design and development of affordable senior housing so that it is built efficiently, with flexibility and quality construction to ensure that older adults continue to age in community, and are supported through services and universal design. As a group, we will also share lessons learnt on the new guidelines’ applicability.

For reference you can download the 2020-2021 QAP here https://www.mass.gov/doc/2020-2021-qap-low-income-housing-tax-credit-qualified-allocation-plan-qap/download