The nonprofit Hebrew SeniorLife in Randolph, MA, is expanding its affordable senior housing with help from the town, and the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development will support the project with federal and state low-income housing tax credits and subsidy funds.

Hebrew SeniorLife’s existing Simon C. Fireman Community, which offers 160 independent living units, will add 45 units on adjacent land. Residents of the community will have access to on-site health and wellness services.

“All 45 new units will be affordable to seniors earning less than 60% of [area median income], with nine units further restricted for seniors earning less than 30% of AMI, including seniors transitioning from homelessness,” Wicked Local reported.

To qualify for DHCS funds, Hebrew SeniorLife had to show a commitment to the project as well as receive support from the town. The company had to be sure it had  addressed zoning requirements before pursuing funding from the state.

“As soon as we started contemplating the concept of adding additional affordable housing units, we immediately got in touch with the town planner and her colleagues to understand where the town was on the idea of more affordable senior housing, what concerns they might have, what their reaction was to our existing community and Hebrew SeniorLife being in the community,” Deborah Morse, vice president of real estate for Hebrew SeniorLife, told the McKnight’s Business Daily.

In addition to zoning approval, she said, the state agency looked for a financial commitment from the locality.

“Randolph is not Boston. It’s not Brookline,” Morse said. “It doesn’t have an enormous amount of money to contribute. It’s a fairly working class community. There are a lot of seniors who live there.”

The town of Randolph was able to contribute $125,000 through Community Preservation Act funds. This is the largest award the town has made for a residential housing project, she said.

“This shows to the state that Randolph really wanted this to happen,” the executive said.

Morse said an “absolute need” exists for the expansion project because there currently are more than 200 applicants on the waitlist for the Simon C. Fireman Community, and some of them might otherwise be on the list for more than 10 years before housing becomes available.

Hebrew SeniorLife, she added, hopes to begin construction as early as December, with the units ready for occupancy 16 to 18 months after that.