MICHAEL FELONEY SELECTED TO HEAD SOMERVILLE HOUSING

MICHAEL FELONEY SELECTED TO HEAD SOMERVILLE HOUSING DIVISION

Seasoned community and housing development professional to lead efforts to address broad range of City’s housing needs including the City’s Sustainable Neighborhoods affordable housing initiative 

SOMERVILLE – Last week, the City of Somerville welcomed its new Housing Director, Michael Feloney. Feloney brings broad public and private sector experience to the position including serving as the Executive Director of Southwest Boston Community Development Corporation (SWBCDC), a community-based nonprofit engaged in community and housing development in Boston’s Hyde Park and Roslindale neighborhoods. Feloney will play a key role in implementing Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone’s recently announced Sustainable Neighborhoods Initiative and in helping to achieve the City’s SomerVision goal of adding 9,000 new units to Somerville’s housing stock by 2030.

“Mike brings a range of public, private, and nonprofit leadership experience with more than 20 years in the management of housing and community development programs on the local level. Throughout his career Mike has shown a deep commitment to supporting and enhancing the type of affordable opportunities and programs that are critical to addressing the needs of Somerville residents and important to the development of a broader regional strategy on housing,” said Mayor Curtatone. “With the planned expansion of the Green Line and the continued economic growth at Assembly Row, Union Square, and other areas of the city, Mike will be working closely with community representatives and housing industry leaders to protect and preserve our neighborhood housing stock and facilitate the creation of a broad spectrum of new housing that reflects the full range of community needs.”

“The extension of the Green Line and the major development underway at Assembly Row and elsewhere offer both tremendous opportunities for housing development and also great challenges in preserving Somerville as a diverse community affordable to households all along the income spectrum,” said Feloney. “I am grateful for the opportunity to help expand Somerville’s housing options at such an exciting time in its history.”

Prior to his work with SWBCDC, Feloney spent three years as a senior associate at the consulting firm Abt Associates, in the Housing and Community Revitalization area. Additional past experience also includes positions with the Cambridge Housing Authority, including the Director of Development and Assistant Director of Planning and Development.

Feloney holds a Master in City Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard College, and a certificate in nonprofit management and leadership from the Boston University School of Management’s Institute for Nonprofit Management and Leadership.