Capitol Square ribbon-cutting.

More than 75 people attended a ribbon-cutting Wednesday, Dec. 12, held by the Housing Corporation of Arlington at the Capitol Square Apartments in East Arlington.

This is the first Arlington property to receive low-income housing tax credits from the  state Department of Housing and Community Development.

The HCA has already received more than 300 applicants for the units, more than 10 times the number of units to be made available.

The project involves the renovation of three buildings containing 32 units of affordable housing, making it the largest such project in Arlington in more than 30 years.

The buildings being renovated were originally built between 1892 and 1912 and are receiving updated insulation, windows and building systems, among other improvements, all while preserving as much of the original architectural detail as possible.

Guests were welcomed at 8:30 a.m. by Mark Lesses, HCA board vice president, and Pamela Hallett, HCA executive director. 

Remarks were given by Adam Chapdelaine, Arlington town manager; Aaron Gornstein, undersecretary of the state Department of Housing and Community Development; Robert Rivers, Eastern Bank; Peter Sargent, state Housing Investment Corporation; Cedric Kam, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development; Gregory Bowe, Cambridge Savings Bank; and Tony Fracasso of Mass Development.

 A variety of other elected state and town officials as well as HCA Program Manager Joanna Ain, and numerous volunteers for the HCA were also on hand.

The ribbon was cut by Christine Elliott, Calvary Church United Methodist, and Executive Director Pam Hallett.  After the ribbon was cut, participants entered and toured one of the buildings, the one closest to completion.

More information is available at www.housingcorparlington.org/.

The property is at 252 and 260 Mass. Ave.

In November, $5.9 million in bonds to finance the project were announced.

This story was published Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2012, and updated the next day.