Image courtesy of Related Beal and DREAM Development
Two development teams are seeking to build hundreds of apartments and condominiums in a neighborhood where a history of redlining created barriers to wealth-building through real estate ownership.
The city of Boston is seeking developers for a 4.4-acre site off Harrison Avenue in Roxbury occupied by parking lots for the Boston Water and Sewer Commission.
Related Beal and DREAM Development propose 402 units of affordable and workforce housing, including 79 home ownership units reserved for low- and moderate-income first-time homebuyers.
“These otherwise vacant lots present a rare opportunity to deliver quality affordable rental apartments and affordable homeownership opportunities that are permanently affordable to low- and moderate-income people, as well as vindicate an important urban renewal parcel in Boston’s history,” the Related Beal-DREAM Collaborative team wrote in its submission to the Boston Planning & Development Agency.
The plans include five 69-foot-tall buildings totaling 490,000 square feet, with an estimated project cost of $254 million.
DREAM Development is headed by Roxbury architect and developer Greg Minott, and also is partnering on the large parcel P-3 development with HYM Investment Group and My City at Peace on a nearby city-owned site.
Beacon Communities, Madison Park Development Corp. and JGE Development LLC propose six buildings and 383 housing units in a 403,352-square-foot development known as Reed Square.
All of the housing would be reserved for households earning from 30 to 80 percent of area median income, including 72 condominiums.
“The 72 affordable homeownership units provide opportunities for Bostonians that are usually shut out of the homeownership market to be able to plant and grow roots for themselves and their families in their community, and grow their wealth while they’re at it,” the submission states.
The proposal also includes 77 units set aside for senior housing at a maximum 60 percent of AMI.
Image courtesy of Madison Park Development Corp., Beacon Communities and J. Garland Enterprises
Madison Park Development Corp., Beacon Communities and JGE Development plan to pilot a savings match program, in which a portion of their development fee would provide down payment contributions for rental households.
The two teams will present their proposals at a virtual community meeting on March 19.
Last fall, the city requested proposals for the parking lots located on Harrison Avenue, Thorndike Street, Newcom Street and Lenox Street. In its request for proposals, the BPDA sought projects that will comply with the goals of PLAN: Nubian Square and Roxbury Strategic Master Plan, including housing affordability, job creation, ground-floor activation that benefits the community and a diverse development team.
The site is the second major development site offered by the city of Boston following an audit of municipally-owned properties suitable for housing production.
Last year, Trinity Financial was designated as developer of the Austin Street parcels in Charlestown after proposing 686 apartments and condominiums in four buildings.
