Mitchell Properties and The Community Builders Finish Boston Mixed-Income Multifamily Project
A joint venture between Mitchell Properties and The Community Builders has opened 225 Centre, the first phase of a 14-building, transit-oriented $250 million redevelopment of Jackson Square, which is designed to be a link between Boston’s Jamaica Plain and Roxbury neighborhoods.
By Dees Stribling, Contributing Editor
Boston—A joint venture between Mitchell Properties and The Community Builders Inc., a nonprofit mixed-income housing specialist, has opened 225 Centre, the first phase of a 14-building, transit-oriented $250 million redevelopment of Jackson Square, which is designed to be a link between Boston’s Jamaica Plain and Roxbury neighborhoods.
Almost 40 years ago, a failed highway expansion program disrupted Jackson Square by bulldozing homes and businesses, leaving much of the neighborhood vacant or underutilized for decades. Several community groups, including the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Development Corp., Urban Edge and the Hyde Park Task Force, came together in 1995 with a private developer to plan the redevelopment of this area, which today is known as the Jackson Square Redevelopment Initiative.
225 Centre will feature 103 apartments, including 35 affordable units, as well as more than 16,000 square feet of commercial space and an 86-space underground parking garage. It counts as a TOD because of its proximity to the Jackson Square MBTA station. Amenities include central air conditioning, in-unit washers and dryers and climate-controlled bike storage.
The property’s market-rate rents range from $1,700 to $2,850. Of the 35 apartments designated as affordable, 25 are reserved for residents making up to 60 percent of area median income and 10 are reserved for extremely low-income families. Project financing included $2.3 million in state-issued low-income housing tax credits, $2 million in Department of Housing & Community Development program subsidies, and nearly $504,000 in federal low-income housing tax credits.
Simultaneous with the completion of 225 Centre, Urban Edge broke ground on the second phase of the Jackson Square initiative, Jackson Commons. The property will also be a mixed-income TOD, built on a brownfield site.
The project will include the adaptive reuse and gut renovation of the existing 100-year-old, three-story Webb Building, as well as a newly constructed four-story addition. Once complete, Jackson Commons will consist of 37 mixed-income rental apartments and about 13,000 square feet on the ground floor that will function as Urban Edge offices and a Neighborhood Learning Center. About 2,000 square feet on the ground floor will be rentable to retailers or other nonprofits.
