Related Beal Begins Work on Boston Affordable Housing Project

Boston—Integrated real estate developer and investor Related Beal is moving forward with construction of a mixed-use development that will include a 239-unit, 100 percent affordable and workforce building and hotel in central Boston.

The groundbreaking follows the announcement by Related Beal of the closing of its financing and the initiation of a 99-year land lease with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for Parcel 1B in the Bulfinch Triangle.

The residential units will be restricted to and available for individuals, couples and families with qualified incomes extending from 30 percent of Area Median Income (AMI) to up to 165 percent AMI.

Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh has initiated a housing plan called “Changing City: Boston 2030,” which calls for the creation of 53,000 new residential units by 2030, with workforce units comprising all but 9,000 of that total. Delivery of what’s being termed the “Parcel 1B project” in 2018 will give the city of Boston its first large-scale workforce housing development under that plan.

“I congratulate the team at Related Beal for reaching this early milestone in redeveloping Parcel 1B,” Walsh remarked. “They were able to work creatively to secure the financing needed to bring this unique project to fruition . . . We are committed to working together to unlock housing opportunities for all of our families, and this project will bring more options to the heart of downtown.”

Other noteworthy features that made the project feasible include tax-exempt bond financing issued by MassDevelopment; four percent federal/state low-income housing tax credits administered through the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD); resources from the Affordable Housing Trust Fund (AHTF); a tax stabilization plan called 121A, created by the city of Boston; and a contribution from a partnership between Boston Properties and Delaware North as part of their affordable housing commitments for projects in the immediate neighborhood. Related Beal supports the North Station area, and is seeks to ensure a wide spectrum of wage earners can reside in that area.

The development of Parcel 1B will include among its components a 14-story residential building of approximately 484,000 square feet, a 220-key hotel, street level retail and on-site parking. These features should help re-energize the North Station area, which includes the newly reopened North End Harborwalk under the Charlestown Bridge. That destination now includes a new pathway behind Lovejoy Wharf to the North Station area and Charles River dam. Related Beal is also funding a variety of public improvements, including a new park.

“We are extremely proud of this development and this milestone, which could only have been achieved through the highly collaborative efforts of Related Beal, the city of Boston and the commonwealth of Massachusetts,” Related Beal’s chief operating officer Kimberly Sherman Stamler said.

“This important project leverages our decades of affordable housing expertise to support Mayor Walsh’s goals while continuing to enhance this already dynamic neighborhood,” she said. “We are looking forward to breaking ground and further moving the development forward.”