BOSTON (WHDH) - Mayor Michelle Wu announced a new housing development project centering on Nubian Square Wednesday.
In partnership with the Boston-based firms DREAM Collaborative and New Atlantic Development, the City of Boston announced that construction for the “74 unit mixed-income, mixed-use, transit-oriented development” at 2147 Washington Street.
According to city officials, the project will include options for people looking to rent or own. Boston artists will be given preference for 31 of the 62 rental units and all 12 homeownership units.
Spaces dedicated to community are incorporated into the 99,602 square-foot development, including a 2,000 square restaurant space for the Haley House Bakery and Café, a public art gallery and courtyard, indoor bike storage racks, and underground parking. In addition, a 4,100-square-foot artist’s workshop will be open to both residents of the building and community members.
“This is an important and exciting milestone for Nubian Square as we create more affordable homes for residents and a new home for the Haley House Bakery and Café,” Wu said. “I am proud that together we have created dozens of affordable units and retail space for businesses that will help boost the economy right here in Nubian Square.”
Haley House is a nonprofit whose work oversees a food pantry in the South End, helping more than 30 formerly homeless and incarcerated individuals find employment and become self-sufficient. The bakery has served the neighborhood at 12 Dade Street since 2005, and closed earlier this year in anticipation of construction of the development.
“We have very ambitious goals for building performance as well as an emphasis on supporting local artists and small businesses and of course, being a great place to live for residents,” Greg Minott, managing principal of DREAM Collaborative and Development, said.
Each of the 62 rental units will have income restrictions ranging from below 30% to below 80% of the area median income, city leaders announced. The project will also feature 12 condominiums, four of them income-restricted below 70% of AMI, four units below 100% of AMI, and four at market rates.
In accordance with the City of Boston’s net-zero carbon emissions standards for affordable housing the development will be Passive House certified, meaning it will meet criteria regulating space heating, cooling, energy usage, air pressure, and thermal comfort.
The announcement also said submissions for the project were required to include a plan for establishing and overseeing a minority outreach program aimed at creating increased opportunities for people of color, women, and minority and women-owned businesses to participate in the property’s development.
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