More Than 3,000 Boston Homes Under Construction

If you know someone who needs a home in Boston, the Boston Redevelopment Authority may be able to help.

The agency oversaw groundbreakings on 1,000 new housing units in the last quarter of 2011, and is presently monitoring 3,360 under construction, including three in West Roxbury.

The 25 projects under way range from the small—like the six-unit Newbury Street property being constructed in cooperation with Centremark Properties—to the large—like the 500-unit Tremont Street development currently under construction by Winn Development in the South End.

“[In 2012], we broke ground on 26 projects, investing $2.4 billion in our city,” said Melina Schuler, a spokeswoman for the authority. “This includes numerous multifamily residential projects.”

In West Roxbury, the Belgrade Place development is currently looking for tenants, while the Cheriton Heights Senior Housing is currently being built.

, the president of the West Roxbury Civic and Improvement Association, a Zoning Commissioner for the Boston Redevelopment Authority, and a member of the American Arabic Benevolent Association (AABA) for 11 years, and the president for four years, spoke about the need for senior housing.

"The American Arabic Benevolent Association, Inc. (AABA) is the developer of the James M. Salah Family housing at 'Cheriton Heights,  which is a HUD Section 202 senior housing of 70 units. Cheriton Grove a 60-unit HUD senior housing was built by AABA 26 years ago. Through the years, Cheriton Grove has been home to hundreds of individuals. It has offered a safe and affordable environment where our seniors can mingle and enjoy many programs and services offered to them i.e.. art classes, yoga, bingo, various forms of live entertainment, blood pressure clinics, ear evaluations, and many, many more services. 

"The overwhelming need for housing as reflected in the long waiting list of applicants for Cheriton Grove, was a major factor why AABA 15 years ago began the process to build a second senior housing. The need for senior housing has become a major issue in not only the West Roxbury area, but throughout the entire country," said Waishek. In the last decade, Schuler said, the authority has built more than 20,000 new housing units, “that’s more than in any of the prior five decades.”

And through the years at WRCIA meetings, residents have issued concerns about overcrowding in West Roxbury. Waishek was asked about possible overcrowding in the neighborhood. 

"Many new homes are being built in West Roxbury because of the demand of single-family homes for young couples starting out and those who want to bring up a family here. Also we have a  wonderful community which provides services for all. We have an ever expanding YMCA, Roche Community Center, a tremendous service provider for our elderly from ETHOS, banks, restaurants, specialty shops, a variety of businesses, playgrounds, churches for all denominations and the natural wooded areas of Bellevue Hill and the Stoney Brook Reservation," said Waishek.

She added, "As long as the building code of 6,000 square foot lot size for single-family homes is adhered to, I don't feel that overcrowding is an issue. If we start to grant variances to the code, then we will have a problem."

And while West Roxbury has grown with more houses, so has the rest of the city, with a quarter of the units (in the 26 projects started this year) were affordable, Schuler said. Since 2000, she said, Boston’s housing stock has grown by 8.2 percent.

In total, the authority is currently working with 23 developers across 12 of the city’s neighborhoods.

What’s going on in your neighborhood?

Project

Neighborhood

Units

#

Street

Developer

9-23 Griggs Street

Allston/Brighton

96

9-23

Griggs Street

Leggat McCall Properties/Legend Grp

Charlesview Redevelopment

Allston/Brighton

340

355-400

Western Avenue

The Community Builders

Exeter Residences

Back Bay

188

 

Exeter Street

Avalon Bay Communities

4-6 Newbury Street

Back Bay

6

4-6

Newbury Street

Centremark Properties

Simpson Parcel 1 AKA The Victor

Beacon Hill/West End

284

 

Causeway

Simpson Housing Limited Partnership

CANA Parcel 3

Charlestown

17

 

Warren Street

Warren Green LLC

Hong Lok House (Chinatown)

Chinatown

61

11-31

Essex Street

Rogerson Communities

Kensington Place - Hinge Block

Downtown

395

659-679

Washington Street

Kensington Investment Company, Inc.

Hayward Place

Downtown

188

580

Washington Street

Millennium Partners-Boston

Heritage Development Capital Improvements

East Boston

294

209

Sumner Street

Boston Housing Authority

Jackson Square Redevelopment - Phase 1

Jamaica Plain

103

225

Centre Street

The Community Builders, Inc.

Olmsted Green Phase III

Mattapan

109

 

Morton Street

New Boston Development Partners LLC

Mattapan Heights Five Chapter 121A Project

Mattapan

60

249

River Street

Trinity Financial

Kasanof Bakery - 233 Blue Hill Ave

Roxbury

48

233

Blue Hill Avenue

Nuestra Comunidad

49-63 Melcher Street

South Boston

60

49/51/63

Melcher Street

Archon/Gerding Edlen/Synergy

Eleven West Broadway

South Boston

50

11

West  Broadway Street

Eleven West, LLC

319 A Street Rear

South Boston

202

319-321

A Street Rear

Gerding Edlen Development

360 West Second Street

South Boston

19

360

West Second Street

Joseph Taylor

3 Dorchester Street - Phase II

South Boston

22

3

Dorchester Street

Trocadero Development, LLC.

5-10 St. George Street

South End

33

5-10

St. George Street

Peter Zagorianakos

Castle Square

South End

500

388

Tremont Street

Winn Development

100 Arlington Street

South End/Bay Village

128

100

Arlington Street

The Congress Group

Ridgecrest Village Apartments

West Roxbury

48

110

Edgemere Road

Chestnut Hill Realty

450 Belgrade Avenue

West Roxbury

39

450

Belgrade Avenue

Mike Barsamian

Cheriton Heights Senior Housing

West Roxbury

70

20

Cheriton Road

American Arabic Benevolent Association, Inc.

Note: A previous version of this article listed inaccurate information received from the Boston Redevelopment Authority for the developer of the Jamaica Plain property. It has now been corrected.