February 8, 2012
Residents welcome new elderly housing on the Neponset River
By Patrick D. Rosso, Town Correspondent
HYDE PARK, MATTAPAN: Senior citizens in Mattapan and Hyde Park cheered Tuesday as Mayor Thomas Menino cut the ribbon to the Residences at Neponset Field, a $10-million affordable housing development.
“This property is great,” said Thomas Tibbs, a 55-year-old Mattapan resident who lives in the new building with his wife Sarah. “We came out of a house that was hard to keep up with and this new building is wonderful. Everyone deserves a house and a home.”
The 31 affordable units on a 3.5-acre site along the Neponset River are meant to provide elderly residents with a stable community at an affordable price.
The building, which is LEED certified “silver”, cost approximately $10 million to construct. Workers officially broke ground in 2010, but the project has been in the works since 2007.
“This is advancement for the city to make sure we provide affordable housing,” said Menino. “We will always continue to provide housing in Boston.”
The new space, which sits on a once-vacant lot, provides residents with amenities such as elevator service, laundry and common rooms. Construction for the project was funded in part by the city of Boston, the state of Massachusetts and the US Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The units, which have all been filled, provide rental units for residents 62 or older who are earning at or below 50-percent average median income.
According to the city, the project provided 72 construction jobs and three new permanent jobs.
Future plans for the site include the creation of a single family or townhome development, but at the end of the day many who live at Neponset Field were ready to kick back and enjoy their new home and community.
“When I came here I met people who truly cared about me,” said Sarah Tibbs, 63. “There is a real community here and it is just so wonderful.”
Email Patrick D. Rosso, patrick.d.rosso@gmail.com. Follow him @PDRosso, or friend him on Facebook.
© 2012 NY Times Co.
URL: http://www.boston.com/yourtown/news/mattapan/2012/02/hold_residents_welcome_new_eld.html