January 19, 2012
Developer starts work to rehab 82 housing units in Roxbury, JP
By Matt Rocheleau, Town Correspondent
JAMAICA PLAIN, ROXBURY – A Boston community development organization has begun work to rehabilitate 82 units of occupied, multi-family, affordable rental housing in Roxbury and Jamaica Plain.
Urban Edge announced that construction started this month on the historic preservation and green renovation of the 82 of its “Limited Partnership Apartments” within 10 buildings at seven different sites across the two neighborhoods.
“This project keeps our promise that all the housing developed and owned by Urban Edge will remain a growing asset to its residents, their neighborhoods and the City of Boston,” Noah Maslan, Urban Edge’s real estate director said in a statement.
The news comes less than six months after the 38-year-old, Roxbury-based nonprofit completed the green rehabilitation of 103 other rental apartments in Jamaica Plain and Dorchester.
The developer said the construction it began this month is the latest in its current development pipeline of eight renovation projects planned over the next two to three years that the organization hopes will boost the local economy, improve housing quality and extend affordability to 515 families, while also improving the environment through reduced energy and water use.
The developer was awarded a $325,000 federal housing grant to help fund the rehabilitation of the 82 units, which is expected to take about 15 months to complete. In August, Urban Edge announced it received that funding as one of 115 NeighborWorks organizations nationwide to share $34.9 million in grants to rehabilitate or finance the rehabilitation of affordable housing.
The project is also being supported by: MassHousing, the state’s Department of Housing and Community Development, the City of Boston’s HOME Program and Neighborhood Housing Trust, the Massachusetts Housing Equity Fund, the Massachusetts Historical Commission, the Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation, the Local Initiatives Support Corporation, the Kresge Foundation, National Grid, and the Boston Private Bank & Trust Company, officials said. Public funders include the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
“Rehabilitation of existing multi-family housing benefits many — residents who will enjoy improved housing conditions, owners who will benefit from lower operating expenses, communities that will see increased property values and a cleaner environment, and people put to work by the construction dollars,” Urban Edge’s president and CEO, Chrystal Kornegay, said in a previous statement.
The nonprofit’s project will upgrade main building systems, envelopes and structural integrity and address related capital needs at the Urban Edge Limited Partnership Apartments (UELP). The work will follow Urban Edge’s “integrated green” development approach guided by the LEED and Green Communities rating systems and the organization’s sustainability goals.
Energy audit and benchmarking analysis indicates that eight of the ten UELP buildings use approximately 10 to 60 percent more gas and up to two times more water than a typical building of similar type, Urban Edge said. The planned rehab work is estimated to reduce gas consumption by up to 25 percent.
Boilers and hot water tanks will be replaced with high-efficiency indirect hot water heating systems and controls; new roofs will be installed at eight of the buildings; and residents will receive Energy Star lighting fixtures and appliances, the organization announced.
UELP residents will receive updated kitchens, bathrooms, common laundry facilities and insulation. The development nonprofit has committed to preserving the property’s affordability in perpetuity.
NEI General Contracting is overseeing construction. The project architect is Davis Square Architects.
E-mail Matt Rocheleau at mjrochele@gmail.com.
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© 2012 NY Times Co.
URL: http://www.boston.com/yourtown/news/roxbury/2012/01/developer_starts_work_to_rehab.htm