DHK Architects Inc., Bald Hill Builders and CSNDC mark completion and opening of Four Corners Plaza

Dorchester, MA The team that persevered to build the new affordable housing development in the Four Corners neighborhood recently gathered at Four Corners Plaza, now home to 35 low-income families. The development is comprised of a 32-unit building, three free-standing townhouses, and 3,900 s/f of commercial space for local businesses.

DHK Architects, Inc. president Fernando Domenech began working with the leaders of the Codman Square Neighborhood Development Corporation (CSNDC) in the early 2000s to help the organization identify an appropriate site for a mixed-use development. Numerous sites were considered, and a lengthy process of visioning and planning with CSNDC and the community began in the mid-2000s. Finally, in 2005, the group identified the current site at the corners of Washington, Harvard, Bowdoin, and Nottingham Sts., and planning began. However, CSNDC executive director Gail Latimore said, “the process of developing the final plan and pursuing and obtaining funding was only just beginning. For more than 25 years, the team at CSNDC and our team of consultants worked tirelessly to build this $25.4 million housing and mixed-use development. To see this development complete and now home to 35 low-income families, gives everyone on our team an enormous sense of accomplishment.”

Fernando Domenech said, “As affordable housing became the priority, we looked at many design options that could produce the greatest number of affordable housing units and also provide commercial space dedicated to supporting local businesses.” The development’s hillside location posed many design challenges. DHK worked with CSNDC on several possible development schemes and designs. “It took many iterations to come up with the right design scheme that would both work on the site and meet the community’s needs,” Domenech said.

The uncertainty of funding, zoning issues, and community concerns resulted in numerous starts and stops on the project. However,  Latimore said, “the process of developing the final plan and pursuing and obtaining funding was only just beginning.” CSNDC, the project developer, persisted through numerous applications for funding — from government grants and loans to private financing. The slow funding approval process, the need for multiple government agencies to approve the project and its design, and inflation all contributed to years of delays. Domenech said, “To make the project a reality took incredible commitment and persistence among many, many people, especially by those at the Codman Square Neighborhood Development Corporation.”

In October of 2022, ground was finally broken on the project and Bald Hill Builders began construction. The building opened earlier this year.