NEI General Contracting transforms dormitory into affordable housing

Hanover, MA NEI General Contracting has completed its fourth project for the Planning Office for Urban Affairs, Inc. (POUA), a non-profit housing developer affiliated with the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston. NEI oversaw the historic adaptive re-use of the 56,000 s/f Kennedy Hall at Cardinal Cushing Center into 37 affordable and workforce housing units, which is now known as Bethany Apartments.

The Cardinal Cushing Center has supported children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities through education, employment training, residential care, and other services since the late 1940s. Constructed in 1957 as a dormitory, Kennedy Hall has been converted into 37 units with a mix of one-, two-, and three-bedroom units. The design preserved the historic envelope of the three-story H-shaped brick building and maintained the existing structure. Interior historic features underwent careful restoration. The chapel was converted into an open community room with 15-foot ceilings, while other spaces were converted into a resident lounge, fitness center, reading room, offices and additional resident amenities.

“We turned to NEI General Contracting for this project because of their expertise in and commitment to the preservation of historic and landmark properties,” said Bill Grogan, COO and general counsel for the Planning Office for Urban Affairs. 

“We have enjoyed a long and productive working relationship with NEI and appreciate all they have done to help us create more high-quality housing.”

Established in 1969 by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston under the leadership of monsignor Michael Groden and Cardinal Cushing, the Planning Office for Urban Affairs, Inc. (POUA) is a non-profit social justice ministry that strives to create vibrant communities through the development of high quality affordable and mixed income housing, where people of modest means can live with dignity and respect in homes they can afford. As a foremost non-profit developer in the Northeast and one of the leading diocesan housing ministries for the Catholic Church in America, POUA has developed nearly 3,000 units of affordable and mixed-income housing, providing homes for more than 11,000 people and becoming one of the most productive non-profit housing developers in the region.

 Project team members include:

• General contractor: NEI General Contracting

• Architect: The Architectural Team (TAT)

• Civil engineer and landscape architect: Horsley Witten Group

• Mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire protecting (MEP/FP) engineer: Wozny Barbar & Associates

• Historic consultant: MacRostie Historic Advisors, LLC

• Owner’s rep: WaypointKLA, Inc.