Roxbury, MA Nuestra Comunidad and Windale Developers celebrated new economic opportunity at the Bartlett Station groundbreaking, located at 2565 Washington St.

The Bartlett Station groundbreaking is a milestone in realizing the economic development vision created by the community and embodied in the Roxbury Strategic Master Plan. For decades, the site was a vacant, blighted former MBTA bus yard, with empty garages and contaminated soil. Today, the transformation of this block by the team of Windale and Nuestra is well underway, as they celebrate the environmental cleanup of the entire site; the construction of a new public street and sidewalks; and the construction of the first two buildings.

The housing under construction reflects the vision for a mixed-income community from the master plan. A 60-apartment mid-rise will provide market-rate, workforce and low-income rental housing. A 16-unit condo building will provide market and affordable homes to new homeowners. The master plan vision will continue with future development, resulting in a site wide total of 323 housing units, with an income mix close to 1/3 low-income, 1/3 workforce and 1/3 market-rate. This mixed-income approach makes Bartlett Station a model for anti-displacement development. Approximately $184 million will be invested in this model, including $39 million in the two buildings now underway. 

When the community asked for significant additional economic benefits, we listened. One example is the Mission 180 coalition, part of LISC’s Resilient Communities/Resilient Families initiative, which engaged 200 Roxbury residents in a process calling for more opportunities for jobs for local workers, for business startups and for local artists.

The mid-rise under construction today will provide 12,000 SF of retail, representing approximately 30 permanent jobs to be provided by a grocery store tenant. Future commercial development will add another 70 permanent jobs in a variety of commercial spaces. These will include restaurants, a food retail incubator and a tech/office incubator.

More economic opportunity is provided by the high contracting and employment standards set by the co-owners, Nuestra Comunidad and Windale. Sixty percent of the contracting dollars will go to MBEs and 60% of labor hours will be filled by workers of color, and 50% by Boston residents. As of today, at Building B, over 60% of the jobs are filled by workers of color, 11% by women and 55% by Boston residents. The entire Bartlett Station development will create 1,000 construction jobs, 100 permanent jobs and $107 million in contracting opportunities. 

Local artists will have gallery and living space in future development and will help plan the design of a 15,000 SF public plaza which will serve as a major outdoor cultural venue for Roxbury, helping make Bartlett a creative village.

And more economic opportunity will be provided by 129 for-sale homes, allowing residents to build equity over time to help secure their families’ future.

Special thanks go to the lenders and investors who made this possible. The $32 million Building B development required a diverse array of funding sources and types, including: Local Initiatives Support Corporation; Bank of America N. A.; Federal Home Loan Bank; Eastern Bank; Mass. Healthy Neighborhoods Equity Fund; Mass. Department of Housing and Community Development; Mass. Housing Affordable Housing Trust; Mass. Department of Transportation and the MBTA; Mass. Executive Office of Housing & Economic Development MassWorks City of Boston Department of Neighborhood Development; Boston Planning & Development Agency; Environmental Protection Agency; MassDevelopment Brownfields Program; NeighborWorks Capital; Boston Community Capital; Enterprise Community Partners; Mass. Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation; National Equity Fund; Hyams Foundation; andUSGBC - Affordable Green Neighborhoods Program.