Construction Begins on 60-Unit West Roxbury Affordable Housing Project

B’nai B’rith Housing has broken ground on 270 Baker Street in West Roxbury. The Residences Off Baker are 60 units of new-construction affordable apartments being developed by B’nai B’rith Housing and designed specifically as family and workforce housing. This is the first affordable housing project in the neighborhood of West Roxbury in the last five years.

The site is just off Baker Street, across from Catholic Memorial School. Visitors in vehicles may enter and exit from VFW Parkway and may enter from Gardner Street. The transit-oriented building is located close to the West Roxbury MBTA Commuter Rail Station, Star Market grocery store and other neighborhood establishments. It is scheduled to open in June 2023.

Susan Gittelman, Executive Director of B’nai B’rith Housing, said, “We’re proud to work with the West Roxbury neighborhood to make this high-quality affordable housing a reality in a neighborhood that will benefit from it. And it’s notable that, among our many successful housing developments, we are now in this neighborhood.”

MassHousing Executive Director Chrystal Kornegay said, “Residences off Baker will bring 60 new mixed-income apartment homes because of the work of B’nai B’rith Housing. MassHousing is pleased to be part of this effort with a focus on families in a neighborhood where affordable rental housing is hard to find.”

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said, “As the cost of housing has become more and more out of reach for families, we recognize the need to take urgent action to keep families in their homes and build a city for everyone. Today's groundbreaking shows what’s possible when we collaborate across different sectors and levels of government to create much-needed affordable housing in our neighborhoods.”

The Residences are 1-, 2-, and 3-bedroom units in a building uniquely designed to meet the needs of its residents. Amenities to support the family development include a community room, a craft and homework space, a Zoom room and conference room, a fitness area, mailroom with package storage room, laundry locations on each floor, an outdoor patio, children’s play area, a community garden, walking path, dog-washing room and interior bike storage rooms.

The building will be staffed with a full-time site manager and an on-site service coordinator. The development will have 60 on-site parking spots, one for each unite, and includes electric vehicle (EV) charging stations. It includes energy-efficient heating and cooling systems, as well as Energy Star rated appliances, and environmentally friendly design features throughout.  

The Residences Off Baker will accommodate residents whose incomes are 30 to 90 percent of Annual Median Income for the area. Those incomes currently range from about $29,000 for a single person to about $126,000 for a four-person family. Forty-five units of the 60 residences will be available to households earning less than 60 percent of the AMI, with 15 of those units restricted to households earning less than 30 percent of AMI, including households transitioning from homelessness. 

Financing for The Residences Off Baker was made possible by $9.2 million from MassHousing, $5.8 million from the state’s Department of Housing and Community Development, and $3.7 million from the City of Boston’s Mayor’s Office of Housing. Silicon Valley Bank, which recently purchased Boston Private Bank, and Eastern Bank jointly provided a $20 million construction loan, and Boston Financial handled $14 million in low-income housing tax credits to make the project possible.

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