JV Plans $120M Big Dig Project

BOSTON-A small tract of land in Chinatown that was once held the Southeast Expressway is set to become a $120-million, 20-story building containing 315 residential units and a mix of retail and community space. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, which owns the site, recently gave the Asian Community Development Corp. and New Boston Development Partners the right to develop the 55,000-sf swatch of land known as Parcel 24. NBDP is the development arm of the New Boston Fund.

"We're putting together a very elegant and community sensitive design for the building," New Boston Fund's Lisa Davis, who is the project's manager, tells GlobeSt.com. Davis says construction is set to begin construction within the next two years, will contain 70-units of affordable rental housing, 85 affordable and 165 market-rate condominiums along with about 15,000 sf of retail and community space. All will be based on a green-design concept. The project, located along Hudson and Kneeland streets, should take about two years to complete once city permits are in hand.

According to Jeremy Liu, the director of the Asian Community Development Corp., in the 1960s the city displaced hundreds of residents of Chinatown's Hudson Street neighborhood when their homes were seized to make room for the elevated highway. "We've gotten a lot of response from people who were displaced back then." Liu notes that many of those displaced residents will get preference in a housing lottery. The project is being primarily funded by the Urban Strategy America Fund.

"This is an important achievement for ACDC and a major step for our continued growth," adds Caroline Chang, the chairwoman of ACDC's board of directors. She was born on the site and her family was displaced. "For those of us who used to live on Hudson Street, this will provide an opportunity to come home."