North Cambridge Housing Complex to be Demolished & Rebuilt

The Cambridge Housing Authority has plans to use proceeds from a $30.8 million bond from MassDevelopment to demolish and reconstruct the Jefferson Park apartments, a 100% affordable multi-family housing project in North Cambridge.

The Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development ruled the site’s conditions obsolete, calling for demolition of the buildings.

Rebuilding will create 104 units: 32 one-bedroom units, 53 two-bedroom units, and 19 three-bedroom units.

Other improvements will include private entrances for each of the units, along with maintaining private outdoor spaces and landscape designs.

Bank of America is the project’s bond purchaser and MassDevelopment also assisted DHCD with the approval of federal low income housing tax credits that will provide approximately $25.1 million in equity.

“Providing affordable housing in Cambridge remains crucial in one of the commonwealth’s most competitive housing markets,” said Marty Jones, MassDevelopment president and CEO.

MassDevelopment issued the $30.8 million tax-exempt bond on behalf of Jefferson Park Apartments LLC, an entity managed by the Cambridge Housing Authority. Bank of America is the bond's purchaser.

Federal low-income housing tax credits will provide $25.1 million in equity for the project. MassDevelopment and the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development worked together to secure the tax credits.

Jefferson Park spans six buildings in North Cambridge. The properties built in 1950 and served as housing for veterans and their families in the aftermath of World War II. Since then, the Cambridge Housing Authority has provided affordable housing for families and individuals in these units.

CHA is a national leader in the development, management, and administration of subsidized affordable housing for more than 5,000 households of low-income elders, families, and disabled individuals. MassDevelopment has issued bonds on behalf of several CHA projects, most recently $104 million in tax-exempt bonds for three affordable housing developments.

 “The revitalization of Jefferson Park-State exemplifies the CHA’s commitment to provide its residents with high quality, energy-efficient housing that will remain affordable for generations to come," said Greg Russ, executive director of the Cambridge Housing Authority.

Boston's $1B Government Center Redevelopment Plan

Developers plan to construct a huge 528-foot glass skyscraper at the corner of Congress and New Sudbury streets. The curvy 47-story tower would be the centerpiece of a Government Center redevelopment project, where builders are preparing to construct a cluster of high-rises to replace portions of the Government Center Garage.

The project, estimated to cost well over $1 billion, will include construction of three high-rises and three smaller buildings containing more than 2.3 million square feet of commercial and residential space.

The project will begin with a 42-story residential tower with 450 rental and condominium units, followed by removal of the part of the garage that hangs over Congress Street and the construction of the 47-story office building. The developer wants to begin construction later this year.

The new office tower, designed by architect Cesar Pelli, would be an unusually dramatic building for Boston, a city that has shied away from the kind of eye-popping architecture that defines the skylines of other major cities.

In all, the project would result in six buildings containing 2.3 million square feet of commercial and residential space.

Three high-rises would be built on the western portion of the site, and three smaller buildings would be built along the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway.

A retail plaza would create a new connection between the Greenway and Canal Street.

While the portion of the garage above the street would be demolished, the core of the building at Congress and New Sudbury would remain, preserving 1,100 parking spaces. That part of the garage would be hidden behind the new high-rises.

The development has received approval from the Boston Redevelopment Authority, but plans for each building must also be approved by the agency’s design commission. BRA director Brian Golden has offered strong support for the project.

“The redevelopment of the Government Center Garage site will reshape the downtown skyline in a way that few projects can,” he said. “We welcome a creative approach to its design and look forward to working with the architecture team to review their proposal more carefully.”

Developer Tom O’Brien, a principal of HYM Investment Group, said the project’s architecture is meant to call attention to the vast change it would bring to the city’s downtown.

He noted that it would remove one of the area’s worst eyesores, a relic of the Urban Renewal Era, and reconnect the Bulfinch Triangle to the North End and Beacon Hill.

Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects of New Haven is collaborating on the design with CBT Architects of Boston.

The project's primary investor is the National Electrical Benefit Fund.

Boston is experiencing a burst of real estate development, transforming much of its downtown and outlying neighborhoods. A retail and condominium tower is under construction at the former Filene’s site in Downtown Crossing. Additional towers are being proposed at Winthrop Square in the Financial District and at the site of the Harbor Garage on Atlantic Avenue.

In the Bulfinch Triangle, Related Beal is building a new headquarters for Converse Inc., and Boston Properties plans to construct a series of towers in front of the TD Garden.