JPNDC to develop Blessed Sacrament

Yawu Miller

The prospect of developing housing on the site of the shuttered Blessed Sacrament Church drew Jamaica Plain neighbors out for two spirited meetings of the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Council.

By the end of the second meeting, however, supporters of plans to build affordable housing on the site were locked in battle with proponents of market-rate housing, some of whom argued that subsidized housing would bring more congestion and crime.

Last week, the affordable housing advocates won the battle as the Archdiocese of Boston signed a purchase-and-sale agreement with the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Development Corporation and developer Peter Roth.

The development team plans to build a mix of affordable housing, commercial space and community use. The sale marks the first time in Boston that a community-based nonprofit organization has purchased a closed Roman Catholic church and renovated it.

“This is the biggest victory we’ve had in the neighborhood,” said affordable housing activist Betsaida Gutierrez. “We’ve saved acres of land from being converted into high-income condos.”

The 1913 church dominates the streetscape in the Hyde Square section of Centre Street. The developers plan to build housing units in the church, while preserving the buildings commanding facade, which is dominated by a pair of massive limestone columns.

“It really has to be done with great care,” said Roth, whose company, New Atlantic Development, has had experience with both affordable housing and historic preservation. “It’s an historic building with great value in the preservation world and in the community.”

“I think the main sentiment was that people wanted this to be a place that would adhere to a mission of social justice and serving people in need — not housing units sold for the highest price,” said Richard Thal, executive director of the JPNDC.

The CDC prevailed over six other for-profit developers who bid on the project, after having garnered 1,400 signatures on a petition supporting affordable housing. The organization also held community meetings and garnered input from community residents, including many former parishioners from Blessed Sacrament.

“People felt that the church symbolized what the community was about,” said Thal, noting that many community initiatives were launched in meeting rooms in the church. “The only reason this has happened is because there’s been incredible support to keep this in community hands.”

The site includes a rectory and two school buildings, as well as parking lots. While the rectory will probably be razed to make way for new construction, Thal said JPNDC would allow the Compass School, which occupies one of the buildings in the rear, to remain in operation.

JPNDC submitted its proposal to the Archdiocese in April, after months of polling community residents about their vision for the best use of the site. Activists were not at all sure the Archdiocese would select the JPNDC, which did not necessarily bid the highest purchase price for the land.

“We knew that with a private developer and all that acreage, it would have changed the character of the neighborhood,” said Jesus Gerena, deputy director of the Hyde Square Task Force.

Affordable housing advocates have viewed the increasing housing costs in Jamaica Plain with alarm. Condominiums in the neighborhood go for as much as $650,000, while just ten years ago, the neighborhood was considered working class.

Families now need an income of $150,000 a year in order to afford market rate housing in the neighborhood, according to Gutierrez.

JPNDC is planning to build 65 to 75 homes affordable to individuals and families earning below 80 percent of the area median income —$66,000 for a family of four.