City to Fund Jackson Square Development

The affordable housing development will include 12,000 square feet of commercial space, 2,000 square feet of which will be devoted to ground-floor retail in Jackson Square.

A Jackson Square affordable housing complex will be finished using a portion of $8.4 million in city funds, according to a press release from Mayor Thomas Menino’s office Monday. The city will build 110 units of low income affordable housing through three developments: Jackson Commons, Roxbury Crossing Senior Housing in Roxbury and Phase One of the redevelopment of St. Kevin’s in Dorchester, according to the press release. Funding has been provided by the state Department of Neighborhood Development and the Low Income Housing Tax Credit Assistance Program in the Office of Housing and Economic Development. About 20 units total will be reserved for very low income families and those transitioning from homelessness. Jackson Commons, located …

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PHOTOS: Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Development Corp. Celebrates 35th Year

The agency that arguably has shaped JP more so than any other celebrated its 35th year on Saturday with food, music, dancing — and the yearly awards ceremony.

You don't have to look far to see how the JP Neighborhood Development Corp. has shaped our part of the city. On Saturday, the non-profit agency celebrated its 35th year. There was food, music, dancing, and, of course, the yearly awards ceremony. The party was held on the Blessed Sacrament campus in Hyde Square, an area being revitalized by the JPNDC. Completed projects on the site include the Doña Betsaida Gutiérrez Co-op and the Sister Virginia Mulhern House. Guitierrez herself was present at Saturday's festivities, as was Julia Martin, who gave her name to the elderly housing facility on Bickford. To see an interactive map of JPNDC projects, visit this link. Here are this year's award recipients: If you attended the celebration, feel …

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Net Sales at Whole Foods in Jamaica Plain on Tuesday Benefit Urban Edge

Urban Edge, a nonprofit development corporation that builds and promotes affordable housing, is the recipient of this quarter's "5 Percent Day" proceeds from the Whole Foods in JP.

Net sales from the Whole Foods store in JP on Tuesday will benefit Urban Edge, a nonprofit that fights the displacement effects of gentrification. The grocer holds "5 Percent Days" once a quarter, with proceeds going to various local nonprofits. Back in November, one such day raised $30,730 for Community Servings, a JP nonprofit that provides healthy meals for the critically ill. Tuesday's beneficiary, Urban Edge, is a community development corporation that builds and promotes affordable housing in JP and Roxbury. Back when the debate over Whole Foods' entry into JP was at a fever pitch, activists had demanded the chain give 1 percent of its store revenue to just such causes: "We demand this 1 percent for the funding of local anti-…

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Julia Martin House Lauded as Exemplary Senior Housing

Project partners, the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Development Corporation and the Bromley-Heath Tenant Management Corporation, share $50,000 award for the affordable state-of-the-art facility.

At an award ceremony on Monday at the Julia Martin House, an affordable senior housing facility located at Bromley-Heath, the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Development Corp. and the Bromley-Heath Tenant Management Corp. were the recipients of a $50,000 unrestricted grant from presenters Enterprise Community Partners and the MetLife Foundation. The site was selected as one of four finalists to receive MetLIfe’s “Award for Excellence in Affordable Housing.” According to a press release from the MetLife Foundation, the prize recognizes local “organizations that have shown outstanding leadership, innovation, effectiveness and quality operations and services in the area of affordable senior housing,” as well as “for successfully incorporating …

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Project at 225 Centre St. Receives $7.1 Million Grant

Development project at Jackson Square received $2.3 million from infrastructure grants.

The Governor's office yesterday announced a grant of $7.1 million dollars to the 225 Centre Street development project, located on the corner of Centre Street and Columbus Avenue. Of that money, $2.3 million comes from a MassWorks Infrastructure grant to support the parking lot. This marks phase one of a redevelopment effort in Jackson Square.  City Councilor Felix Arroyo remembers starting the fight for redevelopment in 1995. This project has been a long time coming. "More than a decade ago, community-based groups serving in this neighborhood began working on a vision for the revitalization of Jackson Square," explained Gregory Bialecki, the state's secretary for housing and economic development. "The vision was to create hundreds of jobs…

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House Hunt

Affordable Home Ownership Opportunity in Parkside

You can apply for the Boston Redevelopment Authority lottery for an affordable home at an open house this weekend.

See the attached pdf document for an ad approved by the Boston Fair Housing Commission and Boston Office of Civil Rights for a special upcoming open house.

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