Chinatown is one of Boston’s densest neighborhoods. With more than 50,000 residents per square-mile based on U.S. Census data — including high-rise developments around Boston Common — every inch of land downtown is precious.
However, Boston’s development boom has resulted in more affordable housing funds. Here’s a list of affordable housing projects to be implemented in Chinatown, adding up to 579 units.
288 Harrison Avenue
The current Tai Tung Village south parking lot is slated to become a six-story building with 85 affordable housing units and 40 parking spaces, said Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association (CCBA) executive director Susan Chu. Project plans are currently under review by the Boston Planning and Development Agency.
Tai Tung Village currently has 214 units in four buildings, completed in 1972 as a fully affordable housing complex. CCBA is developing the 288 Harrison Avenue project with Beacon Communities.
CCBA is a nonprofit organization established in 1923 to serve and unite the Chinese community, promote and preserve Chinese culture and traditions, assist in the provision of low income and other housing to the Chinese community, and serve as a coordinating body for Chinese community charitable and educational activities in Greater Boston.
290 Tremont Street
Another surface parking lot is slated to become homes. The mixed-use project at 290 Tremont Street will have up to 168 affordable home ownership and rental housing units, along with community space for the Chinatown library branch. The 350-foot-tall building comprises a hotel with up to 200 rooms and up to 340 parking spaces.
The BPDA has approved the project. The building is being developed by 288 Tremont Street Partners, a collaborative partnership of the Asian Community Development Corporation, Corcoran Jennison Company, MPB Tremont (an affiliate of MP Boston) and Tufts Shared Services (TSS is a joint venture between Tufts University and Tufts Medical Center). Community developer ACDC will build the affordable housings, while Corcoran Jennison owns the DoubleTree Hotel and the eventual hotel rooms. TSS will expand its parking lot, while MP Boston is directly responsible for 110 of the units through affordable housing linkage funds from its 115 Winthrop Square project.
Row house preservation
The Chinatown Community Land Trust acquired two row houses in 2019, which will become seven affordable units permanently.
78 Tyler Street
An empty building at 78 Tyler Street will become six affordable units. The Archdiocese of Boston has agreed to sell the former Maryknoll Sisters convent to the Chinese Economic Development Council (CEDC), said CEDC executive director Ed Chiang. Once the council obtains a loan, the sale of the four-story building is expected to go through in April.
50 Herald Street
The current G-Mart at 50 Herald Street, owned by CCBA, is designated for affordable housing. A planned development area (PDA) between the CCBA and its abutters the Davis Companies (TDC) and the Boston Chinese Evangelical Church will add up to 536 units of housing to a commercial block. The 536 units include 138 units of market-rate housing at 100 Shawmut Avenue developed by TDC; up to 313 affordable housing units will be at 50 Herald Street, with another 84 housing units at the church. CCBA has put out a request for proposals to developers for 50 Herald Street, Chu said.
