by Lydia Lowe, Chinatown Community Land Trust
Boston Planning and Development Agency (BPDA, formerly called the Boston Redevelopment Authority) held a public meeting online on November 17 to discuss the future of Parcel R-1, the publicly owned lot between Tyler and Hudson Streets that is the former site of the old Chinatown YMCA. The meeting was held in English, Cantonese and Mandarin, and you can participate using a computer or tablet with internet access, or a cell phone.
Origins of Parcel R-1
The land known as Parcel R-1 was home to immigrant working class families, until its homes and stores were among hundreds of buildings that were razed during Urban Renewal. While much of the urban renewal land was used to build the highways, some became part of the hospital campus, some was used to build replacement housing like Tai Tung Village and Mass Pike Towers, and Parcel R-1 remained in City hands. Other public land near Chinatown is owned by the state government (such as Parcels 25 and 26, which includes Reggie Wong Park).
In the 1970s, a YMCA was set up on Tyler Street on Parcel R-1 in a supposedly temporary structure that became known as “the bubble.” That “temporary” YMCA was the community’s main recreational facility for nearly three decades.
Land Swaps and Development Rights
In the late 1980s, the Chinatown community worked with the Boston Redevelopment Authority on the first neighborhood master plan. The plan named affordable housing as a top priority and listed five public parcels as target development sites: Parcel R-1, Parcel B (now Oak Terrace), Parcel A (site of the proposed new Josiah Quincy Upper School campus), Parcel C (now the Metropolitan), Posner Lot/P-2 (current site of Asian American Civic Association and Kwong Kow Chinese School), and Parcel 12 (proposed site of the 288 Tremont Street project).
In the 1990s, both the institutions and social service agencies based in Chinatown were expanding and looking for additional space. Tufts University had been given the development rights to the P-2/Posner Lot, while Parcel R-1 was occupied by the YMCA. A series of negotiations resulted in a 1997 agreement. Tufts received development rights to Parcel R-1, Chinatown agencies received rights to the P-2 Posner Lot for construction of a community educational center, and the new YMCA was built as part of the DoubleTree Hotel project with additional funds from Tufts.
A Call to Return the Land
From 1996 on, Tufts University and the hospital leased Parcel R-1 for use as a parking lot while retaining the option to purchase and develop. This agreement was renewed several times, until the community began to organize and call for the land to be returned to community use.
In 2016, the Chinatown Community Land Trust, Chinatown Resident Association, and Chinese Progressive Association organized a postcard campaign calling for an end to the 20-year arrangement and for community development of Parcel R-1. Chinatown CLT initiated a series of community visioning meetings and worked with urban planning students on a 2017 feasibility study that proposed returning R-1 to the community for both short term use and long term development. As Tufts University’s agreement reached its expiration that year, the institutions, the City, and the community reached agreement that Tufts University would give up its development rights in exchange for a year-by-year lease so that the land could be developed for community priorities.
In a series of community visioning meetings organized by Chinatown CLT, residents and community members named affordable housing, a community garden or green space, recreational, retail and service space as important priorities. Some also wanted resident parking spaces on R-1. In 2018, Chinatown CLT and Asian Community Development Corporation worked with graduate students to study the potential of a mixed-income development on R-1.
A Focus on Community Needs
Chinatown has many needs, including affordable housing, open space, a permanent library, and affordable small business space, but we know that not all needs can be addressed on one small parcel. That is why your participation is important—to help determine which needs are top priority in developing this parcel.
We are just at the beginning of many steps in the public process: 1) creating a vision, 2) release of a Request for Proposals, 3) developers bidding for the land, 4) selection of developer, 5) review of the project proposal for approval, and 6) groundbreaking and construction.
The Role of a Community Land Trust
Because development plans have many twists and turns, one of the best ways to ensure strong and continuous community control is through Community Land Trust ownership. This was a key purpose of founding the Chinatown CLT—to have a mechanism through which community residents can exert greater control over development. In a situation such as this, the CLT would not be the developer nor earn the developer fee; instead it would serve as a steward of the land through which residents can be at the table and ensure that it is always used for its intended purpose, whether short term or long term.
CLT ownership could be important to ensure that community priorities remain central as developers need to adjust the project when costs and financing change. CLTs also can establish a ground lease to ensure that any affordable home ownership units remain permanently affordable under the community’s watchful eye, even after public financing guidelines expire. Finally, CLTs can provide for long term participatory involvement long after construction is complete in order to build a stronger sense of community.
To read this article in Chinese (Traditional), please click here.