Madison Park Development Corporation Begins Renovation on Historic Tropical Foods Building

05.24.2016

ROXBURY, MA.  Madison Park Development Corporation (MPDC), a community-based, non-profit organization focused on developing affordable housing for low and moderate income residents, announced that is has closed construction financing on the $18.5 million renovation of 2101 Washington Street, the former Tropical Foods building in Dudley Square, Roxbury.  When completed the building will feature 30 rental apartment homes and ground floor retail space.  The building, which sits prominently on Washington Street opposite the historic Eliot Burying Ground, is a contributing element to the Dudley Station Historic District and will be renovated to National Park Service Secretary of the Interior Standards for Historic Rehabilitation.

The 2101 Washington Street project will provide 30 units of high-quality housing with a range of rent levels for households of varying means, as well as 7,500 sf of ground-floor retail.  Sixteen of the units will be rented to households earning no more than 60 percent of the area median income, five units at 70 percent AMI, and nine at market rate.

“Affordable housing is vital to overall community success,” said Madison Park Development Corporation CEO Jeanne Pinado.  “We’re proud of 2101 Washington, our first mixed income rental development in Dudley Square that will open in summer 2017.”

The 2101 Washington Street project is an integral component of the Madison Tropical Parcel 10 master development plan which has steadily been implemented in phases since receiving City of Boston Article 80 permitting approvals in 2013.  Phase I of the plan, a new supermarket for Tropical Foods, was completed in 2015.  DHK Architects, Inc., Boston, MA, served as the master site planner and is providing architectural services for 2101 Washington Street.

MPDC has engaged Kaplan Construction, Brookline, MA, as General Contractor.  Total contract value is $12.5 million.  Project construction will comply with the Boston Residents Job Policy (BRJP) for worker hours as well as with the expanded Roxbury Strategic Master Plan Oversight Committee (RSMPOC) standards of ’51/51/15′ for City of Boston/ Minority/ Female worker hours.  Construction will meet MPDC’s own requirements for 35% “neighborhood” hiring, as well as for 35% Minority Business Enterprise and 10% Women’s Business Enterprise subcontracting.  Recent MPDC projects have been among the most successful in the City of Boston in meeting BRJP workforce diversity objectives.

Financing and assistance was provided by MassDevelopment, Eastern Bank, Red Stone Equity Partners, Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency, Dorfman Capital, Boston Redevelopment Authority, MA Department of Housing and Community Development, Boston Housing Authority, Massachusetts Historic Commission, NeighborWorks America, NeighborWorks Capital Corporation, and Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC).

“These projects always require many parties to work together,” said MPDC’s Vice President of Real Estate Russ Tanner.  “Our lenders and private investors work seamlessly with our development team to make this complex mixed-use historic renovation project happen.”

 

About Madison Park Development Corporation

Madison Park Development Corporation (MPDC) was founded in 1966 when a group of community activists said no to the threatened destruction of their neighborhood.  Over the past 50 years, MPDC has become a champion in revitalizing Lower Roxbury and saying yes to resident-led development and community empowerment.  MPDC’s mission is to create quality, mixed-income housing, and to promote the renaissance of Dudley Square as a thriving neighborhood business district, recognized as a center of commerce and culture.

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