A 34-unit limited equity cooperative is under construction on land donated by the Ruggles Baptist Church in Mission Hill. The coop is the second phase of the Back of the Hill Community Housing Initiative, the result of a partnership between the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Corp. and the Back of the Hill Community Development Corp.
Kay Gallagher was once afraid to walk through the streets of her Mission Hill neighborhood.
Vacant lots in Gallagher’s neighborhood, once the site of triple-deckers, had become illegal dumping grounds. The sight of burning stolen cars was almost a daily ritual. The “isolation,” as Gallagher calls it, became too much for some residents. Some of them fled Mission Hill, selling their homes in the 1960s to local hospitals that wanted to expand.
But Gallagher and a few of her determined neighbors remained. Gallagher, who lives in a triple-decker on Bucknam Street that her family purchased in 1928, was one of several residents who fought to save their residential neighborhood. By many accounts, they won the battle.
The neighborhood has been slowly transformed, with new housing filling vacant lots and more residential units currently under construction.
“We didn’t want to go,” said Gallagher, referring to her neighbors and friends. “It’s [Mission Hill] so convenient to everything – school, work, church. Where else could we go?”
Last Saturday, Gallagher was honored at a groundbreaking ceremony for 58 affordable housing units. A portion of the housing currently under construction is being named after Gallagher, the Mission Hill crusader who spent decades trying to revive her neighborhood.
The housing is being built as part of the second and third phases of Back of the Hill Community Housing Initiative – the result of a partnership between the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Corp. and the Back of the Hill Community Development Corp.
The launch of the Back of the Hill Community Housing Initiative and the gradual revitalization of Gallagher’s neighborhood is an intricate tale that goes back to the late 1960s and features a large cast of characters.
About 40 years ago, Lahey Clinic bought large blocks of land because it wanted to build a medical facility at the back of Mission Hill, while at the front of the hill, Harvard University purchased property in an attempt to expand the Longwood Medical Area.
“There was a real threat to the residential neighborhood,” said Pat Flaherty, a project manager with JPNDC who moved to Mission Hill in the 1980s.
‘Real Commitment’
Some neighbors, like Gallagher, refused to sell their homes and relocate. When the hospitals failed to follow through with their plans to expand, neglected lots were left behind. Some land was eventually foreclosed and taken by the city. Not only did the empty lots become eyesores but they also became the centers of criminal activity.
Eventually, the Back of the Hill Community Development Corp. was formed in order to reclaim the abandoned land. With funding and support from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the CDC bought some of the land from Lahey Clinic, and in the 1980s developed 100 South Huntington – 100 units for seniors and the disabled. The CDC also developed 166 units of mixed-income housing on land formerly owned by Lahey, and 18 affordable housing units on property once owned by the Ruggles Baptist Church.
But vacant lots – some of them owned by the city of Boston – were still a problem for the locals. In 1998, the CDC decided to partner with the JPNDC, a group that had worked on rejuvenating other parts of Mission Hill. The two groups held a series of community meetings to discuss what should be done about 16 vacant lots on Mission Hill.
Most who participated in the community meetings said they want to see more affordable housing in the area to preserve the residential character of Mission Hill. That’s when JPNDC and the BOTHCDC pushed to acquire the land and get housing built as part of the Back of the Hill Community Housing Initiative.
The need for additional housing that would be affordable to the working-class people who have always been the backbone of Mission Hill was especially important given the increasing number of students who were moving into the area and causing rents to skyrocket.
“We had a real commitment to develop housing with long-term affordability,” said Flaherty.
JPNDC and BOTHCDC were able to get state and city funding as well as construction loans from FleetBoston Financial to build six two-family homes and 10 single-family homes that were sold last spring. The two-family homes sold for $180,000, while the sales prices for the single-family homes were $135,000 to $155,000. The homes are located on Wensley Street, and Fisher and Bickford avenues.
In addition, the two groups also were able to secure funding for a 34-unit limited equity cooperative that is currently under construction on a 70,000-square-foot lot on Heath Street. The land was donated by the Ruggles Baptist Church. The coop – The Catherine H. Gallagher Housing Cooperative – is named after Kay Gallagher.
Also planned for development are 24 units – including two-family homes – for first-time homebuyers on Heath, Lawn and Buckley streets. The two-family homes will be sold for $185,000 and $200,000, while the single-family homes will range in price from $145,000 to $165,000. The partnership is also trying to decide what to do with several other vacant lots that are still available.
All of these projects wouldn’t have been possible, according to Flaherty, if it weren’t for a few dedicated longtime residents who refused to abandon Mission Hill. Last week, Flaherty praised Gallagher and the other residents who worked so hard to preserve Mission Hill.
“If they had given up, if they had decided to leave … we wouldn’t be doing this groundbreaking,” said Flaherty.
