The developer of a former Catholic Church campus in Boston’s Jamaica Plain neighborhood is expected to propose controversial luxury condominiums for the Blessed Sacrament church project before the year is over.

Residents of the Hyde Square area of Jamaica Plain (JP) have fought their share of redevelopment battles in recent years. Most notably, a Whole Foods grocery store recently displaced the former, more affordable Hi-Lo Foods Latino market at 413 Centre St. And that was after the Hyde Jackson Square Main Street neighborhood advocacy group dubbed the area the city’s Latin Quarter for its proliferation of Latino organizations and retail businesses.

Now, the team of New Atlantic Development and the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Development Corp. (JPNDC) has crossed a line by proposing luxury condominiums in the former church building at 353 Centre St. and market-rate apartments in a vacant adjacent school on Sunnyside Street, where local activists thought there would be space for community events or local nonprofit groups. Those neighborhood residents are now calling on the Boston Redevelopment Authority to avert what activists say would be a “disaster” for the area.

That disaster would come in two forms. First, the development team, which purchased the 3.1-acre church campus in 2005, has a purchase and sale agreement with GLC Development Resources for the vacant, 15,000-square-foot former Norbert School building at 26 Sunnyside St. GLC expects to build 21 market-rate rental units in the old school and would need to file a notice of project change for that portion of the project.

That’s because after a lengthy city-sanctioned community process, it was decided that the property would stay a school. At the time, the property was occupied by the Compass school, a non-profit, social service agency and special needs school. But in 2008, Compass decided to relocate. So New Atlantic and JPNDC put the property on the market.

Peter Roth, president of New Atlantic, said the development team tried to maintain the building as a school. After Compass decided to relocate, the company showed the property to several parties for either a new school, nonprofit space or housing. But so far, the only thing that has made financial sense for a private developer has been market-rate housing, Roth told Banker & Tradesman.

Ken Tangvik, a resident and member of the Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) designated to oversee the community vetting process for the church campus redevelopment, said, however, there was “a community consensus that that building would be used for nonprofit or community or educational uses.”

“This most recent decision was made behind closed doors, when all along this had been a public process,” he said.

What’s making matters even worse in community stakeholders’ minds is the new plan for the condominiums planned for the main church building.

 ‘No Affordable’ Units

The developers are now entering the second phase of the overall redevelopment of the church campus. They have already completed 36 low-income rental units, 7,500 square feet of retail space, 16 affordable condos and 29 single-room occupancy units, along with 46 below-grade parking spaces at the Centre Street site.

But when New Atlantic was devising redevelopment plans for the entire campus, “We weren’t really focused on maximizing the potential of the church and making the best possible units in the church,” Roth said. “We did it quickly … so there were a number of compromises in the plans. We realized we needed a full redesign to make them the best units possible. We’re very pleased with the resurgence of the condo market in JP right now. There’s essentially no competition in JP right now for new construction.”

With increased numbers of retail shops on Centre Street in Hyde Square, Roth believes the condos he is building will achieve very strong prices. The units will range from studios to three-bedrooms, and pricing could range from $260,000 to $750,000, according to Roth.

That’s exactly the problem – as neighborhood activists see the situation.

“The church was always going to be mostly market rate housing, but it was also going to have 15 percent affordable housing onsite,” said Benjamin Day, chair of the JP Neighborhood Council. “But the new plan has no affordable in the church building.”

And with new luxury condos and fancy market-rate apartments geared towards the young professionals that are gentrifying the area more and more every day, residents are worried whether they will soon no longer be able to afford to live in the still-gritty urban neighborhood.

Latin Quarter ‘Disaster’

“The Boston Latin Quarter is what we call this part of Jamaica Plain,” Tangvik offered. “There are a lot of Latino restaurants and a lot of that culture in that area. But there’s been tremendous gentrification pressure in this area. Condos at those prices would be a disaster for this neighborhood. We’re now talking about finding an alternative community use or cultural facility for the Norbert School building, something that will help build the identity of this area as the Latin Quarter and a cohesive community.”

Tangvik said his group is pressuring the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) and the developers to address community concerns.

“The [Neighborhood Development Corp.’s] job is not to create luxury housing,” Tangvik said. “It’s to create affordable housing and stabilize the community, not gentrify it.”

The BRA is aware of the discussions about housing at the Norbert School site, but the agency will not begin any review of the project and community process until it receives a filing of project change for the property, said Melina Schuler, BRA spokesperson.  

“The Article 80 [project review] process is what the BRA uses to determine what works best for all stakeholders,” Schuler said.

However, she said that the condos being proposed at the main church building are consistent with what was previously approved.

“The city encourages a healthy mix of mixed-income housing in neighborhoods,” she added. “There have already been 81 units of housing for a variety of incomes developed at the Blessed Sacrament redevelopment site.” 

Email: jcronin@thewarrengroup.com