Demolition has begun on the closed F.J. Higgins Funeral Home in Roslindale Village, making way for the new mixed-use project that includes a restoration and repurposing of the adjacent MBTA substation.
Development partners in the project, which will create 43 apartments, include Historic Boston Inc., Roslindale Village Main Street Inc. and Peregrine Group LLC of Rumford, R.I.
Peregrine Group purchased the funeral home on July 24 and began demolition of the building on July 28 for the new apartment structure. The entire project, located across from Adams Park, includes both the former Higgins Funeral Home site as well as the substation.
The Roslindale Substation, an 8,000-square-foot former switching and transformer station that was part of Boston’s elevated railway network, which preceded the existence of the MBTA, is at 4228 Washington St.
"Peregrine is very excited to be embarking on our first project in the Greater Boston area," Jordan Stone, principal partner of Peregrine Group, said in a statement. "We are looking forward to our continued team effort with both Roslindale Village Main Street and Historic Boston on this development."
Roslindale Village Main Street and Historic Boston were tasked with figuring out a feasible development plan for the long-empty Roslindale Substation in Roslindale Village by the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) in 2001. Peregrine joined as the master developer in late 2012, and the three partners purchased three parcels of land owned by Higgins Funeral Home.
Pending zoning approval, the substation property is slated to be transferred in this month from the BRA to a limited liability company controlled by Peregrine Group, in which HBI and Roslindale Village Main Street will be included as limited partners.
"The Roslindale community is delighted that, after 12 years of community activism and hundreds of hours of work by our Main Street volunteers and staff, Roslindale will see this architectural jewel finally restored and this underdeveloped corner of our business district activated day and night," Christina DiLisio, executive director of Roslindale Village Main Street, said in a statement.
The residential portion of the project is scheduled for completion in August 2015. The restoration and repurposing of the substation is expected to be completed at about the same time.
The project was approved by Boston’s Zoning Board of Appeals in October 2013.
The apartments will be located in a four-story building and will include studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom units. Six of the units will be designated as affordable and available by lottery. There will be parking spaces for residents in an at-grade garage.
The former MBTA substation was designed by Boston architect Robert S. Peabody and was built in 1911. The Massachusetts Historical Commission’s State Review Board approved the Roslindale substation’s nomination to the National Register of Historic Places in June 2013.
The landmark substation was one of six stations built in the Boston area to convert AC electric power from the South Boston Power Station to DC power for trolley use. It went out of use in 1971 and has been vacant since.
