Image courtesy of ICON Architecture
A Dorchester property that spotlighted displacement pressure on Boston’s artist community will be redeveloped as affordable live-work housing under plans submitted by New Atlantic Development.
The Boston-based developer previously worked with art studios in Fort Point and Jamaica Plain to retain their properties amid rising real estate values.
The latest proposal, submitted to the Boston Planning and Development Agency last week, would create 21 affordable live-work condominiums on a vacant lot next to the Humphreys Street Studios in Uphams Corner. All but three units would be reserved for local artists. The proposal would retain the existing studios building.
The potential acquisition of the Humphreys Street Studios by a Newton developer in 2021 prompted the property’s roughly 45 tenants to launch a publicity campaign calling attention to the loss of studio and rehearsal spaces in Boston.
The ArtStaysHere coalition subsequently formed to advocate on behalf of public policies to stabilize art studio, rehearsal and performance space in Greater Boston.
“It’s a win, win, win for all,” said coalition co-founder Ami Bennett in an email. “What once seemed doomed to fall to the usual loss of artist workspace, actually became the beginning of a movement across our region to preserve the arts/music/cultural workspace we have and strategically create more.”
New Atlantic Development, which has nearly three decades of experience in affordable housing and artist live-work projects, acquired the property in 2022 for $3 million. The firm received over $1.7 million from the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture, the Mayor’s Office of Housing and federal ARPA funding to subsidize the purchase.
In a 2022 interview with Banker & Tradesman, New Atlantic Development CEO William Madsen Hardy described the “roller-coaster” process that culminated in the Humphreys Street acquisition, including a lawsuit by an abutter disputing ownership of a portion of the site and removal of environmental restrictions related to the property’s former use as a dry cleaners.
The proposal would retain the existing studios building, while adding a 4-story building containing 21 for-sale condos reserved for households earning 80 and 100 percent of area median income.
Designed by ICON Architecture of Boston, the building would include double entry doors, wide corridors and freight-sized elevators to accommodate large artwork.
