The Saint Polycarp Village Apartments in the Winter Hill neighborhood of Somerville have opened and hope to be one of the few affordable housing developments to achieve LEED Gold certification.

The new building, designed by Mostue & Associates Architects Inc., offers 24 affordable, green housing units, three ground-level retail spaces and a public landscaped outdoor space on the site of the former Saint Polycarp parish.

Located at the corner of Mystic Avenue and Temple Street, the newly occupied development has been called a “gateway to the city” by the Somerville Design Review Committee.

The master plan for the 3.5-acre parcel offers many improvements to the surrounding community, according to the project’s architect. Butler Drive, a formerly dangerous cut-through street, will be closed off to the public at Temple Street and will be transformed into a pedestrian walkway.

The historic Saint Polycarp church and rectory, which once stood exposed to the heavy traffic noise from Interstate 93 and Mystic Avenue, are now sheltered in a quiet, green campus setting, the architect added.

The project is currently pursuing LEED Gold certification.