After 12 years of planning and hoping, a ground-breaking on the Roslindale Substation project was held Sept. 6. Some construction is already underway.
The project is twofold: the rehabilitation of the substation building at 4228 Washington St. into 7,500 square feet of restaurant and retail space and the construction of a 43-unit apartment building on an adjacent lot, formerly occupied by the Higgins Funeral Home.
“The fact we’ve been able to finally to transform this corner is nothing short of monumental,” Roslindale Village Main Streets (RVMS) executive Director Christina DiLisio told the Gazette last week. “The building is right in the middle of Roslindale. It’s iconic.”
Main Streets is working with Historic Boston, Inc. (HBI) and Peregrine Group development to restore the exterior and replace the currently-bricked-up windows.
Construction on the residential units began in July.
“These things have a lot of potential. Often it’s just a matter of pieces falling into places at the same time to push it forward,” DiLisio said. “The whole community has had eyes on the building since it shut down in the 1970s.”
The 3,500-square-foot ground floor retail space does not have tenants yet, though according to the RVMS website, restaurateur Chris Douglass, owner of Ashmont Grill and Tavolo Restaurant, is currently in “advanced negotiations” about the 4,000-square-foot restaurant space.
The substation was originally built to house transformers to turn AC power into DC for streetcars and has been vacant since 1971. It’s owned by the City of Boston, was recently added to the National Register of Historic Places.
Various rehab efforts over the decades stalled until the current project gained momentum.
A rendering of the proposed renovated substation and new apartment building at 4228 Washington St. (Illustration courtesy The Peregrine Group, Inc.)