BY PETE STIDMAN
GAZETTE STAFF

HYDE SQ.—Nearly 100 people crowded into an oven-like basement room in the Chevrus School July 26 to hear developers present new plans for the Blessed Sacrament campus as part of Boston Redevelopment Authority’s (BRA) Article 80 approval process.

The Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Development Corporation (JPNDC) and New Atlantic Development’s new plans call for saving and moving the rectory, but that change required moving more parking above ground, eliminating green space.

The new plan also increased affordable housing ownership opportunities from four units to 16 in response to local affordable housing advocates, and managed to create a view of the church building from Bynner Street.

For some, the changes weren’t enough.

“It would be nice if [the rectory] stayed on that corner. I didn’t think it was so much about the rectory itself as it was about preserving that open space,” said Carolyn Nikkal, expressing a sentiment that was repeated as a vocal group of abutters hammered on zoning and density issues.

For others, the revised plan was evidence that the developers were listening to the needs of the neighborhood.

“This project gives us hope,” said Betsaida Gutierrez through an interpreter, “hope that people of low-income can keep living here. There are projects of condos selling for $600,000 going up in the neighborhood, and nobody is talking about density with that.”

The Boston Civic Design Commission (BCDC), which judges large projects on density, impacts on the surrounding neighborhood, and other contextual issues, saw its first presentation of the project on Aug. 1. JPNDC’s Lizbeth Heyer said it’sinitial response was positive.

“Overall their reaction was that it was a great project,” said Heyer in a phone interview. “They said they though that the scale and massing and density was right.”

BCDC director Dick Carlsen was on vacation and unavailable for comment.

Aside from the meeting’s density debate, which at times seemed to border on opposition to any increase of density at the site, other neighbors discussed details, continuing to hone the project to match community needs and desires.
JP or Harvard Square?

One criticism brought by neighbors and the BCDC alike was the facade of the revamped mixed-use building planned between the church and Creighton Street along Centre Street.

“The design of the corner building reminds me of Harvard or Central Square,” said Frank Kelley of Sheridan Street. “It does not remind me of Jamaica Plain.”

“There’s been a lot of valuable feedback and design concerns around the mixed-use building,” said Heyer on the phone earlier this week. “We’re looking at that, and we’re looking more closely at how the green space will work.”

Open space

Green space became a focus of the Chevrus meeting as people learned about the shift of parking from a shrunken underground lot to surface spaces to afford the preservation of the rectory. The plans now include 104 surface spaces and 46 below a condo building on Creighton.

“There may not be enough space there for youth to have constructive activities and release their energy,” said Caprice Taylor Mendez, adding that she has known many youths in the area who have been hit by cars playing in the street. She suggested donating to the renovation of Mozart Park to offset some of the lost open space. Others suggested looking at ways to put more parking back underground.

Affordable housing challenges

Funding challenges have limited some of the JPNDC’s flexibility in mixing market-rate and low-income housing, causing some to worry that JP’s characteristic diversity might stop at the gate to Blessed Sacrament.

“In my view this is a project that segregates the community,” said Alex Oliver of Sheridan Street. “It places high-market-value units on one side and low-income on the other. It does not reflect a community that I want to live in.”

One of the challenges comes in the form of per-unit development cost limits set by the state and the City of Boston. Four more units inside the church building, which is currently slated for market-rate, could become affordable ownership units if these limits were waived.

“The challenge that we face is that the development cost of the church is extremely high,” said Heyer in a phone interview.

To receive the subsidies requested for the project, the development cost limit per unit is $300,000 for both the state and city. Actual development costs for the church are nearly $400,000 per unit, said Heyer.

“We share the neighborhood’s desire to have a little bit more of a mix,” said Heyer. “But, we have to obtain the waiver.”
Next steps

The developerswill introduce their plans to the Boston Landmark Commission (BLC) on Aug. 22. Both the BLC and the BCDC will form design committees to review thet project and meet with each other to discuss it. The BLC is scheduled to vote on Sept. 26, and the BCDC on Oct. 3.

The final BRA board vote for Article 80 approval is currently scheduled for Oct. 19. The BRA will be accepting public comments until Sept. 8.