Special to the Gazette
The Housing and Development Committee of the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Council (JPNC) held its regular monthly meeting on Tuesday, November 19. On hand for the session were chair Danielle Sommer-Kieta, vice-chair Purple Reign, Bernie Doherty, Renee Stacey Welch, Willie Mitchell, Sarah Horsley, Kathy Brown, Aidan Foley, Celeste Parker, and Lorenzo Bartolini.
The members heard a presentation from John Holland of the Holland companies, the developer for the proposed project at 920 Centre St., which is the former Monastery of the Poor Clare Nuns. The monastery sits on a large tract of land (2.88 acres) at the confluence of the Arborway and Centre St. at Murray Circle and is located at the entrance to the Arnold Arboretum. The 10 remaining Poor Clare Nuns sold the property, which has been a Jamaica Plain landmark for almost 90 years, in 2022.
Holland said he has been working with the nuns for the past three years in order to help them find suitable housing (they are relocating to Westwood), including the re-interment of deceased nuns who had been buried in a crypt on the site.
“This largely is a residential project right now,” said Holland. “There will be 40 senior rental housing units (33 one-bedroom units and seven studios) in the existing monastery with an addition in the rear that will contain 80 condo units.”
The Planning Office for Urban Affairs of the Boston Archdiocese will own the monastery building and the apartment units in the monastery building will be deed-restricted to ensure that they remain affordable.
“In total, this project will be about 42 percent affordable,” said Holland. “All of the 40 senior rental apartments will be affordable and 10 of the 80 condo units (of which 54 will be two-bedroom units, 19 will be three-BR units, and seven will be 1-BR units) will be affordable.”
“It’s refreshing to see the large number of family-size units,” said Somer-Kieta, a contrast to recent projects in the area that consist primarily of studio and one-bedroom units.
Holland also described the extensive plans for landscaping and noted that there will be a garage underneath the new building. The present monastery building is 3.5 stories high and the new addition will be four stories.
Paul Baccala, an architect with Holland Co., told the committee of the numerous meetings that the firm has had with the Friends of the Arnold Arboretum. The Friends had expressed concerns about the original five-story height of the proposed new building; the effect of the project on the view corridor; and the changes in the tree canopy.
Baccala said that Holland revised its plans to address those concerns, principally by reducing the height of the new building from five to four stories. Baccala noted that the construction will consist of a process known as mass timber construction (in which the primary load-bearing structure is made of either solid or engineered wood), which is much more environmentally-friendly than typical steel-and-concrete construction. There will be public spaces on the site that will include a designated area for Blue Bikes.
In response to a question from Doherty, Holland said there will be parking for 110 vehicles. In response to another question from Doherty, Holland said the maximum rental price for the 40 senior apartments, which will be a mix of one-bedroom and studio units, will be about $1300 for a one-bedroom unit, but could be as low as $529 per month depending on a person’s income.
Horsley lauded the cooperation of the developer with the city and community groups. She asked about the accessibility of the rental units and Holland replied that all of the units will be accessible and there will be a separate accessible elevator for those who need it.
Brown similarly voiced her approval of the revised plans from what originally had been proposed. “This is now a much more attractive development,” Brown said, who added a hope that more of the condo units could be affordable.
Long-time resident Richard Heath asked about the status of the statue of St. Francis, with Holland noting that the statue likely will go with the nuns to their new monastery in Westwood.
Jan Wampler of Canton Rd., another long-time resident who is an architect, commented, “From an architectural point-of-view, this is excellent, very complete, and beautiful.” He expressed some concern about the segregation of the senior citizen residents from the condo residents, to which Holland noted that the buildings will be integrated in many aspects.
Ned Friedman, the Director of the Arnold Arboretum and a resident of Whitcomb Ave., said, “What you saw tonight was a thoughtful presentation from the development team. The Arboretum is excited about having new neighbors, but we are concerned about the permanent impact upon the view shed of having this large building right on our border. Frederick Law Olmsted designed a very specific view shed, but this will have some impacts on the public shared space that we will have to live with for hundreds of years to come.”
Doherty also echoed his concerns about the visibility of the building from the Arboretum. “It’s beautiful to walk around and look at the trees, so we want to be very careful about what we build right on the border of the Arboretum.”
The members next took up the issue of the “new” Article 80, which governs large-scale development projects in the City of Boston. Somer-Kieta noted that the city is accepting comments through December 15 about the proposal to amend Article 80.
“There are extensive changes that will impact future small and large projects,” said Somer-Kieta, who tossed out to the group the possibility of establishing a subcommittee that could address the changes in the form of a comment letter.
Both Doherty and Wampler lamented the onslaught of large-scale housing projects that are turning portions of JP into “canyons,” as opposed to the two and three-story homes that traditionally have been part of the JP streetscape. Foley however, pointed out that there is a housing crisis in the country because of a lack of supply, and pointed to Chicago, where residential skyscrapers are more common than in Boston. He added that there necessarily will be tradeoffs in achieving the goal of developing more housing. Somer-Kieta then summarized the changes being proposed for Article 80, which are contained in an 87-page document. Horsley volunteered to work with Somer-Kieta to draft a comment letter. The committee briefly discussed the Arborway MBTA electric bus garage project, which essentially has come to a halt because the legislature did not appropriate further funding in the FY26 state budget. The project presently is at the 15 percent design phase, but cannot proceed further without additional finding.