Blessed Sacrament Campus Jamaica Plain, Boston

1. Blessed Sacrament CampusJamaica Plain, Boston • A newly formed joint venture, Church Square Community Partners LLC has recently purchased the Blessed Sacrament Campus on Centre Street in the Jamaica Plain section of Boston. • Open RFP process, and purchased the land from the Boston Archdiocese for $6.025M, which was a million dollars less than all other bidders due to their binding agreement to commit to the goals and full agenda set forth by the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Council. • Development Team has conducted an extensive community process including three large community meetings held on December 3rd, January 19th, and February 3rd to discuss the program, its impacts, and emerging site and building plans. • The goal of these meetings is the refinement of the site and building plans for submission in early March to the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) under an expanded Article 80 Large Project Review. All parties involved in the community meetings must be in agreement in order for the BRA to review the project and for the project to move forward.

2. Blessed Sacrament Campus, Jamaica Plain, Boston • Hyde-Jackson neighborhood of the Jamaica Plain • “main street” orientation • housing ranges from detached single family housing to multifamily housing • Average density is 92/acre multi-ethnic, with a large concentration of Latino residents. • Neighborhood is transitioning from a predominately low-income, minority area, to one of mixed income due to the extension of the Orange Line. • BRA Approval Process • Article 80 Approval Process. • RFP in line with JPNC requests. • BRA however is very sensitive to political support from the communities due to lawsuits over “spot zoning”. • substantial support for the project of all parties.

3. The Rectory Blessed Sacrament Church The Convent The COMPASS School

4. Centre Street at Hyde Square North on Creighton Street East on Sunnyside Street South on Westerley Street

5. The Parties The Development Team: • The Church Square Community Partners are collectively a local affordable housing development corporation, and a Boston based firm with considerable historic preservation, adaptive reuse, and mixed-income development experience. • Believes that the development will add value and character to the community, maintain the integrity of the campus’ history, and produce a profit as long as they can increase the allowable density of the site through a zoning map amendment. • The Development Team believes the new site will become a residential and commercial node of Jamaica Plain, adding much needed affordable housing units and commercial activity to the street life, which would benefit the adjacent land owners through raising the property values in the area. The Neighborhood Council: • Comprised of several thousand members of the Jamaica Plain community and is generally interested in what it deems as positive developments within the Jamaica Plain neighbourhood. • Vested interest in this site as the church and school • Backed by the Mayor • Wants to ensure promises for the affordable housing levels proposed in the RFP, and that the Development Team will add valuable community facilities and public open space to the site. Sunnyside: • Group of approximately 20 citizens lead by abutting homeowners on Sunnyside Street and is generally interested in maintaining the property values and single family nature of their street. • They enjoy living across from the COMPASS school and the quiet nature of the Church campus. Sunnyside is worried that an increase of affordable housing units, especially in increased building density will have a negative impact on their street and bring undesirable high density development, crime and traffic to their quiet middle class neighbourhood.

6. Recommendations by JPNC • Preserve the Blessed Sacrament Building • Maintain the COMPASS School • Reinforce the Hyde Square Neighborhood District with new commercial/retail • Create a mix of new housing, at least 50% affordable to 80% AMI • Maintain quality open space • Create space for community use

7. The Issues • Issue A: Density • Rezone the site from single family to allow for affordable housing apartments, condos, and commercial space they want to build. • Issue B: The Rectory • Historic Landmark status Maintaining the Rectory as its current use and in its current location will significantly affordable units. • Issue C: New Construction • Two new buildings The underground parking garage is very expensive to construct, however it is essential to maintaining the “green core” of the campus. • - Proposed New Mixed Use Building • - New Townhome Building • Issue D: Open Space • Neighborhood and the COMPASS School use the grounds of the Church for recreation, open space is compromised by trade offs. • Issue E: Affordable Housing • Funding challenges have limited flexibility in mixing market rate and low income housing - segregating the community. Proposal by the Development Team at the first community meeting