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Massachusetts Housing Investment Corporation
Whittier Street Apartments, Phase 2 – Roxbury, Massachusetts

Amid the global COVID-19 health pandemic, MHIC provided $9.5 million in federal low-income equity to support Whittier Street Apartments Phase 2, which consists of building 52 units, 24 of which will be public housing replacement units and 28 new housing units. When fully built out, the new Whittier Street corridor will contain a mix of public housing, affordable housing, and market-rate units that will provide a variety of housing opportunities for different socio-economic groups. Construction started in June 2020 once the Boston construction moratorium was lifted.

Built in the early 1950s, the Whittier Street public housing development in lower Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, MA suffered significant capital needs that made rehabilitation infeasible. In addition, chronic poverty is prevalent in the broader Whittier Street neighborhood, which encompasses roughly one square mile and 2,418 households in and around the Dudley Square and Whittier Street public housing development. A victim of Boston’s urban renewal policies that cleared large swathes of land (and local businesses, houses and communities), the neighborhood represents one of the largest concentrations of poverty in Boston: 47% of neighborhood families live in poverty and 75% live in deeply subsidized housing.

The project is a beneficiary of HUD’s Choice Neighborhoods Program, which leverages public funding with private dollars to redevelop severely distressed public housing and revitalize surrounding areas through a comprehensive approach to neighborhood revitalization. As part of the Whittier Choice Neighborhood Initiative (WCNI), the Boston Housing Authority (BHA) is redeveloping the Whittier Street development. The multi-phased redevelopment plan for Whittier Street Apartments includes demolishing the 200-units of existing public housing, adding 210 public housing replacement units and developing an additional 299 of new moderate and market-rate units. Of the 509 new units, 353 will be located at the original Whittier property (on-site) and 156 will be built off-site in the Whittier neighborhood.