Walsh Recommends Investing $3 Million in YW Boston Redevelopment Project

Mayor Martin J. Walsh has recommended investing $3 million in city funds to acquire the 13-story building owned by YW Boston (formerly YWCA Boston) at the corner of Clarendon and Stuart streets in Back Bay, and to redevelop it into affordable housing, with around half of its 210 planned units going to people experiencing homelessness.

Beacon Communities is partnering with Pine Street Inn to covert 50,000 square feet of space now comprising the existing 66-room Hotel 140, as well as 118 apartments, into 210 affordable-rate rental units, with priority for 111 of them given to homeless individuals. The site’s three largest existing commercial-tenants, the Lyric Stage Company of Boston, a nonprofit performing arts center; the Snowden International School; and YW Boston itself, would remain as part of the redevelopment plan. Construction on the project is expected to commence this August, and to take around 20 months to complete, according to members of the development team.

“Beacon Communities is proud to be working with the City to address the affordable housing crisis and the need to end homelessness throughout Boston,” said Dara Kovel, Chief Executive Officer at Beacon Communities, in a press release. “Our partnership with Pine Street Inn at 140 Clarendon is a big step in this direction and will ensure housing options and nonprofit commercial space in the Back Bay for decades to come.”

On March 1, Mayor Martin J. Walsh announced more than $34 million in new and recommended funding from the Department of Neighborhood Development, the Neighborhood Housing Trust  and the Community Preservation Fund to create and preserve 841 income-restricted units of housing in Allston, Back Bay, Dorchester, Fenway, Hyde Park, Jamaica Plain, Mattapan, Roxbury and the South End. In all, 198 of the units funded will create permanent housing opportunities for homeless individuals, according to the city.

“I am proud the City of Boston is investing in preserving and creating affordable homes to increase the availability of housing for our residents,” Mayor Walsh said in a press release. “Everyone deserves a place to call home, and this funding will go a long way towards making that reality for so many people. I want to thank the Neighborhood Housing Trust and the Community Preservation Committee, for making this funding available and supporting these important housing opportunities. Working together with our partners, I am proud that we are building a better Boston.”

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