Community preservation and housing projects will get $38 million in city grants this summer through the latest round of Community Preservation Act (CPA) funding, Mayor Michelle Wu’s office announced earlier this month.
The grants, which constitute the eighth round of CPA funding, will go to a total of 52 projects across 16 neighborhoods in Boston, including the Back Bay, Beacon Hill, the Fenway and the South End.
The city plans to give $19 million to seven affordable housing projects, around $9 million to 27 historic preservation projects, and the remaining $9 million to 18 open space and recreation projects.
The Fenway Community Development Corporation (CDC), for example, received a $1.5 million grant to partially fund its ongoing development at 112 Queensberry Street along the Back Bay Fens. The organization, an affordable housing and community development nonprofit, acquired the property last year for $2.3 million.
“The project will transform an under-utilized urban infill site into 24 units of affordable, transit-oriented rental housing that will serve individuals earning 30–60 percent of [the area median income],” Suneeth John, the nonprofit’s head of real estate, wrote in an email. “Housing costs in neighborhoods like the Fenway have spiraled in the last decade. This funding will allow Fenway CDC to create more affordable housing opportunities in the Fenway.”
Applying for housing funds is much like any other development process in the city. Prospective developers had to work with the Mayor’s Office of Housing as well as the Community Preservation Office, in response to the city’s annual Request for Proposals (RFP) for affordable housing projects.
In contrast, the process for historical preservation and open space funding only requires that city legal officials determine whether an organization’s potential project is eligible for funding before inviting it to complete a full application.
Numerous churches and community organization offices will use their historical preservation funds for structural repairs. Both the Church of the Covenant in the Back Bay and Hill House at 127 Mount Vernon St. on Beacon Hill will use their funds to repair or replace their roofs. The Arlington Street Church will use over $500,000 for masonry repairs, while the Ruggles Baptist Church in the Fenway received $539,000 for landscaping.
The South End received a total of $1.4 million to develop three of its parks, most of which is allocated to the playground of the Hurley K-8 bilingual school to “create a safe, age-appropriate, and inclusive play space.”
Boston voters approved the CPA in 2016, allowing the city to start a community preservation fund with money from a one percent surcharge on residential and business property tax bills. Since then, the Community Preservation Committee has selected nearly 400 projects and awarded around $230 million in funding. A city spokesperson said that the city had received 82 applications totaling $52 million in funding this year, but that only $38 million was available.
