New Boston and Asian Community Granted Developer Designation for Big Dig Parcel 24

300 Rental and Homeownership Community Budgeted at $120 Million

Boston, MA (5/05/06) Community residents and leaders welcomed news when chairman Matthew Amorello and the board of directors of the Mass. Turnpike Authority granted developer designation for Big Dig Parcel 24 to development partners Asian Community Development Corporation (ACDC) and new Boston Development Partners (NBDP), the development arm of the New Boston Fund. The team will build more than 300 rental and homeownership residential units, up to 50% of which will be affordable to low income households. The sustainable, mixed-use design is currently budgeted at $120 million and features retail and community space, a publicly accessible park, green rooftops, underground parking, and significant street-level landscaping.

The Asian CDC and the New Boston Development Partners proposal was based on the community vision developed by the Hudson Street for Chinatown coalition, which advocated for affordable housing and other community benefits on Parcel 24.

The visioning process involved educational workshops, participatory design charrettes, and the dedicated efforts of hundreds of community members over thousands of hours.

The land for Parcel 24 was home to approximately 300 Chinatown residents before it was taken for construction of the extension of the Massachusetts Turnpike into Boston and this development will restore both sides of Hudson Street to active community use. The development team is committed to restoring this neighborhood to Chinatown, and to ensure that not only are there significant open space and environmental benefits of the Central Artery project, but that there are substantial contributions to the effort to address Massachusetts` affordable housing crisis.

"This is an important achievement for ACDC and a major step for our continued growth," notes Caroline Chang, the chair of ACDC`s board of directors. "For those of us who used to live on Hudson Street, this will provide an opportunity to `come home` and to keep Chinatown alive and well," says Chang, who was born on the site.

The development remains subject to review by the Boston Redevelopment Authority and the City of Boston permitting process as well as Section 106 reviews associated with Federal Highway land. Predevelopment is anticipated to last two years, and the partners hope to break ground in 2008.