Boston

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Boston LISC

Summary: Boston LISC (PDF)

LISC’s approach to Building Sustainable Communities is not just forward-looking. It also closely considers the heritage of the people and places where it takes root. In Boston, for instance, the towering dome of Blessed Sacrament Church has been a landmark of Jamaica Plain’s Hyde Square neighborhood for nearly 100 years. Now closed, the 1,200-seat church could have become another symbol of decay and disinvestment, or faced demolition. Instead, Boston LISC and Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Development Corporation joined forces to redevelop the three-acre Blessed Sacrament campus and convert it into a vibrant mixed-use, mixed-income development. The church’s rectory now has condos for sale at below-market rates. One of the former schools is now the home of the Hyde Square Task Force, a community-based organization that offers a wide range of programs for youth. The convent is being converted into housing for formerly homeless individuals and construction will soon be complete on a new housing cooperative and retail shops. The slated adaptive reuse of the church will create homes and community space that will both add to and reinforce these gains.

Cumulative Statistics

  • $185,037,118
    in total investments
    (LISC and affiliates)
  • 8,103 affordable homes and apartments
  • 1,417,612 square feet of retail and community space
  • $1,328,567,445 leveraged

2009 Statistics

  • $8,549,134
    in total investments
    (LISC and affiliates)
  • 177 affordable homes and apartments
  • 19,269 square feet of retail and community space
  • $40,758,955 leveraged

Donors

Private Sector Support

  • Anonymous
  • Bank of America
  • The Bank of New York Mellon
  • Barr Foundation
  • The Boston Foundation
  • Citizens Bank Foundation
  • Citizens Financial Group, Inc./RI Realty Trust, Inc.
  • Clipper Ship Foundation, Inc.
  • Fannie Mae
  • Dr. Ramon Greenberg
  • The Home Depot Foundation
  • The Hyams Foundation, Inc.
  • Living Cities
  • Massachusetts Housing Partnership
  • MetLife
  • NFL Youth Football Fund
  • TD Charitable Foundation

Public Sector Support

  • Corporation for National and Community Service
  • U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development