Nubian Ascends Partners Close on Predevelopment Financing for Economic, Arts & Culture Hub
LISC, in partnership with five other participating lenders, recently closed on $3 million in predevelopment financing to the Black-led developer of Nubian Square Ascends, a mixed-use redevelopment of the Blair Lot, a vacant City-owned parcel in the heart of the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston.
The early-stage financing, partially guaranteed by Mass Development, will support design and other predevelopment work with respect to five (5) buildings and three (3) open spaces. A 7-story commercial building on the site will offer life-science lab space and office space, a marketplace and culinary center. Another building will provide 15 homeownership units of which ten (10) will be affordable or income-restricted. Preference for the homes will go to local artists. In addition, a cultural hall for performing arts and a 300-space parking garage are proposed.
Nubian Square was once Boston’s second leading commercial center. When plans were laid under the banner of urban renewal to demolish homes and businesses to make way for the Inner Belt and I-95 highways, residents successfully fought back to stop it. But the damage was done. The area was marked by a lack of investment and steady decline.
As a result of over a decade of work by community members and residents, Nubian Square is the epicenter of redevelopment efforts. Nubian Square Ascends aims to restore the neighborhood’s vitality by providing space for local artists, small businesses, and food and culinary entrepreneurs; promoting Black art and culture; expanding affordable housing for local artists and connecting residents with the burgeoning life-science sector through job training and employment opportunities. Nubian Square Ascends also projects it will create 900 permanent jobs and contract opportunities for minority and women-owned business enterprises.
The Nubian Square Ascends team is led by Richard Taylor of Nubian Ascend Partners, LLC. Partners who joined LISC to offer the predevelopment financing are: Blue Hub Capital, Local Enterprise Assistance Fund (LEAF), the Life Initiative, Massachusetts Housing Investment Corporation (MHIC), and The Property and Casualty Initiative Fund.