Brooke House at Olmsted Village

Lena New Boston 

Lena New Boston, a partnership of Lena Park Community Development Corporation and New Boston Fund formed in 2005 to redevelop 42 acres of the former Boston State Hospital site in Dorchester and Mattapan into 500 units of mixed-income housing providing both rental and homeownership opportunities. This venture has successfully transformed the abandoned and contaminated site into a community known as Olmsted Green which in addition to housing program has created interactive open space connecting the residents to the neighboring Boston Nature Center and Franklin Park with supporting community centers at Lena Park and a Gateway Center. Hearth at Olmsted Green with its 59 units of affordable rentals to seniors and a Brooke Charter School campus (k-12) were also developed on the Olmsted Green site. 

Harvard Street Neighborhood Health Center

 First opened in 1969, Harvard Street Neighborhood Health Center (HSNHC) strives to provide equitable, exemplary, high-quality, and timely care to Boston-area communities at every opportunity. HSNHC serves as the primary health resources to the communities it serves through the delivery of comprehensive, patient-centered medical care, regardless of a person’s ability to pay for service.

Shattuck Child Care Center

Shattuck Child Care Center (SCCC) educate and care for children to enable their parents to accept employment they might not otherwise be able to undertake. Founded in 1969, SCCC places a high priority on racial and economic diversity coupled with affordability and quality.
 

2Life Communities is thrilled to present our Brooke House at Olmsted Village project, a unique opportunity to create 127 new affordable apartments for seniors with extensive supportive services in the Mattapan neighborhood of Boston.  The project will demonstrate innovative ways to integrate housing with senior-specific healthcare and bring intergenerational vibrancy to the Brooke House community via on-site child care services for the broader community. Brooke House project will expand upon and benefit extensively from the already successful redevelopment of 42 acres of the former Boston State Hospital site in Mattapan. The prior 15-year community development effort, referred to as Olmsted Green, yielded over 500 units of mixed-income family rental, homeownership, and affordable senior housing; interactive open space connecting the residents of Olmsted Green to the neighboring Boston Nature Center and Franklin Park; and provided support for two community centers.
In December 2021, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ Department of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance (“DCAMM”) designated 2Life and Lena New Boston (“LNB”) as developers of the final 10 acres of the former Boston State Hospital site following a competitive Request for Proposals. 2Life and LNB will transform the remaining 10 acres, the crowning jewel of the Boston State community into Olmsted Village. Olmsted Village will consist of passive and active open space and community programming as well as three housing communities: Brooke House - 127 affordable senior housing apartments with a child care center, health care center, and publically accessible community space; Treehouse at Olmsted Village - 60 affordable intergenerational apartments for older adults and foster youth and adoptive families; and 82 mixed-income homeownership units for families.

Brooke House will have a fully-accessible ground floor “Village Center” which will provide space for 2Life to deliver our award-winning programs and services including resident service coordination, fitness classes, life-long learning, arts and cultural programming, and front desk staffing.  Brooke House residents will have access to innovative healthcare, including a 1,000 sf health care clinic to be operated by the Harvard Street Neighborhood Health Center (HSNHC) – a community-based health care provider.

HSNHC will have physicians on-site to perform physical exams, well visits/follow ups, immunization, urgent care-like services, and dental and behavioral health services. The building will also house a 4,000 sf childcare center and outdoor play space operated by Shattuck Child Care Center – a long-time operator of a licensed 45-space facility. The Village Center will also include 2,400 sf of publicly accessible community space including a small community convenience store and multipurpose spaces for community programs which will enhance community connections for Brooke House residents and provide services to the broader community. 
 

•  100% affordable to households with incomes up to 60% Area Median Income ($58,920 for a one-person household and $67,320 for a two-person household, as of 2022) with additional subsidies for many apartments to serve households at 50% AMI and lower.
• Highly-efficient, sustainable and resilient building designed to Passive House standards, bringing improved health, economic and environmental benefits to our residents and addressing the important objective of reducing our carbon footprint. 
• Designed to the highest standards of universal design (especially in bathrooms and kitchens) to allow our residents to remain at Leland House comfortably regardless of their physical ability that often changes as people age. 
• The ground floor Village Center includes flexible spaces for fitness and wellness activities, arts and culture programs, space for communal meals and other community events - the hallmark of all 2Life communities. 
• The ground floor will also include approximately 1,000 sf health care clinic to be operated by the Harvard Street Neighborhood Health Center (HSNHC) – a community-based health care provider and approximately 4,000 sf childcare center and outdoor play space operated by Shattuck Child Care Center – a long-time operator of a licensed 45-space facility
• Olmsted Village received Article 80 approval and zoning approval from the Boston Planning and Development Agency board on February 16, 2023.
   

Architect: MASS Design Group
Landscape Architect: Brown, Richardson + Rowe, INC. (BRR)
Civil Engineer: Nitsch Engineering
Sustainability: New Ecology
Legal: Klein Hornig LLP
General Contractor: TBD
 

More information on Olmsted Village is available here.