March comes in like a lion: Three major funding awards for 2Life Communities real estate development projects

What a month! In addition to our official ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the grand opening of the redeveloped J.J. Carroll House in Brighton, 2Life Communities was the grateful recipient of major funding awards for three projects currently in development.

First up were two announcements tied to the FY24 Housing and Urban Development budget, where our leaders  at the federal level, including Senators Elizabeth Warren and Markey, were able to secure funding to support critical projects in their districts.

Thanks to Congressman Seth Moulton (MA-6), Solimine House in Lynn received $1 million to help construct its Village Center. Scheduled to open in early 2027, Solimine House will provide 150 affordable apartments for seniors on the site of the former Union Hospital. The ground-floor Village Center will include flexible spaces for fitness and wellness activities, arts and culture programs, lifelong learning, communal dining, and community events. A private courtyard at the center of the site will open up to more than 40,000 square feet of public green space. 

In addition, a pedestrian walkway will connect Solimine House to a newly constructed Element Care PACE (Program for All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly) center, providing medical care, physical and occupational therapy, behavioral health and counseling, and more services right where seniors live.

And thanks to Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-7), Brooke House at Olmsted Village received $500,000 to build its Village Center. On track to start construction next year, Brooke House will provide 127 affordable apartments for seniors with supportive services and demonstrate innovative ways to integrate housing with healthcare and childcare services. 

Located on the grounds of the former Boston State Hospital campus in Mattapan, the new building is a model of universal design, adaptability, resiliency, and sustainability. It will include a new home for the Shattuck Child Care Center, a satellite Harvard Street Neighborhood Health Center, and the publicly accessible ground-floor Village Center, which will be home to wellness activities, arts and culture programs, and community events.

The third award came courtesy of the Wu Administration, as well as Boston’s Community Preservation Committee and Neighborhood Housing Trust, which announced that Treehouse at Olmsted Village was included in this year’s round of affordable housing funding awards. This $7 million award is an investment in multigenerational community living in the heart of Mattapan.

Slated for occupancy in 2028, Treehouse at Olmsted Village brings the Treehouse model — nationally recognized for intergenerational community building — to Boston’s Mattapan neighborhood. Together, 2Life Communities and Treehouse Foundation are building an environment that supports foster and adoptive families, young adults at risk of aging out of the system alone, and older adults who are “honorary grandparents” such that they can all help each other thrive.

Treehouse at Olmsted Village will include 12 large apartments for foster/adoptive families, 8 studio apartments for young people (ages 18-24) aging out of foster care, and 46 affordable apartments for seniors. The new development also includes a 5,000-square-foot community center designed for both the community members of Treehouse at Olmsted Village and the larger Boston/Mattapan foster-adoptive community.

The Brooke House and Treehouse projects are part of Olmsted Village, an intergenerational neighborhood developed in a partnership between 2Life Communities and Lena New Boston with affordable rental housing for families, older adults, and foster youth and adoptive families, together with supportive services, childcare, healthcare, and community connections.

"Securing and nurturing affordable housing is the cornerstone for vitality and inclusivity in Boston’s neighborhoods. With escalating housing costs, many families and individuals face the reality of being priced out, leading to heightened displacement and diminishing diversity. The CPC is committed to channeling resources towards innovative, climate-resilient, affordable housing endeavors that create secure and nurturing homes for our community members."

– Felicia Jacques, Chair of Boston’s 
Community Preservation Committee

Photo credit: City of Boston Mayor’s Office / John Wilcox
Renderings: MASS Design Group