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Boston Housing Authority - Mayor Menino Breaks Ground for Grandfamily Apartments

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Contact: Lydia Agro, Communications Director 988-4109,

Mayor Thomas M. Menino today celebrated the construction of 15 new units of affordable, public housing in Dorchester that will be offered to grandparents raising their grandchildren. The project is part of Mayor Menino’s ongoing effort to combat the city’s housing crisis and the Boston Housing Authority’s vacancy reduction program.

“Two years ago, I celebrated the opening of the Grandfamilies House at 214 Harvard St., also in Dorchester and the first of its kind in the nation,” said Mayor Menino. “The Grandfamilies House was such a good idea that I’m pleased the BHA is able to create a similar model here at Franklin Field. Not only is this project bringing back needed vacant public housing apartments, but it is also providing a needed service for grandparents raising grandchildren in our city.”

Thirty-two one-bedroom long-term vacant public housing apartments will be renovated and reconstructed to become 15 two-bedroom apartments for grandfamilies. The project also includes a social service component for the families as well as for elderly/disabled residents currently living at the Franklin Field Elderly Housing Development.

“The Swift Administration is pleased to be a funding partner once again with the City of Boston for this important project here at Franklin Field,” said Jane Wallis Gumble, Director of the state Department of Housing and Community Development. “Mayor Menino is to be commended for his ambitious housing agenda, and we look forward to working with him on more projects to bring safe, decent and affordable housing to residents of this city.”

The 32 units, located on Stratton and Ames streets in the Franklin Field Housing Development in Dorchester, are part of Leading the Way: A Housing Strategy for Boston, which was released by Mayor Menino last year. Since July of last year, the BHA has occupied more than 400 previously vacant apartments.

“Over the last year, BHA staff has spent time renovating vacant units throughout the City of Boston. Part of that effort includes plans for what were 40 vacant units at Franklin Field Elderly,” said BHA Administrator Sandra Henriquez. “Eight of those units have already been renovated and are currently occupied by senior citizens. After discussion with both family and elderly/disabled residents at Franklin Field, we are pleased to announce that we’ve decided to bridge the gap and renovate the remaining vacant units to provide needed affordable housing for grandfamilies.”

The Franklin Field development has more than 400 apartments for families and elderly/disabled residents. Portions of it are federally funded and portions are funded by the state. The Grandfamilies Apartments project at Franklin Field is state funded at a cost of approximately $2.5 million and is expected to be complete next summer.

Part of the BHA’s success in renovating its vacant units can be attributed to the use of on-site maintenance and in-house construction crews that help cut costs and get the work done more efficiently. Last year, the BHA’s Elderly Operations Department maintenance crew renovated eight Stratton Street apartments for use by elderly/disabled residents at Franklin Field.

The BHA is making strides in vacancy reduction throughout the city. For example, in the last year, 66 units, the majority of which were long-term vacant units, have been reoccupied at the Mary Ellen McCormack Housing Development in South Boston. The Cathedral Development in the South End has had more than 60 vacant units reoccupied, and approximately 40 units at the Bromley-Heath development in Jamaica Plain have been reoccupied. An additional 24 units at Orient Heights in East Boston were recently renovated and rented. They represent the last long-term vacant units at that site.

Mayor Menino was joined by Jane Gumble, Director of the state Department of Housing and Community Development, BHA Administrator Sandra Henriquez, and Harriet Lyons, founder of Raising Our Children’s Children, Inc. (ROCC, Inc.), a grandfamily support group.

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