VietAID is proposing a new 13-unit building at 35 Faulkner St. steps from the Fields Corner T station on the site of what the nonprofit they said is an underutilized community garden that they own. The building would be 100 percent affordable housing with supportive services included onsite.
Rendering courtesy of VietAID
Officials at the Fields Corner nonprofit VietAID are shopping around a proposal for 13 units of affordable housing in a new building on an underutilized community garden at 35 Faulkner St. next to the Red Line station.
Executive Director George Huynh and real estate manager Eric Fellinger have already held one meeting with the community, and plan to have another to present the plan to the Fields Corner Civic Association (FCCA) on Sept. 5. Fellinger said they also are preparing the project for submission to the city’s supportive housing funding round that closes on Sept. 22.
Supportive housing is defined as housing that comes with support services, such as childcare, job training, and health care for vulnerable populations.
VietAID does not have a date at the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) yet, and does not expect to go through the Boston Planning and Development Agency (BPDA) Article 80 process.
“It was deemed undevelopable around 2003 when we were building out our other property at 19-21 Faulkner St.,” said Fellinger. “It was a yard sale property. That has changed and housing values have changed. There is a major focus on affordable housing now. With this property … not getting much interest as a garden, we decided to look at it again…We see this as bringing a whole lot of benefit to the city and Dorchester as a whole.”
Huynh, who took over the top role at VietAID in December 2022, said the idea was born under former director Lisette Le. It would consist of a new 5-story building of single-room occupancy units, with four studios and nine, one-bedroom units with no parking provided. It would be like other properties VietAID runs, like 1460 House at 1460 Dorchester Ave., where they work with Bay Cove Human Services.
“We’re in the very early stages of this,” said Huynh. “We thought it would be a great opportunity to add transit-oriented development to the area…This property had been underused for so long. Any way we can provide additional affordable housing, especially in this market, we are going to take it.”
Both Huynh and Fellinger said they have heard concerns about parking in the early going but felt that the residents – which would be those qualifying at 50 percent or below – probably wouldn’t have cars and would rely on the MBTA station across the street.
“We are confident there will be little or no parking effect and don’t expect any residents here would buy or own cars,” Fellinger said.
Huynh added they are not discontinuing their community garden program, but are hoping to move gardeners to Town Field, where they have new plots that were started last year.
Of note is a proposal to raze an existing home next door and put up a new building with no parking that had been proposed by developer Hiep Chu last year. That was put on hold due to escalating construction costs and increasing interest rates for borrowing.
Seth Daniel, News Editor
The Dorchester Reporter on August 23, 2023
Source: https://www.dotnews.com/2023/vietaid-looking-transform-community-garden-housing