A development team has purchased a former car wash on Hancock Street and is preparing to start construction on a residential building that will be a companion to The Meetinghouse project next door that it completed in 2020.
Benjie Moll, the principal at Arx Urban, told The Reporter that the company purchased the 247 Hancock St. property from Bill Lam in late June for $3.25 million.
The sale cleared the way for a 6-story, 47 mixed-income-unit building that had won city approvals in 2023. The car wash was demolished last week.
“We are incredibly excited to announce the closing and start of construction for our 247 Hancock Street project,” said Adam Giordano, director of development at Arx Urban, who noted that the development is being “financed by numerous critical sources including The City of Boston Mayor’s Office of Housing, the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities and M&T Bank, which provided the perm and construct loans as well as tax credit equity.”
Of the units, he said that 74 percent will be income restricted to families at 60 percent Area Median Income (AMI) or below.
Moll said that they expect to be welcoming tenants in about 18 months, adding that “we are super thankful to Meetinghouse Hill and Jones Hill [neighbors] for their support. This was really a community-driven project.”
He also noted the building will follow their development model of integrating communities economically. To that end, affordability levels range from 30 percent of AMI to 100 percent.
“247 Hancock reflects Arx Urban’s deep commitment to delivering high-quality, transit-oriented housing in Dorchester that serves a broad range of incomes,” Moll said.
Other notable recent transactions:
•The former Bank of America property at 740-744 Gallivan Blvd. has been sold to an LLC represented by Newton attorney Randy Kaston for $2.25 million. She forwarded The Reporter’s inquiry to her client, but there had been no response as of this week’s deadline.
•An LLC controlled by former District 8 City Councillor Josh Zakim purchased three multi-family buildings on Hosmer Street in Mattapan – Nos. 14, 23, and 41 – for a combined $7 million earlier this month from an LLC controlled by Milton developer Diarmaid McGregor, the developer of a mixed-use building at 1301 Blue Hill Ave. in 2023. Zakim has been active in real estate and affordable housing development since leaving the Council.
•The vacant property at 1471 Blue Hill Ave. near the intersection of Culbert and Woodhaven streets in Mattapan sold for $2.15 million to an LLC controlled by Jeremy Bronfman, CEO and founder of Lincoln Avenue Communities of Santa Monica, CA.
The June sale by a Randolph LLC controlled by Jose Fernandez clears the way for development of a 5-story building with 41 rental flats on the site – which is bounded by significant rock ledge and a hill. The project got city approvals in 2023.
