What A Difference Shutters Make!

While the completion of the exterior rehabilitation of the Vertullo Building in Hyde Park is on hold until spring when it will receive its final coats of paint, we think the recent addition of window shutters has made a huge impact in its appearance. The building has not had shutters for many, many years as we know from photo research.But if you look closely at the photo below you can see Vertullo in the distance, dressed up with shutters. 

Apartment Available at the Hayden Building

John Horner Photography

John Horner Photography

HBI’s Hayden Building in downtown Boston currently has one apartment available to rent.  There are only four residential units in the building – one per floor.  The available apartment is on the 4^th floor, which was the first to rent when the building opened in 2013 – probably because it has spectacular arched windows. 

Designed by H.H. Richardson and built in 1875, the Hayden Building is a Boston Landmark.  The apartments feature an open floor plan with flexible layout that can be configured for either one or two bedrooms. The space includes custom built-in cabinetry, a gas fire place, 1.5 bathrooms, and a washer/dryer and rents for $3,650/month. For more information about renting this apartment at the historic Hayden Building, please contact Robin Gold at Certified Property Management: Robin@propertymanage.com  To learn more about the building, see our web site: www.thehaydenbuilding.com

You’re Invited: The State of Preservation in Boston

Join the preservation staff of the City of Boston as it presents the 2014 accomplishments of the Boston Landmarks Commission, Local Historic District Commissions and the City Archaeology Program, and hear about our plans and priorities for 2015. This public event will be held in the Great Hall of Faneuil Hall on Tuesday, January 27 at 5:45 pm, and will be followed by a regular hearing of the Boston Landmarks Commission.
We look forward to seeing you there!

HBI to present proposal for redevelopment at the Strand Theatre

Rendering by Utile, Inc. Architecture + Planning

Four proposals were received by the Department of Neighborhood Development (DND) for the redevelopment of the 611 Columbia Road Comfort Station in Upham’s Corner. Three of the proposals, including the one submitted by the team of HBI, The American City Coalition (TACC), and Noah Hicks, founder of Bowdoin Bike School, have been selected for presentation to the community at 6:00 PM on Monday, January 26, 2015 at the StrandTheatre in Upham’s Corner.

The Comfort Station (a polite term for restrooms) is a one-story stucco and tile Mission Style building that has been unused since 1977. Built in 1912, it was designed by architect William Besarick, who designed the Roger Clap School on Harvest Street and the municipal building at the corner of Columbia Road and Bird Street as well as many triple-deckers throughout the area. Besarick also designed the George Milliken House, at 44 Virginia Street, which is a Boston Landmark.

Urban Edge Brings Historic Coleman-Webb Building Back to Life

The historic Coleman Webb Building on Columbus Avenue at Jackson Square is nearing completion as part of a mixed use commercial and housing redevelopment thanks to Urban Edge CDC and the Jackson Square Planning Initiative. The project is demonstrating the value of historic preservation in new community development and neighborhood revitalization.

This renovation is part of $20 million Jackson Commons, a mixed-use, mixed-income development that will integrate the existing three-story Coleman-Webb Building, built in 1908 with a four-story addition next door to be built as part of the first phase of the Jackson Square Redevelopment Initiative. Jackson Commons is planned as a LEED Silver, mixed-use, transit-oriented piece of Jackson Square Partners LLC’s 14-building, $250 million redevelopment effort in the Jackson Square community of Boston’s Roxbury and Jamaica Plain neighborhoods.

Reviving A Place in Charlestown’s Rich History; The story of Samuel Dexter and how his house became the Abraham Lincoln Post 11

Driving along Green Street between Main and High Streets in Charlestown, MA you might just miss an important piece of Massachusetts, United States, and Civil War history if you don’t know what you’re looking for. Quietly and unassumingly tucked between the back of the High Pharmacy building and First Church in Charlestown is the Samuel Dexter House and remnants of the Dexter Estate which used to extend the entire length of Green Street from High to Main Streets.

Staff at HBI recently toured the property to consider how HBI might assist in developing alternative programming space for the building to serve veterans and their families as well as provide the next level of preservation work on the property.

The Dexter House is a late Georgian-Federal period mansion built by Mr. Dexter around 1791 and later modified by a member of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) with a Mansard type roof to form the high ceilinged Memorial Hall on the second floor.

Chrystal Kornegay Appointed Chief of DHCD by Governor-Elect Charlie Baker

Former HBI Board Member and current CEO and President of Urban Edge CDC, Chrystal Kornegay was named Undersecretary of the Department of Housing and Community Development for the Commonweath of Massachusetts in Governor-elect Charlie Baker’s administration.

Kornegay, who continues as a member of HBI’s Council of Advisors, will direct DHCD and its housing and community development policies and programs in partnership with municipalities across the state.

HBI congratulates Chrystal on her appointment.

Read more here.