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In 1986, a new chapter began for Academy Hill when Keen
Development converted the handsome building into mixed-income
housing for the island's senior citizens. Once serving generations
of schoolchildren, the site is now home to 27 elderly households. The
building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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A former parking garage on Cambridge Street was
converted into mixed-use housing, along with retail space on the ground
floor. Financed by MHFA, with Section 8 assistance, the 64 apartments
created much-needed affordable housing for the Beacon Hill neighborhood.
The building was completed in 1979.
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Six historic buildings on Beacon Hill's Anderson
Street were renovated into 23 market-rate apartments. Three of
these Anderson Place units were leased together as a congregate home for
mentally handicapped residents. Funding through the City of Boston
helped create a courtyard shared by both Anderson Park and Place.
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The Walter Baker Chocolate Company operated in
Dorchester Lower Mills from the early 1800's until 1964. The historic mill
buildings sat largely vacant for decades until Keen Development and its
partners converted the complex into affordable housing. The award-winning
rehabilitation created 133 apartments at moderate rents.
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The Beacon Chambers was built in 1899 as a
fashionable residential hotel. Years later, it fell into disrepair;
a fire in the late 1970s forced its closure. Rogerson Communities, a
non-profit housing company, contracted with Housing
Associates (the predecessor of Keen Development) to act as a development
consultant.
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Located in the Charlestown Navy Yard, Building
#114 formerly served as a naval joinery shop. The building lay
derelict for nearly 30 years, severely damaged by fire, until
rehabilitation began in 1998. Today Building #114 houses biomedical
laboratories for Massachusetts General Hospital. Photo by Bruce T.
Martin
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In 1979, Housing Associates and Berkshire
Housing were designated as developers for the Neighborhood Strategy Area in
Pittsfield. The NSA combined the historic Central High School on the Common
and Union Court, a derelict hotel on the main commercial street. In total,
101 units of affordable housing were created.
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Chapman Arms, located in the heart of Harvard
Square, had fallen into serious disrepair in the early 1980s. The owner,
Harvard Real Estate, selected Keen Development to
rehabilitate the building and provide a number of low-income and market-rate
apartments. Chapman Arms also houses Keen Development's offices.
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Built in 1910, the Chelsea Post Office served as
the City's main postal branch. Closed in 1986, it lay vacant for ten years
before being converted into a new satellite campus for Bunker Hill
Community College, and was honored by the Massachusetts Historical
Commission. Photo by Peter Vanderwarker
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Housing Associates, Cornu Corporation, and
Macomber Development Associates were selected to redevelop this Neighborhood
Strategy Area in 1979. Twelve buildings on three sites were rehabilitated
into 71 units of housing with S.8 assistance. Ground floor commercial space
was also renovated to help revitalize downtown Chelsea.
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The Fenway Studios was built in 1905 on Ipswich
Street in Boston and served as live/work space for artists such as Gyorgy Kepes
and William Paxton. When an imminent sale threatened its
continued use by area artists, a group of residents banded together
with Keen Development to help acquire and renovate the building.
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Columbia Point was a public housing "project"
built in the 1950s. By 1985, the property was crime-ridden and only about
350 of the 1,500 apartments were occupied. The remaining residents
were committed to changing their community, and joined with private
developers to renew the site through both rehabilitation
and new construction.
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In 1990, Keen Development and Forest City
Enterprises teamed up to rehabilitate the historic F. A. Kennedy Steam
Bakery into 142 apartments, lofts, and a daycare center. Renamed
Kennedy Biscuit Lofts, the former factory (famous as the birthplace of the
"Fig Newton") was saved from demolition. Photo by Brian Smith.
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Keen Development Corporation assisted AU
Associates in planning for the conversion of the historic Midway School
into 28 apartments for the elderly. Renovation work started in early 1998
and was completed in 1999. The historic renovations were honored by a
Preservation Award from the Kentucky Heritage Council.
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The former Payne Elevator Building in the Porter
Square section of Cambridge was converted into 18 live/work condominiums.
The Payne Elevator Group is a coalition of established Cambridge-area
artists who organized to provide ownership opportunities. Rehabilitation
work was completed in early 1995.
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As part of a HUD turnkey program, Housing
Associates, Keen Development's predecessor entity, and Macomber Development
Associates were selected to redevelop the former Cochituate School.
Completed in 1981, the building now houses elderly residents in 56 apartments.
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The Smith Lofts, a joint venture of Keen
Development Corporation and Cornish Associates, is the first of three
buildings in DownCity Providence that will be converted to
live/work space. Smith Lofts opened in 1998 with 36 artist lofts.
The six floors of lofts range from 600 to over 1000 square feet and are
priced for a range of incomes.
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The Fort Point Arts Community (FPAC), a
non-profit advocacy organization for Boston's artists, acquired 300 Summer
Street in 1992 to address the shortage of legal, affordable artist live/work
space. Keen Development, acting as a consultant, converted the property into
48 live/work studios and 7 commercial condominiums.
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The former Jamaica Plain High School was
designed in 1898 by the prominent architectural firm of Andrews, Jacques,
and Rantoul. The historic school closed its doors in 1979 when a new
facility was built. In 1986, Keen Development was selected to convert
this local landmark into mixed-income rental apartments.
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The Walter Baker Building, formerly the
administrative offices of Dorchester's Baker Chocolate factory, sat
vacant since 1965. Through the Department of Environmental Management's
Historic Curatorship program, the building has been restored and now houses
13 affordable artist lofts. Photo by Bruce T. Martin
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This historic school stood vacant and
deteriorating for 10 years while the city debated its reuse. In 1992,
Keen Development joined forces with the non-profit Newton Community
Development Foundation to convert the former Warren Junior High School
in West Newton into 59 mixed-income apartments and a daycare center.
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