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Coalition for
a Better Acre
517 Moody Street
Lowell, MA 01854
phone: 978-452-7523
fax: 978-452-4923
info@cbacre.org

Real Estate Development

Through its Real Estate Program, CBA has produced more affordable housing than any Massachusetts Community Development Corporation outside of the Boston area. These apartments give low-income and working-poor families the opportunity to live in safe and attractive affordable homes.

Recent achievements include the completion of five major real estate development projects:

  • St. Joseph ’s School Apartments: An adaptive reuse of a former Catholic School in a building owned by CBA and adjacent to our offices. This is a 15-unit rental project for families and elders. This project received one of ten $15,000 awards statewide from TD Banknorth.
  • North Canal Apartments Expiring Use: CBA is in the process of re-financing and re-syndicating this 267-unit rental property which is owned and managed by a partnership that includes CBA and the North Canal Tenant Council. This $30 million project will include moderate to substantial rehab, making what was already a keystone of CBA’s assets into a showcase for the neighborhood. The project is being accomplished with significant resident participation and decision-making. It will preserve the affordability and sustainability of these apartments in perpetuity.
  • Merrimack Street Apartments Expiring Use: A mixed use (12 residential units and six commercial spaces) project that will also be refinanced and undergo moderate rehab. This project will preserve the affordability of these apartments for the long term.
  • Liberty Square Housing, Fletcher, Suffolk, Broadway, Cork/Marion Streets: Liberty Square is a mixed-use, $7.1 million development project involving both new construction and rehab of 33 residential units, with five units of retail commercial space. Three of the four buildings were rehabbed according to historic standards and the building is fully occupied.
  • Suffolk Street Joint Venture (with Residents First Development Corp.), 76-132 Suffolk Street: Suffolk Street is a $1.5 million development of five three-bedroom duplexes for moderate-income homeownership and low-income rental. Each building was designed to match the styles common in the early twentieth century and, as such, provide a handsome ‘gateway’ to the Acre Revitalization area.

 New projects include:

  • 760 Merrimack Street, the former St. Joseph's High School: CBA has purchased the former St. Joseph’s High School located at 760 Merrimack Street. We are looking forward to working with residents and neighbors as we move forward with plans to develop this property into affordable housing! Also, please note that this project has been selected as one of 25 significant historic sites in Greater Boston to compete for preservation funds through the Partners in Preservation program!