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BOSTON - Friday, April 21, 2023
- Mayor Michelle Wu and the Mayor’s Office of Housing (MOH)
today announced that the City of Boston awarded the first grants from the
previously announced Affordable
Commercial Assistance Fund (ACAF) to make commercial rents more accessible to small
businesses in Boston impacted by the pandemic. The first awards will
subsidize rent for Jean Appolon Expressions, a Haitian dance company in
Roxbury, and for Words as Worlds Bookstore in Dorchester.
In August 2022, the Mayor’s Office of
Housing announced a request for
proposals (RFP) for
the Affordable Commercial Assistance Fund. The ACAF made $1 million
available to help sustain local businesses and community-based nonprofits
operating in affordable housing buildings. ACAF funding awards enable
property developers to lower their commercial rents and support the growth
of businesses investing in local neighborhoods. The funding is available to
owners of buildings with City-supported affordable housing, including
rental and homeownership properties, that include commercial space. The
City anticipates that this new fund will ensure the affordability of
approximately 35,000 square feet of commercial space for local small
businesses and nonprofits that would otherwise be unable to afford market
rents.
"When Boston small businesses prosper,
everyone benefits—anchoring our economy and community,” said Mayor
Michelle Wu. "We will continue to support these drivers of
innovation and connection throughout our neighborhoods."
"Providing affordable commercial space
in our neighborhoods strengthens our local business districts, supports
entrepreneurship, and creates a pipeline to Boston's economic engine,”
said Councilor Brian Worrell, Chair of the Boston City Council's
Committee on Small Business & Professional Licensure. “I am excited
to see local small business owners utilize this program to enhance our
communities and expand Boston's small business ecosystem."
"We are thrilled to see the Affordable
Commercial Assistance Fund supporting small businesses and nonprofits,
particularly those that are providing essential services and cultural
assets to our neighborhoods," said Sheila Dillon, Chief of
Housing. "The Jean Appolon Expressions dance company and Words as
Worlds Bookstore are great examples of how we can invest in the economic
vitality and cultural richness of our communities through this new program.
The ACAF is an important tool for creating economic opportunities and
supporting our city's diversity and vibrancy."
The development team for 2147 Washington
Street has been awarded a $225,000 Affordable Commercial Assistance Fund
grant for their 74-unit mixed-use development in Roxbury. The grant will
support Jean Appolon Expressions, a dance company focused on contemporary
Haitian-rooted dance, by subsidizing their rent for 2,846 square feet of
first-floor retail space. With the assistance, their rent will be reduced
to almost half the area's average market rate per square foot. The
construction of 2147 Washington Street is expected to be completed in the
spring of 2024.
“We are thrilled to be moving into the 2147
Washington Street building in Nubian Square and are excited to partner with
other artists and area businesses to expand our impact in Boston's growing
arts ecosystem,” said Jean Appolon, Founder and Artistic Director
of Jean Appolon Expressions (JAE). “This ACAF award from the City of
Boston is making it possible for JAE to partner with the New Atlantic
Development team and enter our first dance studio home, at a lower rent
level, allowing us to continue offering our arts programming at a very
accessible level for our diverse community members.”
“On behalf of the entire development team
for the 2147 Washington project, we are extremely grateful to Mayor Wu and
the Mayor’s Office of Housing for providing this ACAF award. Without
it, we would never have been able to bring Jean Appolon Expressions into
our building,” said Bill Madsen Hardy, Owner of New Atlantic
Development. “As a nonprofit, community-oriented, and community-serving
creative business with deep ties to Boston, they are an ideal tenant for
this prominent commercial space. Most importantly, their long-term
presence in Nubian Square will further the goals of the Roxbury Cultural
District and the Roxbury Strategic Master Plan.”
The development team for 1463 Dorchester
Avenue, Tlee Development LLC, has been awarded a $150,000 Affordable
Commercial Assistance Grant to support their Dot Crossing Apartments
project. This transit-oriented development features a five-story building
with 29 mixed-income units, along with a residential lobby and a retail
space that will be occupied by the Words as Worlds Bookstore. The project
includes rent restrictions for the next five years, reducing the rent by 40
percent and ensuring that the bookstore's rent does not increase by more
than 2% annually. The anticipated completion date for the Dot Crossing
Apartments is June 2023.
“We at Words as Worlds are incredibly
grateful for this rent relief support through the Affordable Commercial
Space Assistance funding, which makes our model for a community bookstore
and gathering space so much more sustainable over the next ten years,”
said Bing Broderick, Community Organizer for Words as Worlds.
“We appreciate this support and vote of confidence. We know that this will
facilitate collaboration and partnership in the years ahead.
“We look forward to being a community staple
in Boston,” said Travis Lee, President of TLee Development LLC.
“Words as Worlds will provide a curated and culturally relevant book
selection to residents of the Dorchester neighborhood, as well as a small
space for spoken word performances. The community has expressed
overwhelming support for this new addition to the neighborhood, and we all
look forward to its opening this fall.”
“This investment in affordable commercial
space for Jean Appolon Expressions and Words as Worlds is so important,
because it allows for these organizations to provide programming that is
accessible to community members in a way that is sustainable over the
long-term,” said Kara Elliott-Ortega, Chief of Arts and Culture.
“Investing in cultural spaces and housing goes hand in hand with creating
healthy communities, and we're so excited to see the opportunities these
organizations will be able to provide for community gathering, cultural
celebration, and creative expression in the Dorchester and Roxbury
neighborhoods as a result of this funding.
“The Affordable Commercial Assistance Fund
is an exciting opportunity to support the local, small, diverse businesses
that are so integral to Boston’s economy,” said Segun Idowu, Chief
of Economic Opportunity and Inclusion. “This program is an important
step in supporting our small business community and addressing the need for
affordable commercial spaces in the City.”
The Mayor’s Office of Housing (MOH)
currently prioritizes applications for commercial spaces that are either on
the first floor or contribute to an active street space and proposals that
can demonstrate significant community and neighborhood ties for the
proposed tenants. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis until
June 30, 2023. | 
