Mattapan Mixed-Income Housing

MASS Design Group is partnering with local Community Development Corporations, Nuestra Comunidad and Preservation of Affordable Housing (POAH), to design transit-oriented, mixed-income housing in Mattapan.

Today, many in Mattapan are concerned that some of what makes Mattapan attractive is at risk. As Boston’s housing market has exploded, affordability is now beginning to limit housing and economic options for residents in Mattapan. As it welcomes new investment, the Mattapan community needs to find ways to harness this interest to preserve and strengthen the neighborhood.

MASS conducted a series of workshops with the community, revealing the diverse history and physical and cultural assets of Mattapan. MASS responded with a design that seeks to tackle gentrification by transforming this underutilized site into a mixed-use development that provides community services and affordable housing opportunities to local residents. The housing will accommodate the full spectrum of family structures and socio-economic realities in Mattapan. In addition to ground floor retail and public space, MASS designed over 135 units of housing and the surrounding landscape, connecting the broader Mattapan community to the newly completed Neponset River Greenway through improved bicycle and pedestrian access.