The Back Story
Between the late 1930s and early 1950s, the Heath Street and Bromley Park developments were constructed in Jamaica Plain, part of the federal government’s post-depression and post-WWII commitment to public housing.
Bromley-Heath has provided critical safety-net housing to thousands of Jamaica Plain families and a community that countless activists have worked to protect and improve. (For an example, read our JP & Me blog interview with leader Julia Martin.)
It was the first public housing development in the US to be managed by a tenant organization, the Bromley-Heath Tenant Management Corporation (TMC), which operated from 1973 to 2012.
In 2016, Bromley-Heath was renamed the Mildred C. Hailey Apartments, in honor of the long-time leader of the TMC who passed away.
Federal investment in public housing has declined relentlessly since the 1980s. In 2014, the Boston Housing Authority (BHA) began actively pursuing partnerships with private developers as a strategy for funding needed renovations.
JPNDC and Centre Street Partners
JPNDC partnered with the TMC over two decades in projects including the Stop & Shop/Martha Eliot Health Center complex, Walden Community Garden, and the Julia Martin House.
In 2013 JPNDC began intensive community organizing to create a new tenant organization at Bromley-Heath and support the development of a diverse and representative group of resident leaders. See our 2014 video, “How we became tenant leaders”
Centre Street Partners was formed in 2017 by JPNDC, The Community Builders and Urban Edge (the same three groups leading the Jackson Square Redevelopment Initiative) to apply for BHA designation to redevelop the Mildred C. Hailey Apartments. Our designation was approved in August 2017.
MCHA is a public-private partnership to redevelop public housing that is led by mission-driven organizations with deep community roots and commitments to maximizing benefits for low-income residents.
Our Goals
Serving the best interests of all residents of Mildred C. Hailey Apartments
Preserving all affordable units and creating new ones
An inclusive and transparent planning process
Homes that are part of a broader neighborhood, where dividing lines are blurred and the MCHA is reconnected with the surrounding community.
Proposal
Our development plan was submitted to the BHA in 2017 as an initial concept that will be strengthened through an inclusive community process
Phase I calls for the replacement of seven residential buildings and the current Anna Mae Cole Community Center with 673 homes (see next) and a new Anna Mae Cole Community Center
Of the total 673 new units, 253 will replace existing units for MCHA families and 420 will be new affordable and middle-income units
The new, centrally located 6,800 sq. ft. Anna Mae Cole Community Center will serve as a resource for community and family use
- The plans also include 8,300 square feet of additional community space and retail areas
MORE INFO
Centre Street Partners project website
MEDIA
“Board approves initial Mildred Hailey rebuild,” Universal Hub, 4/15/21
“Affordability at Mildred Hailey Questioned,” Boston Bulletin, 4/8/21
“Plans to remake Mildred Hailey housing complex advance“, Boston Globe, 9/18/20
“Groups file plans to redo Jamaica Plain’s Mildred Hailey Apartments”, Universal Hub, 9/18/20
“City seeks private partner to rebuild former Bromley-Heath complex,” The Boston Globe, 2/23/17
“Trio of developers chosen to rehab Jamaica Plain complex,” The Boston Globe, 8/10/17
“Centre Street Partners chosen to complete phase of the Mildred C. Hailey Apartment Redevelopment” Jamaica Plain News, 8/13/17
DOCUMENTS
- April 15, 2021 BPDA Board Meeting presentation
- March 22, 2021 Community Meeting
- Community Meeting Presentation 11/5/2020
- Community Meeting Presentation 2-6-20
- Presentation to the JP Neighborhood Council, 12/11/18
- Community Process Log as of 12/11/18
- Presentation from Nov. 7, 2018 community meeting
- Presentación de la reunión comunitaria del 7 de nov. del 2018
- Q&A from 11/7/18 community meeting
- Presentation from May 1, 2018 community meeting
- Presentación de la reunión comunitaria del 1ro de mayo del 2018
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
PROJECT TEAM
- Developer: Centre Street Partners (JPNDC, The Community Builders, Urban Edge)
- Lead Developer: The Community Builders (TCB)
- Master Planning Architects: Stantec Architecture, DREAM Collaborative
- Building 1A + 1B Architect: Prellwitz Chilinski Associates
- Master Planning Landscape Architect: Ground, Inc
- Building 1A + 1B Landscape Architect: Brown, Richardson + Rowe, Inc.
- Engineering: Nitsch Engineering, Howard Stein Hudson
- Sustainability Consultant: New Ecology
- Valuation & Advisory Services Group
- Legal: Klein Hornig LLP

- 2018-2021: Community planning process
- Five construction phases to maximize resident relocation on-site
- Construction start: to be determined