The Columbia Crossing development will contribute to Upham’s Corner’s vision as an Arts & Innovation District through housing that is affordable for neighborhood residents and artists, and the development of an arts-oriented commercial space. The bank hall space will be provided at an affordable rent to a non-profit arts-oriented tenant. The rental units will be available to tenants at a range of income levels from 30% to 80% of the AMI (Area Median Income), and at a range of sizes from studios to three-bedrooms, meeting the needs of individuals and families in the surrounding neighborhood. Ten of the residential units will be reserved for artists.

Located at 568-574 Columbia Road in Upham’s Corner, Dorchester, Boston, MA, Columbia Crossing is an approximately 78,000 square foot (SF) mixed-use development with 48 units of new affordable rental housing, 19 parking spaces, and 3,500 SF of commercial space. The project site is the historic Dorchester Savings Bank Hall, which will be refurbished and expanded into a modern art gallery and arts space. The parking area behind the existing bank building will be redeveloped as the residential portion of the project. The property is owned by the community land trust arm of Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative, DNI 5, Inc., which will retain ownership of the land.

The development will include a tax-exempt volume-cap bond issued by MassHousing as a conduit issuance; construction lending from Citizens bank; permanent financing from MassHousing Partnership; Federal 4% tax credit equity placed by Boston Financial, and Massachusetts tax credit equity placed by Clocktower Tax Credits, LLC; subordinate debt from the Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities and the City of Boston’s Mayor’s Office of Housing; historic preservation funding through Boston’s Community Preservation Act fund; commercial financing through Boston’s Neighborhood Development Fund, and two grants from MassDevelopment.