Brighton Marine, WinnCompanies Plan to Build Affordable Housing for Veterans in Brighton

By Veronica Grecu, Associate Editor

Brighton Marine campus – veteran housing project

A joint venture between WinnCompanies and non-profit organization Brighton Marine Health Center is looking to redevelop part of the 8.3-acre Brighton Marine campus into a mixed-use complex that will include housing units for veterans and their families.

The Boston Business Journal reports that the two developers recently outlined their plans in a project notification form that was filed with the Boston Redevelopment Authority. Projected to be built on approximately 1.5 acres along Commonwealth Avenue, the development will include a six-story building with 101 residential units and a below-grade parking garage with 49 spaces. The developers also plan to tear down four single-family homes that have been vacant for a while to make room for the L-shaped, mixed-use building.

According to the news source, the project designed by Chelsea-based The Architectural Team will include nearly 112,000 square feet of space, of which approximately 7,500 will be used as community space and the remainder will be residential space. Approximately 80 percent of the residential units will comply with Boston’s affordable housing requirements and will be rented to low-income veterans and their families.

Brighton Marine campus – veteran housing project – site plan

While the development partners haven’t announced the exact cost of construction, the project is expected to generate 80 to 100 jobs during construction which is anticipated to start in the third quarter of 2015 and be completed after two years.

Located at 77 Warren Street in Boston’s Brighton neighborhood, the Brighton Marine campus was built in 1938 by the federal government as the new home of the U.S. Marine Hospital which was then located in Chelsea. In 1981 a group of patients who were receiving health care at the medical campus decided to join forces and purchase the hospital, which led to the creation of the Brighton Marine Health Center—a non-profit organization that serves the veterans in the area by providing social services on its campus and through its real estate.

Renderings via the Boston Redevelopment Authority