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Cruz breaks ground on final phase of Harvard Commons

Yawu Miller
Yawu Miller is the former senior editor of the Bay State Banner. He has written for the Banner since 1988.... VIEW BIO
Cruz breaks ground on final phase of Harvard Commons
Cruz Companies officials hold a ceremonial groundbreaking with state officials and contractors working on the final phase of Harvard Commons, a 99-unit development under construction in Dorchester and Mattapan. (Photo: Photo courtesy of Archipelago Strategies Group)

State officials and local residents turned out last week to mark the beginning of the final phase of construction in Harvard Commons, a 99-unit housing development built on the site of the former Mattapan State Hospital.

Construction crews officially broke ground on a project to extend roads, water service, sewer and electrical service, thanks to a $1.9 million MassWorks grant from the state’s Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development. The new road and utilities will literally pave the way for the construction of the last 28 units in Harvard Commons.

“We thank Housing and Economic Development for its support in this project, which has allowed the complete transformation of this Dorchester neighborhood,” said John B. Cruz III, president of Cruz Companies, the developer of the Harvard Commons site. “This beautiful subdivision will provide suburban-quality housing to the city, while also strengthening the neighborhood’s multicultural identity.”

The completion of the Harvard Commons development on the long-vacant land will help revitalize a corner of Dorchester and Mattapan that has for decades been dominated by the vast expanse of vacant lots and the decaying buildings of Boston State Hospital, which closed in 1979.

Harvard Commons homeowner Suparna Datta shows her new home to (left-right) EOHCD Secretary Jay Ash, Cruz Companies Vice President Daniel Cruz and state Rep. Russell Holmes.

In the 1990s, a citizens advisory council worked with the state’s Division of Capital Asset Management and the Boston Redevelopment Authority on plans to the develop the parcel. Cruz Construction was designated developer of Harvard Commons, occupying the largest portion of the site.

The Harvard Commons development sits between Harvard Street and Cummings Highway, bisected by Morton Street and abutting the Mass Audubon Boston Nature Center and Wildlife Sanctuary.

The 66 units already completed are in one- and two-family wood-frame homes with gabled roofs, off-street parking and large front and back yards. The traditional New England housing design blends in with the existing single and multifamily buildings in the Dorchester and Mattapan neighborhoods, as does the income mix.

“Not only does it have some components of affordable housing, but it also has market-rate housing,” said state Rep. Russel Holmes. “This really starts to lift the surrounding neighborhood.”

“This is exactly what we should be replicating not just in every neighborhood of Boston, but in every community in the Commonwealth,” said Secretary of Housing and Economic Development Jay Ash.

In addition to 45 units of affordable housing, the development will include a total of 54 units of market-rate housing and a full-featured community center, gym and child-care facility for residents when it’s finished.

One of the new homeowners, Suparna Datta, led state officials and Cruz on a tour of her unit, showing off its open floor plan, 9-foot ceilings with recessed lighting, stainless steel appliances and Jacuzzi tubs.

“This is high-quality housing,” said the Rev. Bill Loesch, who sits on the project’s community advisory committee.

Loesch also pointed out that the Cruz Company has created opportunities for local businesses and workers.

“The diversity of the workforce here is way ahead of anything we’ve seen anywhere else in the city,” he noted.

Cruz Companies Senior Vice President Daniel Cruz said prospective buyers are on a waiting list for the 28 units to be constructed in the last phase of the development.

“We think this phase is going to go quickly,” he said. “There’s been a lot of interest.”