State looks to use two acres of Shattuck Hospital grounds for affordable housing

I hope they build high rises. Why did they just tear down one of the buildings that they could have made into housing? Haunted?

Please, less 'Affordable' housing and more market rate middle class housing.

Many of us forced out of the city would like to return some day. More market rate housing helps make that happen, more Affordable housing is just a lottery with potentially upward pressures on pricing.

Why housing? Whatever happens here should be an asset to the entire city - the land previously belonged to the park and I'm for giving it back to the park. It could be developed into buildings or a complex of some kind as part of an FP masterplan, but it should be for community use, not just some random housing complex.

We desperately need addiction recovery services and homeless services in this city. Take a place that has been used for healing and turn it towards a similar use. Make it a national model for integrated delivery of services. Repurpose the existing buildings where possible. Make any housing here be transitional housing as we reintegrate people into the mainstream. And then return a portion of the grounds to the park.

FWIW I'm a Roxbury resident.

I was at the meeting. The JP Gazette article describes the proposal as one to create affordable housing on the two acre plot, but that is not accurate (and, therefore, your headline is inaccurate as well). The proposal is to create "Low Threshold" permanent housing for the chronically homeless along with supportive services. Here is a link to the proposal: https://www.mass.gov/service-details/supportive-housing-proposal-shattuc...

Though the proposal is dated July 2017, this was the first and only planned public meeting (May 31, 2018 is the end of the public comment period) before the Asset Management Board votes to move ahead with the RFP process for this 2 acre parcel. The proposal also seeks to waive certain statutes that would otherwise require legislative action to go forward. There will be a (yet undefined) process for the rest of the Shattuck grounds (which are largely falling apart). While there was debate about sufficient vs too much public process/delay, the vast majority of the comments were supportive of more engagement than has been proposed. My wife and I live in Roxbury, there was another gentleman who identified himself as a Roxbury resident, but I believe everyone else who stated where they lived were JP residents. Though the Shattuck has a 02130 zip, it sits in Franklin Park (the land was taken by legislative act in 1949), which sits primarily in Roxbury with sections in Dorchester, Mattapan, and JP. I requested additional meetings to include more of the actual park neighbors.

I am on the board of the Franklin Park Coalition. Lauren Peters, Undersecretary for Health Policy, will be briefly speaking on the Shattuck future plans (there are over 13 acres in total) at our FPC annual meeting tomorrow at the Franklin Park golf course club house (10-12). I can't (and wouldn't try) to speak for the rest of the FPC, but I am personally supportive of the proposal as long as a reasonable engagement with the community is made and the end product can be one where the housing and grounds are designed so that they are integrated into the park as a public/private space with substantial green space for the shared benefit of both residents and park users. The 1950s isolated/institutional feel of the current Shattuck with retaining walls and fencing separating it from the rest of the park need to be abolished. I'd love for the 13+ acres to come back to the park again, but that seems unlikely. And, yes, there is a large, immediate need for this type of housing (and, hey, let's also rebuild the damn bridge to Long Island while we're at it)