Senior, Affordable Housing To Break Ground In JFK Crossing

BROOKLINE, MA — Some 62 units of housing for seniors is set to break ground in JFK Crossing with local stakeholders and politicians, including Congressman Joe Kennedy at Congregation Kehillath Israel at 1:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 13.

Kennedy and state and municipal officials will join 2Life Communities and Congregation Kehillath Israel at the official groundbreaking for the 2Life’s first building in Brookline, which will create 62 units, 49 of which will be for seniors over the age of 62 with up to 60 percent of the Area Median Income (or about $45,300 for a single person) and eight units will be set aside for those making up to 110 percent of the AMI. Five will be unrestricted, according to 2Life.

The building at 370 Harvard St. next to Congregation Kehillath Israel where Epstein Auditorium community hall once sat is set to be called the Harold and Ronald Brown Family House. It will be for seniors 62 years of age and older with a range of incomes (a mix of one and two bedrooms). The project, which invoked Massachusetts chapter 40B to get around zoning in the area, was awarded $3 million in local funding and more than $18 million in state, federal, and Low Income Housing Tax Credit funding. The $26.5 million project was originally slated to begin construction in 2019, and be ready for occupancy in the fall of 2020, according to officials.

The plan is to begin marketing in late winter 2020. For now, they are encouraging interested seniors to sign up for a notification list on the Brown Family House website.

The rents will become public once marketing begins, but the community will have multiple tiers of affordability, according to officials.

"We will have apartments available to extremely low income, very low income, low income and moderate income seniors as well as three apartments without any income restrictions but priced at below market rate rents," according to a 2Life official.

The project will also include some 5,000 square feet of retail space and parking spaces.

The project is named in part after Brookline philanthropists Harold and Ronald Brown. Ronald Brown along with representatives from Congregation Kehillath Israel, the Brookline Select Board, MassHousing and Congressman Joe Kennedy will mark the occasion.

The housing for seniors will be part of 2Life Communities, a nonprofit organization with the aim of combating a public health crisis of social isolation and loneliness amongst older adults.

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Patch reporter Jenna Fisher can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna).