Washington Beech housing bill signed

  Mayor Thomas Menino said yesterday he recalls a day when flower boxes lined the windows at Roslindale’s Washington Beech housing development, and the child care center there was among the best in the world.

After years of neglect and decay, Menino sees a return to those glory days.

“We’re going to have that day back by the end of 2010,” Menino said yesterday as he and Gov. Deval Patrick signed legislation for a massive reconstruction on the site.

The city applied for and received one of five federal HOPE VI grants — the only one given last year to a blue state, Menino said — to rehaul the complex that lacks green space and charm and has seen its share of crime.

The project will replace 266 public housing units with 342 affordable housing units. Of those, 191 will be affordable rentals, 15 affordable homeownership units and the rest offsite units available for rent or through a loan-to-purchaser program.

Some residents have already been relocated from buildings that will be demolished in March. Those units will be built back up by July 2010, and the second phase is slated for completion in 2012.

In addition, community and service programs will support residents in becoming economically self-sufficient.
Patrick, while highlighting such offerings, focused on the general feel of the place.

“We will, through this HOPE IV, see less dense buildings, adequate parking and plenty of green space,” Patrick said, nodding toward the young boy he had just met coming off a school bus to a crowded, run-down parking lot.