For Immediate Release
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Boston Hospitals Invest $800,000 into Dorchester Bay EDC’s Affordable Housing Preservation and Development
Boston, MA — The city’s leading teaching hospitals are making a coordinated, $800,000 investment in Dorchester Bay Economic Development Corporation (DBEDC) to strengthen housing stability, protect cultural identity, and anchor long-term neighborhood health. Collaborating through the Conference of Boston Teaching Hospitals (COBTH), the hospitals’ investment marks a decisive moment for cross-sector alignment to stabilizing neighborhoods and preventing displacement through targeted affordable housing development and preservation.
As Boston’s displacement pressures intensify, half of the city’s renters are now cost-burdened, and pressures fall disproportionately hardest on communities of color, representing 62% of affected households. This partnership responds directly to that reality, keeping low- and moderate-income families rooted. Partnership with DBEDC, an organization with a track record of delivering housing at speed and scale, ensures that neighborhoods will continue to be shaped by the people who built them.
“This investment by major teaching hospitals in Boston reflects the level of alignment Boston needs from its institutions to preserve long-term housing affordability and stability for residents most impacted by displacement,” said DBEDC CEO Kimberly R. Lyle. “The hospitals’ leadership strengthens our shared ability to safeguard neighborhoods and expand opportunity. This commitment accelerates work that simply cannot wait.”
“Affordable housing and thriving communities are foundational to health. As members of the Conference of Boston Teaching Hospitals, we are proud to come together in support of Dorchester Bay Economic Development Corporation’s Columbia Crossing Project and affordable housing preservation,” said Dr. Shari Nethersole, Vice President for Community Health and Engagement at Boston Children’s Hospital. “Our collective impact is greater and will advance our shared priority of addressing housing needs and promoting health for the communities that we serve.”
“In Boston, the conditions that determine our health — how well we live, learn, and age — are not equally experienced by our neighbors,” said Dr. Bisola Ojikutu, Commissioner of Public Health for the City of Boston. “This has led to deep, but avoidable, health inequities among our communities, which makes the City and BPHC’s work in collaboration with
our healthcare provider partners through the Boston Community Health Collaborative so critical. As highlighted in the important work of our most recent Community Health Needs Assessment and Community Health Improvement Plan, affordable housing is essential to achieving the goals of the City’s Live Long and Well agenda and closing the life expectancy gap. Thanks to the Conference of Boston Teaching Hospitals and the Dorchester Bay Economic Development Corporation, this landmark investment will provide more of our neighbors access to the resources they need to live long and well.”
The joint investment reflects the findings of the Boston Community Health Collaborative’s most recent Community Health Needs Assessment, which identified housing as one of the City’s most pressing public health priorities at a time when rising costs and widening disparities increasingly determine who can remain in Boston.
Investment Focus Areas
Columbia Crossing Development: Residents and artists shaped the vision and design for DBEDC and Preservation of Affordable Housing (POAH)’s Columbia Crossing development, a project grounded in the community’s need for affordable housing and dedicated artist housing. It will transform the historic Dorchester Savings Bank building in the heart of Upham’s Corner into a mixed-use hub, fortifying the neighborhood’s status as an Arts & Innovation District and safeguarding a cultural corridor at risk of displacement. Columbia Crossing is designed to protect cultural identity, strengthen the creative economy, and expand affordability while keeping long-standing residents at the center of neighborhood change. Adaptive reuse of the bank and new construction of 48 affordable units will create an accessible, community-centered gathering place, lit-up and visible along the
neighborhood’s busiest corridor, while a local social-justice arts organization’s presence will spark the neighborhood’s creative and public life. The project will be built on land owned by community land trust Dudley Neighbors, Inc, reinforcing long-term community ownership. Construction is expected to begin in early 2026 and serves as a major
milestone in Upham’s Corner’s evolution as an arts, culture, and community anchor.
Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing Preservation: The Boston hospitals are also investing in DBEDC’s long-term strategy to protect Dorchester’s community assets, with a focus on the multi-family homes that are vital resources increasingly at risk of purchase by outside investors. DBEDC’s targeted acquisition and preservation efforts prevent steep rent increases and upgrade building safety, energy efficiency, and long-term habitability.
DBEDC’s recent acquisition of a four-unit building on W. Cottage Street secured long-term housing for its senior tenants, including one resident who has lived there for more than two decades. These interventions offer immediate stability and protect the continuity of neighborhood life as long-time residents face unprecedented displacement pressures.
DBEDC is currently working on acquiring several other properties in Dorchester.
Resident Support Services: DBEDC’s wraparound resident support services across both Columbia Crossing and its multi-family housing portfolio will ensure that residents have access to resources that foster leadership, stability, well-being, and pathways for economic mobility.
The investment marks the beginning of a long-range cross-sector collaboration between Boston’s hospitals and neighborhood-rooted community developers. As affordability and cultural continuity face mounting pressure, Dorchester Bay and its hospital partners are aligning for a sustained vision that recognizes housing as an essential infrastructure for public health. Together, they are building a model for how Boston’s anchor institutions will continue to partner with communities to secure stability, equity, and a future shaped by those who live there.
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About Dorchester Bay Economic Development Corporation (DBEDC)
Five decades. 1,300+ affordable homes. 200,000 square feet of commercial space. $8 million deployed to small businesses. Dorchester Bay Economic Development Corporation is a community development corporation and community development financial institution serving Dorchester and Boston neighborhoods most impacted by displacement and disinvestment. Every dollar, every unit, every investment shaped by and accountable to the communities DBEDC serves. Learn more at dbedc.org.
About COBTH
COBTH is a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting the full mission of Greater Boston’s major academic medical centers. Hospitals participating in this joint investment include Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston Medical Center, Boston Medical Center-Brighton, Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Brigham & Women’s Faulkner Hospital, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Mass Eye and Ear.
About the Boston Community Health Collaborative
The Boston Community Health Collaborative is a partnership of health institutions, community organizations, public health, and resident leaders working to improve the health and well-being of Boston communities by aligning community health assessment and improvement planning efforts. The Boston Public Health Commission, the local health department for the City of Boston, is the central convenor for this partnership.