Boston – NEI General Contracting announced it is converting the former William Barton Rogers School at 15 Everett Street in Boston’s Hyde Park neighborhood into The Pryde, New England’s first LGBTQ-friendly senior affordable housing complex.
The project is a joint development by Pennrose and LGBTQ Senior Housing Inc. A groundbreaking ceremony was held on June 17 and the project is expected to be completed in the fall of 2023. NEI has been retained to convert the historic school into 74 units of housing, featuring a mix of studio, one-, and two-bedroom units.
NEI is managing the entire historic renovation project which includes interior/exterior selective demolition, the restoration of existing historic millwork details, and building two 3-story additions. The additions will both include an elevator and lobby area servicing the ground floor to level three. One addition features a new sunroom space on level one providing access to a courtyard, site amenities, and walking track. New mechanical, electrical, and life safety systems will be installed throughout the building.
The housing units will be built within the current classroom walls. New walls will subdivide the current classroom spaces into an open living/dining/kitchen area, a bedroom, bathroom, and closet storage space. The second-floor auditorium will be repurposed to serve as the resident community room, and the classroom on level four will be repurposed as a movie room. A living room, library, management office, toilet rooms, and floor laundry rooms will be constructed in current classrooms off the main hallways.
The 2-story high school gymnasium on level zero will be renovated as a space programmed for activities such as yoga, large meetings, indoor pickle ball, and other activities for the current building residents and the nearby community. There will also be additional community amenities to be used by the building residents and the larger community such as an art space accompanied by an art gallery, classrooms for Life Long Learning programs, a large multi-purpose room and a fitness room, as well as resident services coordinator and programming offices located in former classroom spaces on the ground floor.
The project team for The Pryde also includes DiMella Shaffer, architect; Nitsch Engineering, civil engineer; LA Fuess Partners, structural engineer; R.W. Sullivan Engineering, MEP/FP engineer; Mikyoung Kim Design, landscape architect; Innova, owner’s construction/design rep; Thornton Tomassetti, sustainability consultant; Terracon, geotechnical engineer; Hillman Environmental, environmental consultant; and Pennrose Management Company, property manager.
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“NEI has a strong reputation for the preservation of historic properties and their conversion to modern-day uses. We are excited to be preserving the historic William Barton Rogers School and providing quality affordable housing for LGBTQ welcoming seniors,” said Charles Adams, regional vice president for Pennrose.
NEI prioritizes equity and inclusion with initiatives that are designed to engage and maximize the participation of diverse local contractors and community-based workforce on all of its construction projects.
