The Parcel 3 Project

In June of 2007, Elma Lewis Partners, a corporation created by the National Center of Afro-American Artists, was designated tentative redeveloper of Parcel Three in Roxbury by the Boston Redevelopment Authority.

The mixed-use development that it has proposed is known as Ruggles Place, for its proximity to the largest transportation hub in the Boston metro system. The designation gave Elma Lewis Partners one year to secure major tenants, put together the financing, and makes such revisions to the architectural plans as may be necessary for moving forward with Ruggles Place.

The fall of 2007 brought major upheavals in the nation’s financial markets that have not yet settled. Despite the turmoil, Elma Lewis Partners demonstrated great progress toward meeting its obligations, and in May 0f 2008 received an extension to complete the requirements that convert the tentative designation into a permanent one

Ruggles Place will consist of offices, housing, retail, parking, cultural and health facilities. Whittier Street Health Center will relocate back to the parcel not far from its original facility built in the mid-thirties. The National Center of Afro-American Artists will build a new Elma Lewis School of Fine Arts and a 60,000 square expansion of its museum, which will continue to operate programs at its present Walnut Avenue building. In a second phase, the NCAAA will also build a new performing arts center anchored by a grand theater.

Ruggles Place hopes to open in 2011.