Build Better Podcast

History in the Making: Investing in Roxbury’s Future through Meaningful Development

by Emily Langner

On season 2, episode 16 of the Build Better podcast, Anastasia talked with Reverend Jeffrey Brown, co-founder of My City at Peace and associate pastor at Twelfth Baptist Church in Roxbury, and Tom O’Brien, founding partner and CEO of The HYM Investment Group. They recently presented a proposal to the City of Boston for Parcel 3 in Roxbury that would set an example of a truly diverse and equitable development for the city.

Tom O’Brien Reverend Jeffrey Brown

The bid is one of two that were presented in March.

The team’s proposal for the almost 8-acre parcel includes affordable homeownership units that create opportunities to establish generational wealth for the residents of Roxbury, and a life sciences component that supports that goal. Brown and O’Brien shared more about this unprecedented development, and the ways they are ensuring that it would have a positive impact on those that live and work in Roxbury for

Parcel 3 in Roxbury / Rendering courtesy of DREAM Collaborative

years to come.

Brown and O’Brien came together three years ago with a common goal of creating a plan for Parcel 3 that gives back to the community in a meaningful way. The parcel has remained undeveloped for decades, and they wanted to create a gathering place for the community while engaging minority- and women-owned businesses (M/WBEs) to complete the project. The team they have assembled includes DREAM Collaborative and OnyxGroup, along with other local M/ WBE’s, and their plan includes providing equity participation in the development process by people of color and women. O’Brien says that engaging M/WBEs to take on key roles in the project will catalyze their growth and make a continued to page 41