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Should Boston rebuild Madison Park at Roxbury’s P-3 site?
Developers had planned to build a mixed-use campus with lab space and affordable housing. Now, the city wants to use the parcel for a new Madison Park vocational high school.
A long-debated plan to redevelop a 7.7-acre vacant parcel in Roxbury is once again in flux — and city leaders, developers, and community members are divided over what should happen next.
The publicly-owned Tremont Street site, known as parcel P-3, has sat empty for decades. Several redevelopment efforts have fallen through, including a large retail and residential complex in 2019.
In 2023, the Boston Planning & Development Agency designated HYM Investment Group and My City at Peace to lead a mixed-use project with housing, commercial, and a life-sciences lab space. But shifting market conditions — particularly a steep drop in demand for lab space — stalled the project. The tentative designation expired Jan. 31 and is no longer active, according to the Boston Planning Department.
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Mayor Michelle Wu’s administration is now considering a different path: rebuild Madison Park Technical Vocational High School — Boston’s only vocational high school, which serves about 1,000 students — on the site. In December, the school was selected for the Massachusetts School Building Authority’s Core Program Eligibility Period, the first step toward securing state funding for a major rebuild.
On “Boston Public Radio” last month, Mayor Wu said the original redevelopment struggled to move forward because of the economics, not the Madison Park proposal, calling the idea of subsidizing affordable housing with lab space as a “pipe dream” in today’s market.
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“The economics do not work. Lab spaces are at 30% vacancy and this project for multiple years now was not able to advance or make meaningful progress towards a groundbreaking,” she said.
The shift has divided the development team.
OnyxGroup Realty & Development said it is stepping back from the original plan, writing in an open letter that “the economic landscape has changed” and that “the life sciences investment is not coming,” according to the Boston Herald.
HYM and other development partners, however, are pushing to keep their mixed-use vision alive. At a Roxbury community meeting Monday, HYM’s Thomas O’Brien said he remains committed to the project.
“While we care deeply about the high school, we care deeply about the Boston Public School system, we also care deeply about this community, and we’ll continue to care about this mission and this potential opportunity,” he said.
We want to hear from you: What should the city do with P-3 in Roxbury?
Would you support building a new Madison Park High School on the site? Do you think the mixed-use housing and life sciences proposal deserves more time or consideration? How do you feel about the city changing course?
Tell us by filling out the form or e-mailing us at [email protected], and your response may appear in a future Boston.com article.
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