The City of Boston Celebrates Grand Opening of Saige on Fountain
On October 23, the Mayor’s Office of Housing, Oxbow Urban LLC, the Secretary of The Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (EOHLC), MassHousing, and local elected officials celebrated the Grand Opening of Saige on Fountain in Dorchester. This transit-oriented homeownership development has created 40 new affordable homes for first-time buyers in the Fountain Hill neighborhood of Roxbury. This initiative aligns with Mayor Wu's commitment to providing homeownership opportunities on underutilized land, ideally near transit hubs.
"I’m very proud that together with our partners, we have created more income-restricted homeownership opportunities for Boston residents,” said Chief of Housing Sheila Dillon. “With the engagement of the neighborhood groups and residents to help shape the vision of this project, we are modeling the creation of affordable homeownership across the City. I want to thank our partners who made this possible, and look forward to continuing to work with all of them to create more income-restricted homeownership opportunities in our City.”
Oxbow Urban, in collaboration with DVM Consulting and Our Village Initiative, has created forty new income-restricted homes as part of Mayor Wu’s vision to increase homeownership in Boston. Notably, Saige on Fountain stands as the first all-electric, multi-unit ownership development in the City of Boston, underscoring the importance of creating opportunities for generational wealth while also minimizing environmental impact. The project also proudly meets the U.S. Green Building Council LEED Homes Gold certifiable standard and complies with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star standards.
This achievement is the result of a unique collaboration between the neighborhood, the City of Boston, and its development partners. The land, which sat vacant for over 50 years, was formerly owned by the Fountain Hill Square Condominium Association, which sought a buyer dedicated to affordable homeownership to align with the neighborhood's vision. Oxbow Urban, leveraging their experience with the Neighborhood Homes Initiative, acquired the land and worked closely with the neighborhood and the Mayor’s Office of Housing to turn this vision into reality. Throughout the planning process, the Tommy’s Rock Neighborhood Association and Fountain Hill Square Condominium Association collaborated to align with neighborhood priorities while ensuring financial viability.
“Homeownership is a pathway to generational wealth. The income-restricted homes opened today at Saige on Fountain will make a difference for families today and generations to come,” said EOHLC Secretary Ed Augustus. “I want to congratulate Oxbow Urban on this fantastic project. And I want to thank our incredible partners at MassHousing and the City of Boston for their collaboration. We need to build more housing; we need to build it faster and we need partners like these to get it done right.”
The Mayor’s Office of Housing played an active role in the initial discussions between the neighborhood and Oxbow Urban LLC. Saige on Fountain effectively utilizes vacant land, supported by strong financial backing from the City of Boston, the State of Massachusetts, and MassHousing, to create affordable homeownership opportunities for a diverse range of first-time homebuyers. This development owes its success, in part, to funding from the Mayor’s Office of Housing, Community Preservation Act Funding, The Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities, as well as MassHousing. The Life Initiative and Cambridge Trust Company have provided the necessary financing for the project.
‘‘Saige represents the best of what Boston can accomplish when all the diversity and talent of individuals from all parts of the City are given a chance to have their voices heard. This was a core principle through the development and one that Dariela and I took very seriously” said Kevin Maguire, founder of Oxbow Urban.
Out of the 40 new affordable homes, twenty have been sold to first-time buyers in Boston with incomes at or below 80% of the Area Median Income (AMI), while the remaining twenty have been allocated to households with incomes at or below 100% of the AMI.
“To see the joy on the faces of the first-time homebuyers who have achieved their dream and put down roots at Saige on Fountain is very exciting,” said MassHousing Executive Director Chrystal Kornegay. “The CommonWealth Builder program was created for exactly what has happened here; people bought homes that they can afford and are building wealth through the benefits of homeownership. MassHousing commends Oxbow Urban and the entire development team for its vision and expertise in taking this project from an underutilized property to 40 beautiful new homes where families will live and thrive for many years.”
For more information about Boston's down payment assistance program and other affordable housing options, please visit the Mayor's Office of Housing website. The Office of Housing remains dedicated to supporting Boston residents in their journey toward homeownership. By creating more affordable housing options and reducing financial barriers, the office is committed to building a more equitable and inclusive Boston.
About the Mayor’s Office of Housing (MOH)
The Mayor’s Office of Housing is responsible for housing people experiencing homelessness, creating and preserving affordable housing, and ensuring that renters and homeowners can obtain, maintain, and remain in safe, stable housing. The department develops and implements the City of Boston’s housing creation and homelessness prevention plans and collaborates with local and national partners to find new solutions and build more housing affordable to all, particularly those with lower incomes. For more information, please visit the MOH website.
