By Todd Feathers

News Correspondent

The Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) re-approved a plan Jan. 13 that allows Elma Lewis Partners LLC and Feldco Development Corp. to redevelop an empty lot in Roxbury.

The developers plan to build a multipurpose complex, to be called Ruggles Place, on the empty eight-acre lot  that stretches over Tremont Street across from the Boston Police Headquarters building. The complex will contain 550,000 square feet of retail space, 300,000 square feet of office space, a parking garage and a new home for the National Center for Afro-American Artists (NCAAA) museum, which currently resides on 300 Walnut Ave. in Dorchester.

Edmund Barry Gaither, executive director of the NCAAA and Elma Lewis Partners LLC., has worked with the BRA since 2006 on plans for the Ruggles Place complex. An earlier version of the plan was approved in 2007, but had to be put on hold because of the recession. Now, Gaither said he is excited to get back to work on the project.

“The project is conceptual at this point,” said Susan Elsbree, a BRA spokeswoman. “What we’ve given them is the green light to be the re-developers for 18 months and make progress with the community.”

Gaither and his new partner, Barry Feldman, owner of Feldco Development Corp., have already begun looking for funding for the project, which is estimated to cost $308 million. Some of the money will come from companies that want to pre-lease retail and office space, they said, and some will come from private investors.

The BRA will reconvene to grant Elma Lewis and Feldco the final go-ahead in 18 months if the developers have funding and a detailed construction plan.

The complex could take as long as two years to be completed, Gaither said, including or not including the first 18 months.

Gaither said he envisions the complex bringing new life to a troubled Roxbury community. He said he hopes Ruggles Place will be “the kind of presence, cultural and educational, and economic that makes for a healthy community.”

Gaither’s optimism was not shared by some Roxbury residents.  Brenda Simons, 44, who who lives near the future site of Ruggles Place, said more stores and shops are not what is needed in the area, which she characterized as one of the most dangerous housing projects in Boston.

Gaither, however, emphasized the many ways in which the Ruggles Place complex could potentially benefit the Roxbury community and help reduce crime. He said Ruggles Place could generate as many as 3,000 permanent jobs after its construction, and could potentially provide low-cost housing as well.

In addition, the complex will contain 60,000 square feet designated as arts and educational space, a renovated building for the Whitier Street Health Center, and possibly even a new home for the Elma Lewis School of Fine Arts. Some of the best retail space will be set aside for local entrepreneurs.

“Clearly that community could use more retail,” said Professor Barry Bluestone, director of the Kitty and Michael Dukakis Center for Urban and Regional Policy and dean of the School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs at Northeastern. “It’s wonderful to have some more community space there for arts and culture.”
Bluestone said he could not accurately gauge how beneficial Ruggles Place could be to Roxbury without also examining alternative uses for the land, such as low-cost housing.”

“[But] if they actually can put 3,000 permanent jobs on that site, that certainly would be a terrific addition to the community,” he said.

Gaither said he hoped Ruggles Place would contain room for low-cost housing, but he could not be certain at this point in the process.

“We hope to have housing, but frankly we will go to the market and see what guidance it gives us on that,” he said.

Ruggles Place may also change dynamics on campus, where many students were interested in the possibility of cheaper retail outlets in the area.

“I’d definitely check it out, especially if it’s more affordable,” said Sarah Schulte, a freshman international affairs major. “I mean, you can’t really afford anything in the Prudential Center on a regular student budget.”
Gaither and Feldman said they hope students and other Boston residents will travel to Ruggles Place when it is completed to help jump-start the new development.

“[Roxbury] is an entire area of tremendous progressive development and growth,” Gaither said. “And we expect to not be just part of it, but be an anchor for it.”