The Silk Road Project in Hyde Park
"The Silk Road” project restores new life to the original Business Street mill buildings while adding a mix of new housing and commercial space. The new commercial uses in concert with new residential units are intended to enhance and enliven the neighborhood while benefitting from the neighborhood’s proximity to excellent public transportation, parks and general urban advantages.
The heavy timber mill complex has been here on the banks of the Mother Brook since the time of the Civil War. These mills are surrounded by a mix of other industrial uses and a mix of single and multifamily housing.
On the south side of Mother Brook, just opposite the mills, sits a recently developed City of Boston park and recreation area that stretches well up the river.
The development program will demolish later additions to the mills to make way for improved landscaping / courtyards and restore the better character of the original buildings. These courtyards, new and restored, form a link that will unify the site.
The new work will be a combination of the adaptive re-use of the existing buildings as a combination housing and business uses as well as new housing , commercial and religious spaces that complete the site ‘s development potential totaling 508,000 s.f. The residential life of the complex will be supported by an on-site daycare center, shops, a mosque, restaurant(s), a recreational facility ...all of it accessible to the neighbors. Underground parking will be available to both the commercial and residential occupants.
In the course of converting the original mills to housing and commercial uses, it is intended that the financing take full advantage of the federal and state historic tax credits as well as the federal “new market” tax credit, all of which have been established by the Federal and State governments to promote the adaptive re-use of existing, qualified properties to house new commercial and residential uses.
