It’s been over 20 years since ABCDC and tenants worked together to preserve the affordability of the Commonwealth Apartments. In 1997, Allston Brighton CDC and the tenants bought the buildings together, guaranteeing that they would stay affordable for the long-term. Today, the apartments are run by a joint ownership board made up of tenants and representatives of ABCDC. We even opened our All Bright Community Center on the first floor of the building back in 2017!

By purchasing this building, community members were able to preserve 118 units of affordable housing! We think that’s quite an accomplishment. Recently, our new staff members came across pictures from the opening ceremony back in the 90’s. Look out for some familiar faces including Representative Kevin Honan, Mayor Menino,  Congressman Joe Kennedy III, and even Andrew Cuomo.

A recent survey found that 85% of the public believe that ensuring everyone has a safe, decent, affordable place to live should be a “top national priority.” Even more interesting, almost 90% of people say that it is a “big problem” when people have to spend more than half of their monthly income to pay for housing. Obviously, there is a consensus in our country that access to safe and affordable housing is necessary and worthy of more attention. We hope we can develop more housing in 2019 to provide homes to our neighbors!