State sells New Bedford property to developer

On Monday, Governor Maura Healey made good on an early promise to turn vacant, stateowned lands into solutions to the ongoing housing crisis.

The administration announced the state sold a 1.4acre lot and former orphanage in New Bedford to a Roxbury developer with plans to build 28 rental units — 70 percent of which would rent at an affordable rate and 30 percent at market rate.

The new development will also include parking and an outdoor play area for children.

During her transition into the role, Healey repeatedly said she wanted to convert swaths of state-owned land into new housing. Healey committed early in her campaign to focus resources on production during a time when housing has become increasingly unaffordable and harder to find.

The New Bedford property is “one of many” the state can utilize for housing, she said in a statement announcing the sale.

“This is a critical means of meeting our goals of increasing housing production across the state and lowering costs,” she said. “That’s why I’ve directed our administration to identify other sites across the state that could be used for this purpose as well.”

The New Bedford project pre-dates the Healey administration. The Baker administration identified the property, the 19th-century St. Mary’s Home for Children at 593 Kempton St., as a potential opportunity for redevelopment.

After a competitive bid process, Roxbury’s Cruz Development Corporation was selected in July 2021 to take on the project. The developer has experience building other projects in Massachusetts, such as the Verdean Gardens in New Bedford and Orchard Commons in Boston.

The state closed on the sale Monday.

“We applaud the state’s drive for better and more affordable housing opportunities in Gateway Cities like New Bedford,” Cruz Development Corporation President and CEO John B. Cruz III said. “Our opportunity to reimagine several historic sites in this community, including the former school at 593 Kempton Street, reflects our longevity and commitment to the area — and will help bring 80-plus new units of affordable housing in total across this site and others.”

New housing secretary Edward M. Augustus Jr. said he has already taken steps to identify more state-owned land that can be converted in a similar way. He’s formed a group of state agencies to put together an inventory of unused properties that will inform future projects, he said after his swearingin ceremony last week.

“There’s a lot of state land that isn’t necessarily being used right now,” he said. “And that land belongs to the people of the Commonwealth.”