With construction on the new Four Corners/Geneva MBTA commuter rail station well underway, local developers are preparing for the new stop by remodeling and repurposing a longstanding neighborhood landmark.

The AB&W Building at 157 Washington Street, built in the 1920s, has always housed local businesses, but the Codman Square Neighborhood Development Corporation (NDC), which bought the property in 2007, plans to turn the space into a 24-unit housing complex, which they hope can help turn this stretch of Four Corners into a bustling commuter and commercial center.

Codman Square NDC director of real estate development Mark Dinaburg said the 28,000 square foot site is a “key transit oriented development” due to its proximity to the commuter rail stop little more than a block away. The station is set to be complete about three months after residents move into the restored building.

According to local historians and neighbors, the building was originally used as an automotive showroom until shortly after World War II, at which point it operated as a candy factory and was a regular hang-out for neighborhood children. Following the factory’s closure, a local business owner re-opened the space in the 1980s to produce automotive parts, calling the company Americans Black and White, a reference to the diversity of the Four Corners area. The business operated until 2005, when the empty space began to draw the attention of CSNDC.

After purchasing the building in 2007 and unveiling their plans to neighbors, the CSNDC downgraded their initial plans to build a 33-unit complex and have promised to maintain the building’s historic facade as a way to recognize the area’s architectural and industrial history.

Marvin Martin, the executive director of the Greater Four Corners Action Coalition, commended the Codman Square NDC for keeping residents informed during the planning process and said the current design has been largely approved by the community.

“For the most part, people were supportive of it being used for mixed space,” Martin said. “In the end, people overwhelmingly voted for it.”

While Dinaburg said the location would be ideal for residents who work closer to downtown, he also sees 3,300 square foot retail space built into the development as the another step towards a strong business district that could attract shoppers from outside the neighborhood. While no tenants have yet signed up for the retail space, Dinaburg said Codman Square NDC are looking to draw in a community cafe and maintain a public art space with a rotating selection of local pieces.

“The commuter rail is definitely one of the main draws for residents,” Dinaburg said. “But it’s even more of a draw for the commercial side of things, we can attract people from the rest of the city.”
Dinaburg is not the only one with high hopes for the Washington Street project.

Four Corners Main Streets board member Jamaal Leek anticipates that the added residential space will increase the number of shoppers frequenting local businesses, while commuters headed to the Fairmount Line will be exposed to a growing number of new shops ringing the station.

“[This project] is definitely a positive improvement for businesses in the district,” Leek said. “For a lot of residents in the area, instead of going in different directions for transport, we now have a destination spot right here in Four Corners.”

Although many see the development as a way to draw shoppers into the Four Corners area, Dinaburg was quick to point out that as a limited equity co-op, families can become shareholders in the building for about the same cost as a single month’s rent.

Under the limited equity model, residents will have some control of the building’s operations with the assistance of a management group for the first 15 years, but then full control could be shifted to tenants if Codman Square NDC feels they are ready for the responsibility.

“It helps the tenants build their own home ownership and draws real stakeholders to the building, we want it to be more than just a place to stay.”

as reported on Upham’s Corner News Online…

Cafe Four Corners, August 19th at Levi’s Restaurant

Posted: August 19, 2011     by Nancy J Conrad

Well attended event

Building on the popularity of their recent summer event “Dining on Main Street,”  Four Corners Main Street joined with the Four Corners Action Coalition and the Codman Square Neighborhood Development Corporation to create the “Cafe Four Corners” Restaurant and invited the neighborhood to dine.Held at Levi’s Restaurant on Friday night August 19, 2011, “Cafe Four Corners” offered food catered by local eateries: Down-Home Delivery, Levi’s Restaurant, Island Style Jamaican Restaurant, Nice and Clean Jamaican Cuisine and Four Corners Pizza Cafe. For only $10 you had your choice of four items from the menu. View Cafe Four Corners menu. The event was filled to capacity and people were still coming in close to closing time including Councilor Charles Yancey.  Entertainment included a jazz keyboardist and poetry readings by Jessica Pomare “Truth” and Mela Cardosa Bush.

Santo Domingo Restaurant & Cafeteria, 179 Washington St, Dorchester, MA 617-282-7788

Santo Domingo Restaurant & Cafeteria is owned by Rafael Lajara 179 Washington Street Dorchester MA.

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Levi’s Restaurant & Lounge, 323 Washington St, Dorchester, MA  617-287-0400

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Nice N Clean Jamican Cuisine at 340 Washington St, Dorchester, MA  617-265-4009

Owner Jennette Thomlinson Douglas tells us about her restaurant.  “Nice and Clean serves traditional jamaican cuisine.  You can get liver and kidney, okra and codfish for breakfast.  Our regular meals include curries, stews and BBQ chicken, goat, beef and pork.

We’ve been open for four years and very supported by the community since we opened.  Let everybody in the community know that we have the best food in town.”  They are open 8 AM to 10 PM and closed on Sunday.

Down Home Delivery & Catering, 2 Bowdoin St, Dorchester, MA  617-288-0813

Sherell Webster Paine provided us an overview of their family business.  “We opened in November 2009 in Jamaica Plain and moved to Four Corners in November.  Our specialty is Southern soul food.  We don’t like to emphasize soul food because people think it’s a certain ethnicity but a lot of our food is traditional Southern food.  Our family is from Georgia.

People had been coming to our house by the hundreds and and asking us how come you don’t have your own restaurant?  So God has provided us so that we have a space.  Our southern cooking includes slow cooked country pot  roast, savory BBQ baby back  ribs, meatloaf and side  dishes like yams, greens, corn and black eye peas. ”