Mass Audubon, GreenRoots, The Neighborhood Developers Celebrate Ownership of Forbes Property in Chelsea

Mass Audubon is one step closer to transforming the abandoned Forbes site in Chelsea into a one-of-a-kind, community-centered wildlife sanctuary with affordable residential homes, in partnership with GreenRoots, a leading environmental justice nonprofit based in Chelsea, and The Neighborhood Developers, a local community development corporation.

In March, Mass Audubon officially took ownership of 18 acres, 11 months after The Superior Court approved the initial offer for the property. The site of the former Forbes Lithograph Manufacturing Company was placed in receivership at the request of the City of Chelsea in late 2024, a legal step that opened a window of opportunity for the partnership to actively pursue the acquisition of the property.

Folks from all three organizations gathered at the site on a perfect sunny June day to open the gates and give more than 50 people their first glimpse of the property in approximately 20 years. The event was also attended by Senator Sal DiDomenico, Representative Judith Garcia and Rebecca Tepper, Secretary of the MA Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, all three of whom had a hand in securing over $3.5M funding for Chelsea Creek Sanctuary.

“This is a crucial milestone on a once-in-a-lifetime project that will be a national model of urban waterfront redevelopment,” said Mass Audubon President & CEO David O’Neill. “Communities like Chelsea have been overlooked and stripped of so many of the positive benefits that nature and green spaces bring, which is why we’re dedicated to and passionate about bringing accessible open space to one of the most densely packed municipalities in the Commonwealth.”

The abandoned industrial site will be rejuvenated to provide open space and waterfront access, increase climate resiliency, and provide up to 225 units of affordable housing. When the project is ready to be open to the public, the community will be able to access nature-based programming, camps for kids, urban bird walks, community events, and recreational opportunities such as hiking and kayaking where Chelsea Creek and Mill Creek converge.

Accessibility to nature in environmental justice communities is a major focus of GreenRoots Executive Director (and lifelong Chelsea resident) Roseann Bongiovanni, who has pursued and advocated for this redevelopment project for years, and whose future office will be located on-site. Her great-grandfather actually worked at Forbes and she went fishing for the first time right on Chelsea Creek from the very same site.

“Today we celebrate this win for the community of Chelsea with the community of Chelsea, because this community is resilient beyond comparison,” Bongiovanni said. “When I went fishing here for the first time I had to trespass to get here, and now, through this partnership, Chelsea kids will never have to trespass again to access the Chelsea Creek waterfront.”

What makes this project unique is that it flips the notion that housing developers and proponents of open space need to be at odds. With more than 200 affordable homes planned for part of the property, Chelsea Creek Sanctuary could be a model for this kind of partnership throughout the nation.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reclaim a long-neglected site and return it to community use in a way that reflects Chelsea’s needs and aspirations,” said Rafael Mares, Executive Director of The Neighborhood Developers. “By creating homes alongside open space, we can help ensure that Chelsea residents who have deep roots here can remain part of the City’s future, while also expanding access to the waterfront to everyone.” 

All three partners strongly agree that this site will only succeed with the support and input from the residents of Chelsea. There will be many opportunities over the next year for the community to offer input about the vision for the site. The first wave of work will include addressing deferred maintenance on the seawall and carefully examining which of the existing buildings to keep and which to raze, and also debris removal.

The initial purchase price of $8 million serves as a down payment for this multi-year, multi-million-dollar project. The total cost, including real estate, environmental testing, planning and design, and construction, will run an estimated $68 million. Project partners, along with Chelsea officials, are pursuing a variety of state, federal, and grant funding (including a federal $850,000 Mystic River Watershed Communities grant) while simultaneously raising private funds and donations.

To learn more about this project and how you can get involved, visit massaudubon.org/chelsea.

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GreenRoots is a women-led, resident-led grassroots organization with a track record of more than 30 years of significant environmental justice and public health victories in the frontline communities of Chelsea and East Boston. Our mission is to achieve environmental justice and greater quality of life through collective action, unity, education and youth leadership across neighborhoods and communities. GreenRoots programs engage and empower residents hyper locally in Chelsea and East Boston, but the organization’s policy, advocacy and coalition work is positively felt throughout the state and beyond.

The Neighborhood Developer’s mission is to create strong neighborhoods, enabling community members to secure stable homes, achieve economic mobility, and determine their own future. TND has more than 40 years of experience in tackling affordable housing from all angles. TND creates and preserves safe, healthy housing so that people have a place to call home. More than that, TND ensures that people can stay in their homes by providing services ranging from rental and employment assistance, one-on-one financial and career coaching, to accessing food and medical care. TND is part of the community and works side by side with neighbors to ensure that everyone in the community has a chance to thrive.