Boston PFC approves sale of two Roxbury vacant parcels for community gardens

BOSTON — July 20, 2026 — Boston's Public Facilities Commission unanimously approved two $200 land sales in Roxbury on July 20, advancing long-stalled community garden projects. Shani Fletcher, Assistant Director of the Mayor's Office of Housing, presented both votes to Chair Catherine Craven and Commissioner Larry Mamoli. The first vote granted a tentative developer designation to United Neighbors of Lower Roxbury Incorporated for unnumbered parcels on Melnea Cass Boulevard and Windsor Street, where UNLR plans fencing, raised beds, fruit trees, and a community plaza; the city will shed roughly $800 in annual maintenance costs and recover land sitting in inventory for 29 years. The second vote authorized full conveyance of 21 and 23 Winthrop Street to the Trustees of Reservations, which has already secured $50,000 in Grassroots Program funding and finalized a design for roughly 6,000 square feet of garden plots, a rain garden, gathering space, and artist installations commemorating the history of the Black Panthers on the site — land held by the city for more than 23 years.