West End dilemma: Keep neighborhood’s character or add needed housing?

A proposed housing development in the city’s West End has triggered a controversy — pitting the city’s need for additional housing against Black and Cape Verdean residents who say they want to protect their community from overdevelopment, traffic congestion and gentrification.

Congregants of The United House of Prayer For All People and other West End residents oppose the proposed three-story housing development. It would abut their church, founded in 1921, which has been described as a “sacred and historic site of African American and Cape Verdean history.” They say it doesn’t fit the character of the neighborhood and that they have not been afforded an opportunity to voice their concerns.

The developer, Tracey White, proposes building nine condominiums on a vacant lot next to the church, with 15 parking spaces — after reducing the project from 15 units due to neighborhood concerns. The Planning Board and the Zoning Board of Appeals will consider the proposed development at their April meetings.

White said he proposed the project because of the housing shortage in New Bedford. He said he has no plans to scrap the proposed development. 

“Having more housing in New Bedford is what they’ve been asking for,” White said. “This is a perfect opportunity and a great location for people to own a place to live.” 

Josh Amaral, director of the city’s Office of Housing and Community Development, wrote in a statement to The Light that the project would create “much-needed homeownership opportunities” for residents.

“We trust [the developer] will continue to engage in good faith with neighbors and City boards through the permitting and Board review processes,” Amaral wrote.

In a revised proposal for redesign, the developer scaled down the project from 15 units to nine units and from four stories to three “in response to neighborhood feedback,” according to Amaral.

The new proposal decreased the height of the building, eliminated a ground level garage and incorporated the parking spaces. 

The original plans also had balconies on every unit. Balconies will now only be on the rear side of the building, which faces the church, according to David M. Davignon, a professional engineer working on the project. More green space has been added to create outside space for residents, which reduces the building’s carbon footprint. 

White said there are no current plans for further alterations, and he is nearly ready to submit the revised plans to the city’s Zoning and Planning Boards in April. 

Burgo criticizes development

City Councilor Shane Burgo said he thinks the empty lot is too small for a building next to a church because of the proximity of the two buildings. He added he doesn’t see how the two can “coexist without there being issues.” 

The church has served as a Black religious space, and the project encroaches upon its space and legacy, Burgo said. 

“Everyone understands the need and concern for more housing, but nothing that they want to build in a community that has long roots and ties should be done without including those voices,” said Burgo, who has been dubbed anecdotally as the city’s “housing councilor.” 

“I do support housing and smart growth in New Bedford,” said Burgo. “Supporting housing in this case doesn’t mean supporting it in every location.” 

In the most recent site plan found on the Planning Board’s website, the proposed building would be on parts of Emerson, Mill and Kempton streets, and its parking spaces would border the church’s property. 

Traffic questions

In December, some area residents, including The United House of Prayer For All People’s New Bedford Pastor Harold Taylor, sent a letter to the city’s Traffic Commission requesting it to conduct an independent traffic study. They wrote that the area already has congestion, limited parking and is difficult for pedestrians and emergency vehicles to navigate. The church and the proposed condo development are located between Kempton and Mill streets, both parts of Route 6.

“The introduction of a high-density residential development has the potential to significantly intensify these challenges, creating obstacles not only for drivers and pedestrians, but for the congregational life that depends on safe and reliable access to the church,” said the letter writers. 

While the Traffic Commission cannot require the developer to conduct the study, the Planning Board can, city spokesperson Jonathan Darling wrote in an email. He added that the study will most likely be discussed at the next Planning Board meeting on Feb. 11. 

But Darling wrote that traffic impact studies are typically conducted for large developments that could “add many vehicles to local roads.” The proposed nine-unit project would add about five to seven cars during peak hours, which is “not enough to change the flow of traffic on typical City Streets such as Mill or Kempton,” he wrote. 

“The City continues to encourage the neighbors to engage with the developer and voice their thoughts on the project during the upcoming public hearings as part of the standard Planning Board and Zoning Board review processes,” Darling wrote. 

Church’s complaints

A media advisory for a community meeting on Jan. 10 said the development “threatens the cultural, spiritual, and historical integrity of one of New Bedford’s most significant landmarks.”

Bishop Charles Manuel Grace, also referred to as “Sweet Daddy” Grace, founded the first House of Prayer in 1919 in West Wareham. Grace, who emigrated from Cape Verde to New Bedford in 1903, established numerous branches across the U.S., including New Bedford’s, which he organized in 1921 on the church’s current Kempton Street site, according to the New Bedford Historical Society. The current church structure was built in 1994.

Nationwide, The United House of Prayer For All People holds both cultural and historical significance. Apart from providing a religious space, these churches created public services for Black Americans at a time when they did not have access to them. In New Bedford, the church is particularly rooted in the city’s African American and Cape Verdean populations. 

Church members and residents who opposed the project said they haven’t been properly consulted on it, and that it would not contribute meaningfully to the area. 

Some community members have described the proposed condominiums as “luxury” units. Burgo said the word “luxury” is being used loosely and is an assumption based on people’s review of the development and a lack of information. 

“[These are] all questions we want to know,” he said. “We can’t have answers until someone is willing to meet with us.”

Asked if he plans to make the units affordable, White said, “we haven’t got that far with it.”

“It’s a nine-unit building that’s new and modernized,” he said. “Is it luxury? No, I think it just has all of the amenities that you need to live.”

The units would be too expensive for New Bedford and Ward 4 residents, said Marcus Coward, a deacon and Sunday school teacher at The United House of Prayer For All People. 

Coward, who was a recent School Committee candidate, said he thinks the project would raise the property values in surrounding areas and attract people who live in New Bedford but don’t necessarily spend their time or money there.

“[This project] addresses housing, but housing for who?” Coward said. “I’m really trying to look out for the people who have generationally been here in New Bedford, who can afford how it is now. But if the housing proposed comes in, they may not be able to.”

Others echoed that thought.

“This is for somebody who’s coming into New Bedford, who’s looking for a place to basically stay overnight as they’re doing their nine-to-five job somewhere around New Bedford,” said Bruce A. Rose, a retired UMass Dartmouth professor and a community activist dedicated to civil rights and equity. 

White said he thinks New Bedford residents would want to live there, but has no control over who would buy the units.

Some community members are open to housing units being built in the lot if they are affordable units, while others are not. Other suggested alternatives include a cultural museum, downsizing the project, and letting the church buy the land from the developer.

Rose said he would support a housing project if it were affordable, on an appropriate scale, included notification to the abutters, and if it didn’t pose density issues. Others protested against any form of housing in the area.

“I don’t see how someone could build something there and not have it be a challenge,” Burgo said. 

The United House of Prayer For All People has built other housing properties around the country, Coward said, so if the proposed project doesn’t go through, the church could potentially purchase the land and create mixed-income or low-income housing for the community or church members. 

In response, White said selling the property is an option “if the church offered to buy it for what I have invested in time and energy.”

Consultation and communication

Opponents of the project said that they have not been afforded an opportunity to voice their concerns.

White said he’s attended public meetings and has had someone try to schedule meetings through City Councilor Derek Baptiste, who represents Ward 4, with “zero reply.” Burgo said a representative from 262 Bedford Street, LLC, the developer, reached out to Baptiste but suggested meeting with only him, not the rest of the community. 

Baptiste has not responded to The Light’s requests for comment. 

Burgo said there have been informal community meetings because people have had nowhere else to bring their concerns. He said it is possible the developer was unaware of the meetings, but they should have reached out to more people beyond Baptiste if he hadn’t responded.

Carleen Cordwell, a community activist, said opponents of the condo project will hold additional meetings. They plan to conduct door-knocking and to continue to spread word about the history of the building. 

City wants more housing

In New Bedford’s Citywide Comprehensive Plan for 2025 through 2035, the city listed strategic city building and modernized land use as two of the four elements of its strategy to create a “resilient, vibrant, and forward-looking city.”

“Adding supply of housing units of all types, at all income levels, and in all of New Bedford’s neighborhoods, is crucial in creating housing opportunities for the next generation of New Bedford residents,” the report stated. 

City officials and housing activists have argued that the city needs more housing for all income levels, and that even high-priced units help relieve the housing shortage that has caused rents to skyrocket.

Crystal Yormick is a Boston University journalism student and a frequent contributor to The New Bedford Light. Email her at cyormick@newbedfordlight.org.