At last Thursday’s Hyde Park Neighborhood Association (HPNA) meeting, significant updates were given on two major local development matters that have been playing out for years.

The first concerned the recently Boston Planning and Development Agency (BPDA) Board approved Crane Ledge Woods residential development at 990 American Legion Hwy. City Hall has cleared the project to use a privately owned 24-acre urban wild near the Hyde Park/Roslindale/Mattapan line for nine two- and three-story buildings (not including an amenity building and swimming pool) containing 204 market-rate apartments that the developer has estimated will bring in approximately $990,000 in increased tax revenue.

The application was approved by the BPDA Board last September after first being filed in 2021. During those five-plus years, it faced widespread opposition from across the city and was disapproved by the BPDA in 2023. This led to Land Court litigation in 2024. Its ruling last April limited the BPDA’s ability to impose changes on the application, which had been revised to reduce the number of units by about 25 percent (from 270) – removing all of those on the first floor and bringing the proposal into zoning compliance.

During that time, there was ongoing public and political advocacy for the City to buy the land – owned by the Jubilee Christian Church and under purchase agreement with MQMF Hyde Park LLC c/o Willow Bridge Property Company – for public use as an urban wild.

This has continued since the application’s BPDA approval, and it became a topic at Thursday’s meeting when At-Large City Councilor Henry Santana stated, in response to a question, that he would be willing to look into a budget line item for the acquisition of the parcel. “I am absolutely 100 percent in support of this,” he said of the City trying to buy the property.

This set the stage for what was to come in the next appointment: the regular monthly update from Hyde Park Liaison Zoë Petty of the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Services.

Tree canopy/climate advocate/activist and Southwest Boston Community Development Corporation Assistant Director Pat Alvarez immediately asked how the community could bring Mayor Michelle Wu onboard regarding the purchase of the land.

“The most important part is that the owners have to be willing to sell, and they’re no longer…” Petty had begun to respond, when HPNA President Mimi Turchinetz interjected.

“They are,” she said. “They are.”

Petty went on, now responding to Turchinetz. “They said in the meeting in the summertime that they… They said $100 million.” She was referring to a meeting held last May, at which a Jubilee representative had given that as a selling price. “Although $100 million may be hyperbole, it still shows that… it still implies that… Even half a hundred million is still $50 million.”

At that point, Hyde Park Board of Trade President/financial planner Scott Batey asked to speak, and informed Petty that one of Jubilee’s “critical decision makers” had informally told him that it is looking for the City to make a modified offer for the land. Batey also suggested that, aside from line-item funding, the City could also utilize its bond rating, work out an arrangement with the Audubon Society, or combine funding methods. In so doing, he emphasized that it be “some sort of reasonable strategy to put before Jubilee, and something serious for them to look at.”

Referring to the $100 million, he put forward that floating such an arbitrary figure is not an unusual negotiating tactic. “They’re waiting for the City to take action,” he reiterated.

“I think we’re hearing different things on the City side,” Petty offered in response, before going back to the $100 million. “But, like I said, that was the last number that was given to the City.”

Turchinetz came back in. “Having an informal shout-out in a meeting is not a negotiation.”

“The City should make some sort of proposal, and if it’s rejected it’s rejected,” Batey followed, driving his point home. “But, at the end of the day, the messaging has been pretty clear.”

Between that May meeting and last Thursday’s discussion, the idea of the City purchasing Crane Ledge Woods had been raised multiple times in public meetings.

One, in particular, stuck out.

During a June 5 candidates forum held in Hyde Park, Mayor Wu responded to a question about negotiating a deal. “The City did offer the funds that were available,” she said. “It was not enough to, it seems, meet the needs of the property owner.” Rather than providing the amount, however, she stated that the City had $5 million in its acquisition fund set aside for open space for the next three years. Wu then brought up the $100 million in question. “Maybe it was half in jest, but they were basically saying that they were not interested in coming to a deal.”

On Thursday, the matter was left with Petty offering to bring Batey’s request to the mayor.

Regarding the other major ongoing development-related matter, Turchinetz announced that the HPNA will be sponsoring a meeting to finalize a community-generated proposal for the Squares + Streets (S+S) rezoning of Cleary Square. Its goal is for residents to reach consensus about which S+S zoning districts they prefer for downtown Hyde Park, and to then present that draft map to the Planning Department in anticipation of its proposed S+S zoning changes.

This meeting will take place at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 22 at The Pryde (55 Harvard Ave.).

The HPNA meets on the first Thursday of the month at 6:30 p.m. in the Hyde Park Municipal Building/BCYF (1179 River St.). For information, email hydeparkneighbors@gmail.com.