A long-awaited city study says the long-stalled Jackson Mann property in Allston-Brighton can hold both a rebuilt BCYF community center and new housing, as long as they sit in separate buildings. With that in hand, Mayor Michelle Wu has called a community meeting for Thursday, May 28 at 6 p.m. to kick off design work. Neighbors and local officials, however, are already warning that the $10 million currently in the city’s capital plan for design and permitting is just a first installment on what will have to be a much larger rebuild.
Study lays out mixed-use test fits
The April 2026 “Jackson Mann Housing with Public Assets” study looks at how a BCYF community center, an elementary school and new housing could be arranged across the two Jackson Mann parcels. According to a City of Boston report, the test fits include an option for a roughly 712-seat K–6 school, program layouts that could accommodate one or two pools for BCYF, and housing placed in a separate structure instead of stacked above the community center. The study, prepared by Utile in consultation with Landwise Advisors, also adds early cost ranges and proformas for several different development scenarios.
Design money is a first step, not the finish line
In a May 14 letter to neighbors, Mayor Wu wrote that the city’s capital plan sets aside $10 million for Jackson Mann’s design and permitting phase, noting that design typically runs at about 10 percent of a project’s overall cost. She called Jackson Mann “a cornerstone of the community for nearly fifty years” and said the May 28 meeting will walk residents through the study findings and gather feedback. City officials emphasize that the project will need to return to the City Council for a separate construction authorization once design work and updated cost estimates are in hand.
Neighbors press for a larger commitment
More than a hundred residents rallied in April to push for significantly more funding and a faster schedule for a new community center, according to reporting from The Harvard Crimson. Local elected officials at the event urged the city to commit to a full buildout instead of leaving the site stuck in years of planning. Advocates point to the site’s recent history, with the K–8 school closing in 2022 and the Horace Mann School relocating in 2024, as evidence that the neighborhood has already spent plenty of time waiting for a modern facility.
Study shows tradeoffs and subsidy potential
The city’s analysis runs several housing scenarios and shows how private development on the site could help subsidize the public pieces, but it repeatedly notes that housing is likely most workable in a building separate from the community center. The proformas in the report outline various mixes of affordable and market units, recommended unit sizes and initial cost estimates intended to guide later zoning and financing decisions. City planners say those numbers will be central to deciding whether a new school belongs on the site or whether a community center paired with housing is the better long-term fit.
What to expect at the May 28 meeting
The May 28 session at Jackson Mann will be led by BCYF, the Public Facilities Department and the architecture team that authored the study. City staff plan to walk residents through the test-fit options and take input on the preferred mix of uses, according to a recent Boston.com summary of the materials. The full study is posted online, and the mayor’s May 14 letter to the community outlines the next steps for design and permitting. City leaders say the public feedback collected at the meeting will help shape the design scope the administration eventually sends back to the Council for construction approval.
