Boston Real Estate for Sale

Is Egleston Square the next big thing? One-time gang haven offers cut-rate prices

From the Boston Herald:

 

Egleston Square is very close to the South End.  You basically go down Columbus Ave, past Roxbury Community College, and you drive right into it.  Go a bit past the square (stay on Washington St) and you will find a bunch of nice three-family homes, many which have already been turned into condos and renovated.  All within walking distance to Green St Orange Line station, among others.  Prices $280,000 – $350,000, tops (except for one multi-family, where the developer has done a top-of-the-line renovation, and is asking $399,000 and up…).

Brinda Tahiliani couldn’t be more excited about the $295,000 two-bedroom condo she just bought in Boston’s Egleston Square.

“I can’t believe I was able to get top-of-the-line new construction for this price,” the 29-year-old said.

Tahiliani is among those who think Egleston Square – located on the Jamaica Plain/Roxbury border – is Boston’s next up-and-coming neighborhood.

Centered around the intersection of Columbus Avenue and Washington Street in Roxbury, Egleston Square was once a no man’s land plagued by blight and gang activity.

But today, most houses are well maintained, with some undergoing conversion to condos. Developers are also building housing on vacant and underutilized lots.

“The condo market is really beginning to roll here,” said Elisa Daley, a Gibson Domain Domain broker who sells a lot of property in the area.

She and others say buyers are drawn not just by low prices, but also by the short walk to the T – and by the neighborhood’s quality housing stock.

Many homes are two- or three-family Queen Anne Victorians built in the early 1900s, offering nice porches, fireplaces, pantries and original woodwork.

“I’m surprised at how quickly this area is changing,” said Jane Clotterbuck, a University of Massachusetts nursing professor who recently bought an Egleston condo after renting in Brookline for 25 years.

“Five years ago, you would not have seen a young professional mother wheeling a baby carriage in this neighborhood.”  For $302,000, Clotterbuck and her husband purchased a two-bedroom, two-bath new-construction condo offering such high-end features as hardwood flooring, crown molding and marble bathrooms.

“We wanted to stay in the city, and here we were able to find quality at an affordable price,” said Clotterbuck, who grew up in Roxbury in the 1950s.

 

Submit a Comment

Call Now

Privacy Policy - Terms and Conditions