McKeen Family Sells Mattapan Garage for $8.75M

The sale clears a roughly 1.6-acre Blue Hill Avenue site for a planned 105-unit affordable housing development.

Updated on Nov. 3, 2026 in Residential

McKeen Family Sells Mattapan Garage for $8.75M

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The McKeen family has sold the 1590 Blue Hill Ave. auto repair property in Mattapan for $8.75 million. Planning Office for Urban Affairs and JGE Development plan a 6-story, 120,000 square-foot project with 105 income-restricted units on the site.

Why it matters

The redevelopment adds affordable housing on a large former automotive site along a major Boston thoroughfare. Approval under zoning that encourages multifamily development signals a shift in how the Mattapan corridor is being used.

The site has hosted automotive uses since 1925 and the McKeen family operated the repair facility since 1976, and the $8.75 million price is set against a projected $72.3 million development budget. Financing and the final unit affordability mix remain undetermined.

The players

Planning Office for Urban Affairs

The city agency that is advancing the affordable housing project on the Blue Hill Avenue site.

JGE Development

The developer partnering with the Planning Office for Urban Affairs on the 105-unit project.

Boston Planning & Development Agency

The city body that approved the 1590 Blue Hill Ave. development in August.

The details

Colliers Executive Vice President Jeanne Pinado represented the sellers in the sale of the nearly 1.6-acre property. The Boston Planning & Development Agency approved the development in August, and the project will include 1,000 square feet of ground floor retail or community space and 31 parking spaces.

1925: Site first occupied by automotive-related uses.
1976: McKeen family begins operating the auto repair facility.
August 2026: Boston Planning & Development Agency approves the development.
November 3, 2026: McKeen family completes the $8.75 million sale.
Construction financing is estimated to take at least two years from the sale.

Market Landscape

The project is approved under Boston zoning that encourages multifamily development along the Mattapan thoroughfare, following that policy direction on a former automotive site. It positions a large, long-held repair property for conversion into income-restricted housing.

Mattapan residents may see 105 income-restricted homes, 1,000 square feet of ground floor retail or community space, and 31 parking spaces once the project is built. Affordability levels are projected between 30 and 80 percent of area median income, though the final mix depends on public funding not yet secured.

The takeaway

Affordable housing projects on large former commercial sites often depend on financing timelines of two years or more. Watch for public funding decisions, which will set the final affordability mix for the Blue Hill Avenue units.