A New Torrent: Oldest Firehouse in Boston Being Restored Using Tax Credits

By Caitlin Jones
March 11, 2011 2 min read

Tax Credit Advisor, March 2011: With the help of historic rehabilitation and new markets tax credits, a 151-year-old former firehouse in Boston is being renovated into offices in a $2.2 million project by Historic Boston, Inc., a local nonprofit real estate and historic preservation organization.

The transaction is noteworthy not just for preserving a rich chapter of the city’s municipal history, but also for the fact that such a small deal got funded at all.

The Eustis Fire House, on Eustis Street in the Dudley Square neighborhood of Roxbury, is the oldest standing firehouse in Boston. Constructed in 1859 for the Roxbury Fire Department, separate from Boston at the time, it contained two floors – living quarters on the second level for active duty firemen, and a single bay on the ground floor for fire apparatus. It originally housed fire equipment pulled by men, then later by horses – at which time a stable was added. The fire company was called Torrent Six – named after a piece of fire apparatus manufactured by Hunneman, a Roxbury company. “They built a lot of fire fighting equipment that was shipped all around the world. And they named all of their apparatus after something related to water,” says HBI Executive Director Kathy Kottaridis.

Leveraging NMTC and GGRF

A Synergistic Approach to Community Development

Jennifer Kirkley & Regan St. Pierre • September 13, 2024 6 min read

Increasingly, climate solutions are central to preserving and creating wealth and well-being in communities across the country.

What Can Be Done About Insurance?

NH&RA Panelists Explore Ways to Rein in High Insurance Costs for Affordable Housing

Pamela Martineau • September 1, 2024 6 min read

Meet with your underwriter in person, provide as much data as possible on relevant inspections and offer photos of improvements you’ve made to affordable housing properties. These were just a few of the tips offered at the National Housing & Rehabilitation Association’s Summer Institute Panel: “What Can Be Done About Insurance?”

Rainbow Housing: Transforming Resident Services from Within

Abram Mamet • September 1, 2024 9 min read

For most organizations, radical shifts in market strategy and company makeup generally come after crises. For Rainbow Housing Assistance Corporation (Rainbow), that radical shift came not as a result of significant challenges, but as a way to leverage successful internal practices to better serve the affordable housing industry.