Asian Community Development Corporation (Jacquie L. Kay) records

The Asian Community Development Corporation (ACDC) was created to fill the need for an entity focused on the affordable housing needs of the Boston Chinatown community. In 1987, Tunney Lee, Jacquie Kay and Lawrence Cheng formulated the concept for a new community development corporation (based primarily on Jacquie Kay's board participation with the Chinese Economic Development Council, 1975-1984). Kay and Lee proceeded to build a community board and acquire funds for the development of the organization through the Riley Foundation. Lee would serve on the initial board before stepping away after a year, while Kay became the Board Chair and President for the next 16 years, leading the two affordable housing development efforts, Oak Terrace and the Metropolitan. During Kay's tenure, Executive Directors included Regina Lee, Carol Lee, and Bruce Pulleyblank, while board members included Neil Chin, Jeffrey Wong, Carol Thomas, Alma Armstrong, Caroline Chang, Paul Lee, Joseph Chow, Mary Soohoo, Nick Chau, and Harry Yee. The first new construction project in Chinatown in over two decades, Oak Terrace filled a pressing need for affordable housing in the most densely populated section of Boston. Completed in 1995, Oak Terrace consists of 88 units of housing, the majority of which are available to low and moderate income residents. Following the project's completion, ACDC shifted its focus to a new, larger development project located on Parcel C in Chinatown—The Metropolitan. The Parcel C site was connected to a long history of community activism. Designated by the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) for use as a community center in the 1980's, Parcel C became the center of a protest movement following the BRA's decision to sell the plot to the New England Medical Center in 1993. Fearing a proposed eight story parking garage's impact on the Chinatown community's social and environmental fabric, the Coalition to Protect Parcel C for Chinatown rallied local residents and activists (including ACDC board members) to block the sale of the site. Faced with overwhelming community opposition, the Medical Center would withdraw its garage proposal in 1994. The Metropolitan was completed on the site in 2004, with 46% of its 251 housing units affordable to low and moderate income families. ACDC would go on to develop other properties both within and outside of Chinatown, including 6 Fort St, Quincy (2011) and One Greenway (2015).Jacquie L. Kay was born and raised in Seattle, Washington. Her work in economic development began in the early 1960's, when she served on the founding board of the International District Improvement Council (InterIm). As a third-generation Chinese-American, she has been deeply engaged in economic development work in Seattle, New York, and Boston. From 1973-2009 she was president of WPI, Inc., a global economic training and development company based in Cambridge, MA. She went on to MIT where she was a Fellow, Lecturer, and Research Associate focusing on the nexus of community, financing, and sustainability (energy and the environment). She taught in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning, looking at the connections between communities, financing, and energy and the environment. In 2012, she formed the Sun Walking Group, an innovative business model focusing on providing a platform for ideas, start-ups, and projects utilizing resilience and adaptation tools.

1987

ACDC founded by Jacquie Kay, Tunney Lee and other Asian-American community activists.

1987

ACDC wins the right to develop Parcel R3/R3A on Washington St. in Chinatown

1993-1994

The Coalition to Protect Parcel C for Chinatown successfully opposes New England Medical Center's parking garage proposal for Parcel C.

1995

Oak Terrace opens on Parcel R3/R3A site with 88 units of affordable housing.

2004

The Metropolitan completed on Parcel C with 251 units of housing, 46% designated for low/moderate income families.

2011

Opening of 6 Fort St. Quincy, with 34 units of housing

2015

One Greenway completed with 363 units of housing, 40% designated for low/moderate income families.