LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR KIM DRISCOLL, MAYOR MICHELLE WU, ARCHBISHOP RICHARD G. HENNING, ST. FRANCIS HOUSE, THE PLANNING OFFICE FOR URBAN AFFAIRS AND HOUSING & LIVABLE COMMUNITIES SECRETARY JUANA MATIAS CELEBRATE COMPLETION OF 19-STORY RESIDENTIAL TOWER WITH 126 MIXED-INCOME RENTAL UNITS ON LAGRANGE STREET IN DOWNTOWN BOSTON

BOSTON, Sept. 7, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- 

What:
Amid an ongoing affordable housing shortage in Boston, St. Francis House (SFH) and the Planning Office for Urban Affairs (POUA) will host a ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the completion of a new 19-story residential tower in downtown Boston. The new building provides much-needed permanent supportive housing for households coming out of homelessness in an integrated, mixed-income development in downtown Boston. 

Where:
41 LaGrange Street, Boston

When:
Tuesday, September 8, 2026 at 11 a.m.

Who:
Speakers at the event: Karen LaFrazia – President and CEO of St. Francis House; Archbishop Richard G. Henning, S.T.D.; Bill Grogan – President, Planning Office for Urban Affairs; Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll; Mayor Michelle Wu; Juana Matias – Secretary, Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities; Trish Marinilli – CDB Market Executive for Boston, Bank of America; State Representative Aaron Michlewitz; State Representative Richard Haggerty; City Councilor Ed Flynn

MEDIA & VISUAL OPPORTUNITIES 

• Visuals: Formal ribbon cutting, speaking program, and guided facility tours. 
• Interviews: Media availability with organization leaders, public officials, and project partners immediately following the speaking program. 

RSVP & PRESS LOGISTICS 

Media outlets planning to cover the event are requested to RSVP by to [email protected] or [email protected].

Please note: Lagrange Street is narrow with very limited street clearance. There is NO on-site parking available for news trucks, broadcast vans, or satellite vehicles. Outlets with production trucks must arrange off-site parking in nearby commercial garages or surrounding street spaces. 

About St. Francis House
Located in the heart of Boston, St. Francis House is the largest day shelter in Massachusetts, providing refuge and pathways to stability for more than 7,000 adults experiencing homelessness and poverty each year. Now in its 40th year, the nonprofit organization has enabled individuals to meet their basic needs for food, clothing, and shelter and transformed lives through a holistic approach to understanding and addressing behavioral health, housing, and employment needs. Its unique offerings include Next Step Housing, Room to Grow Recovery Support Center and the Moving Ahead Program. St. Francis House is a welcoming and inclusive community that is committed to helping its guests achieve renewed lives of dignity and self-determination. To learn more, visit stfrancishouse.org.

About the Planning Office for Urban Affairs
Established in 1969 by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston under the leadership of Monsignor Michael F. Groden and Cardinal Cushing, the Planning Office for Urban Affairs, Inc. (POUA) is a non-profit social justice ministry that strives to create vibrant communities through the development of high quality affordable and mixed income housing, where people of modest means can live with dignity and respect in homes they can afford. As a foremost non-profit developer in the Northeast and one of the leading diocesan housing ministries for the Catholic Church in America, POUA has over 3,200 units of affordable and mixed-income housing, providing homes for more than 11,000 people and becoming one of the most productive non-profit housing developers in the region. Altogether, this work represents developments with financing more than $675 million. The emphasis of POUA is not on numbers, though, but on having a qualitative impact on the harsh reality of housing deprivation for poor and working-class families, the elderly, disabled persons and others in need of decent, affordable homes.

To learn more, visit https://poua.org/

SOURCE St Francis House