Blue Hills Community Services (BHCS), a not-for-profit community development corporation, is an agent for neighborhood development, educational programs and community services. Throughout its history, BHCS has produced more than 1000 affordable housing units. In the last 4 years, they have generated 107 units of multi-family housing, 5 new single family homes, 25 major renovations and 227 minor home repairs, provided 65 community gardening beds, revitalized a neighborhood park, provided educational opportunities to low-income, disadvantaged adults and children and is assisting entrepreneurs to create new jobs in the urban core.
Most recently, BHCS completed the $3.2 million renovation of the Blue Hills Business Center, converting a Brownfield site into a state-of-the art, multi-tenant, environmentally sustainable business center that also serves the surrounding community.
The Blue Hills Business Center, 5008 Prospect Ave., is located at the former DiCarlo Construction space. The site now includes: community gardening space for neighbors; solar panels that provide 10kw per hour of renewable energy to the energy grid; meeting space for trainings and community forums; a highly reflective, white roof reducing ambient temperatures on site and in the building; two electrical vehicle charging stations; roofline windows which reduce lighting requirements; and offices for BHCS and the Contractor Incubator. Ninety-nine percent of the construction materials were made in the US with 10% of these materials manufactured within a 500-mile radius of the center.
BHCS has created a building and programs that serve the needs of the community, brings new businesses and jobs to the urban core, and is the catalyst for the redevelopment of the Prospect Corridor, truly a Southtown sparkler!