MEDFORD, MA, AUGUST 6, 2025 -- A new community garden will be installed tomorrow at Riverside Towers, a joint venture between Schochet and Jonathan Rose Companies providing affordable housing for seniors and disabled individuals in Medford, MA. This comes on the heels of the project receiving a Food and Nutrition Access Grant through MassHousing, which will be used to fund this work.
The Grant is awarded to support MassHousing sites in expanding access to nutritious food. Through this grant, set to begin in August, Riverside Towers will partner with Green City Growers (GCG) of Somerville, MA, to bring accessible, high-quality, raised garden beds to the community, intended to be managed by residents and supplemented with nutrition education, gardening/cooking classes, and programming through GCG or another local organization. GCG has expertise in building raised garden beds that are accessible for seniors with pathways to accommodate walkers and wheelchairs.
A 2024 survey conducted among Riverside Towers residents regarding activities and programming indicated strong interest in gardening and nutrition. The Schochet Resident Services team has detailed plans in place to keep residents actively involved in gardening and sustaining the life of the produce and success of the garden. Produce and plants will be selected based on the local climate, and limited to those designated as safe for the environment and native plants.
Phoebe Shigley, Schochet resident services coordinator at Riverside Towers, who initiated the project and grant application, said, “We’re looking forward to the opportunity for socialization and a strengthened community that this garden will create for the seniors here at Riverside, while also combatting the food insecurity that a number of our residents face. The closest grocery stores are at least one mile away which may not seem far, but with mobility issues and inaccessible transportation, acquiring fresh produce can be challenging.”
Schochet President and CEO Richard Henken said, “As we have seen so successfully at five other Schochet-managed properties, community gardens do exactly what the name implies – they help build a sense of community as neighbors bond over creating and nurturing the garden, as well as simply enjoying its beauty. This program will be administered as an extension of our partnership at Riverside Towers with Hebrew SeniorLife, which works with our Resident Services team to improve seniors’ emotional and physical well-being, increase independence and longevity, and reduce health care-costs.”
Max Jawer, Managing Director of Acquisitions at Jonathan Rose Companies, said, “Partnering with Schochet to bring this garden to life at Riverside Towers reflects our shared belief that affordable housing should support more than just shelter. By expanding access to fresh, nutritious food and creating a shared space for connection and activity, this project advances both individual well-being and community resilience. It also serves as a natural complement to the recently completed $11 million renovation of Riverside Towers, which was also supported by MassHousing and included upgrades to critical building systems and in-unit improvements, the achievement of Enterprise Green Communities certification, and the substantial rehabilitation of community spaces. Through this work, we’re proud to contribute to a model that puts residents’ needs at the center of how places are designed and programmed.”
“MassHousing is pleased to support this important and thoughtful initiative to increase food security and cultivate community at rental housing communities,” said MassHousing CEO Chrystal Kornegay. “Over the past two years, MassHousing, through its Housing Stability Department, has invested more than $150,000 in Food and Nutrition Access grants at 16 rental communities across the Commonwealth. The Riverside Towers project is particularly compelling as it will transform green space and provide accessible gardening for residents.”
# # #
About Schochet
The Schochet Companies is a full-service real estate development and management company founded by Jay R. Schochet more than 50 years ago. Since that time the company has developed, owned, and/or managed more than 7,000 apartments, the bulk of which are affordable, and more than 600,000 square feet of retail and commercial space throughout New England and on the West Coast. Today, Schochet Companies owns and/or manages more than 5,500 apartments and 100,000 square feet of commercial space throughout New England. Headquartered in Braintree, the company employs more than 170 people. For more information about Schochet please visit www.schochet.com.
About Jonathan Rose Companies
Jonathan Rose Companies is one of the country’s leading owners of green, affordable and mixed-income communities. Founded in 1989 with a mission to create a more environmentally thriving, socially just world through the development, preservation, renovation, and ownership of green, affordable and mixed-income communities, Rose has created projects with $4.6 billion of value as of end of year 2024, with a current portfolio of nearly 20,000 apartment homes in 14 states and Washington, D.C. The Firm is a fully integrated investment management, development, and asset management company with construction management, solar energy, mortgage finance, and title company affiliates, and has offices in New York, Ohio, Colorado and California. For more information, please visit www.rosecompanies.com
About MassHousing
MassHousing (The Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency) is an independent, quasi-public agency created in 1966 to confront the Commonwealth’s housing challenges. The Agency raises capital by selling bonds and lends the proceeds to low- and moderate-income homebuyers and homeowners, and to developers who build or preserve mixed-income rental housing. MassHousing does not use taxpayer dollars to sustain its operations. As a mission-driven agency, MassHousing uses housing finance to strengthen communities and lay the foundation for economic prosperity. Since its inception, MassHousing has provided more than $29 billion in housing finance. For more information, visit the MassHousing website at www.masshousing.com.