Marian Manor Redevelopment: 204 Apartments Proposed for Former South Boston Nursing Home

Featured image: West Broadway in South Boston, shown for neighborhood context; not the Marian Manor site. Photo: Daderot via Wikimedia Commons (CC0).

The developer behind a plan to turn the former Marian Manor nursing home in South Boston into about 204 rental apartments scheduled a community meeting for Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026, at 6 p.m. in the Tynan Community School auditorium, 650 East Fourth St. The proposal for 130 Dorchester St. includes roughly 37 affordable units and about 164 parking spaces.

Developer Giuseppe “Joey” Arcari of Monarc Development organized the session to present the plan and hear from neighbors, Caught in Southie reported. It was not a City of Boston meeting. The Boston Planning Department will hold its own public meetings at a later date.

What Monarc proposes at 130 Dorchester St.

Arcari bought the property earlier this year from the Carmelite Sisters for $16 million. Monarc filed a letter of intent with the city in April, the first step in Boston’s Large Project Review process under Article 80 of the zoning code.

The site covers about 87,000 square feet of land and includes seven buildings that once worked as a single institutional campus, some previously associated with Carney Hospital, Boston.com reported. The project totals about 220,000 square feet.

Rather than tear the campus down, Monarc plans a “full gut renovation” of the existing buildings. Two smaller structures on the Old Harbor Street side would be removed to make room for a new parking garage. At least 18% of the units would be affordable, Boston.com reported, which it put at between 30 and 40 apartments.

According to the letter of intent summarized by BLDUP, the plan also includes secure bicycle storage for residents and guests and more than 13,000 square feet of usable open space.

A South Boston landmark since 1954

Marian Manor operated as a nursing home for seven decades, from 1954 until it closed in 2024. The development would be named “The Manor,” and Arcari has said he plans a memorial on the property honoring the people who lived there.

“It’s really been a huge, huge piece of the South Boston community,” Arcari told Boston.com. “It’s going to be very important to keep that spirit alive.”

In its filing, the development team said it is committed to a “respectful and thoughtful engagement process” as the project moves through city review, acknowledging that many families connect the site with meaningful and sensitive life experiences.

Next steps in city review

The letter of intent is an early step. Under Article 80, a large project typically moves on to a formal project filing, public comment and Boston Planning Department meetings before it can go to a city board for a vote. No approval has been granted. Boston.com reported in May that a formal project notification was expected in late June; city records for the project are posted on the Boston Planning Department’s 130 Dorchester Street page.

Other large housing proposals are also moving through review across the city, including the 754-unit 75 Morrissey Boulevard project in Dorchester, now facing a lawsuit.

Additional details

• Housing pipeline: Boston.com noted that in 2023 and 2024 the city saw its slowest period for new housing development since 2011. “I think it’s a start in the right direction,” Arcari said. “The demand is there. The volume just hasn’t been there over the last probably four to five years.”
• Size figures: Caught in Southie described the campus as having more than 200,000 square feet of space, while BLDUP put the land area at about 86,936 square feet.
• More from the neighborhood: Sullivan’s at Castle Island marks 75 years in South Boston.

Sources

• Caught in Southie: Community meeting scheduled for Oct. 21 on Marian Manor
• Caught in Southie: Letter of intent filed to convert Marian Manor into about 204 units
• Boston.com: South Boston site to become 204-unit apartment complex
• BLDUP: LOI filed to transform former Marian Manor campus
• Boston Planning Department: 130 Dorchester Street