Menino backs Roxbury Place proposal

Less than a month after denouncing Mayor Thomas M. Menino for rebuffing their vision for an empty plot of land on Tremont Street, Roxbury residents applauded yesterday as he came out publicly in favor of the project for the first time.

"It's a good beginning," Menino said.

The last time the mayor's representatives held a meeting in Roxbury, they got an earful from residents who demanded to know why the city had rebuffed a plan for the $400 million complex, called Roxbury Place, that would include housing, an arts center, and a new home for the Whittier Street Health Center.

Yesterday, Menino, members of the Roxbury Strategic Master Plan Oversight Committee, and members of the development team stood side by side as the mayor lent his support for the development, which would be located across the street from Boston police headquarters.

Menino said he has asked the Boston Redevelopment Authority to give developer Elma Lewis Partners LCC an 18-month extension to move ahead on the project. Whittier Street Health Center will be moved to the site, the mayor said.

The health center, which is experiencing a patient boom, wants to move from its leased space on Tremont Street into a permanent home.

The health center recently received federal stimulus money, $470,000, and hopes to break ground at the new location within 18 months.

The oversight committee, appointed by the mayor to work with the authority to select bids for redevelopment on empty city-owned land in Roxbury, had spent years picking a developer for the site.

But the BRA cut off the developer, saying the company failed to demonstrate that it can deliver a financially viable project.

The decision rankled residents, who said the authority is trying to impose its will on the community.

The mayor said he changed his mind about the project after talking with residents and other developers, who are currently having similar financial problems.

Menino said he still has concerns about the company's ability to obtain financing, but he has given the developer time to put the deal together.

"We hope the financial world changes," he said.

As part of the agreement, Elma Lewis Partners will meet with the authority's economic development staff and the oversight committee every other month to provide updates on the progress of the development.

Meghan Irons can be reached at mirons@globe.com.