Lana Andrews didn’t think she could find a better home than her old apartment in Savin Hill. That is until she discovered the new Nine Leyland Community that opened last month near Uphams Corner. Facing the Leyland Street Community Garden, the new 43-unit building for adults ages 62 and up also offers services and programming through Hebrew SeniorLife.

Andrews was among those who celebrated the official ribbon cutting ceremony for the building on Sept. 25.

“I lived in the Savin Hill Senior Apartments, and I never thought I’d find anything better than that,” she said. “I moved here to try to get something a little bigger. It’s clean, and cleanliness is a huge thing. I have wonderful neighbors and new friends. Plus, at night you can see the whole of Boston from my windows.”

Hers was a sentiment shared by many from the community and the co-developers, a collaboration between Dorchester Bay Economic Development Corporation (EDC) and Hebrew SeniorLife.

Kimberly R. Lyle, the CEO at the EDC, said they have heard a lot of input from the community about the development, which sits on a large, long vacant city-owned parcel. Lyle said the community told them what they wanted and didn’t want on the site, and they worked very hard to make sure those in the community were ready to apply when applications went out – accomplishing a key goal of “development without displacement.”

Said Lyle: “The result of all of that work is those from Uphams Corner, Roxbury, Dorchester, and some surrounding neighborhoods make up 79 percent of those that live in this community.”

Hebrew SeniorLife CEO Louis Woolf said the occasion was a homecoming for their organization, which was founded more than 100 years ago in Dorchester. The organization will provide residents with their Harvard Medical School-affiliated services, including those offered at the Hebrew Rehabilitation Center in Boston and Dedham, with in-home care services and services from the Deanna and Sidney Wolk Center for Memory Health.

“We have been excited from day one at the prospect of returning to where it all started for us and collaborating with a great partner like Dorchester Bay,” he said. “The need for affordable housing in our Commonwealth and our communities has been our number one priority for several years and our biggest area of growth for quite some time.”

Boston Housing Chief Sheila Dillon reiterated a point that she has been making over the past year about how nearly 10,000 senior citizens in Boston are rent-burdened and need affordable communities that meet their social and health needs.

“We just finished 43 units here at Leyland and there are 500 in process for older adults, but you put that against the 10,000 that are in need, and you realize there is so much more to do,” she said.

Mayor Wu was not present at the ribbon cutting but offered a comment afterwards, saying: “This project is an example of our commitment to maintaining and growing affordable housing for older Bostonians. I’m grateful to all our partners involved in making this beautiful new development possible, which will make a positive difference in the lives of those who will live here for years to come.”

Nine Leyland Street is affordable to households earning up to 60 percent of the Area Median Income (AMI). There are 41 one-bedroom units, and 2 two-bedroom units. Additionally, there are five units set aside for individuals exiting homelessness.

The new building was made possible in part by funding from the Mayor’s Office of Housing, the Neighborhood Housing Trust, the Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities, the Massachusetts Housing Investment Corporation, and the Community Economic Development Assistance Program (CEDAC). 

The development will employ environmentally friendly design features that meet the US Green Building Council LEED Homes Silver certifiable standard. The development also meets the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star standards.