Commonwealth Kitchen Buys Permanent Dorchester Home Backed by $2.5 Million City Grant

BOSTON — July 22, 2026 — Commonwealth Kitchen purchases its permanent Dorchester home with a $2.5 million City of Boston HUD grant. Board Chair Lori Smith-Britton and Executive Director Jen Fagel marked the acquisition of the building the food business incubator has occupied since 2012, joined by Mayor Kim Janey, Secretary of Housing and Economic Development Mike Keneally, and Dorchester Bay Economic Development Corporation CEO Perry Newman, whose organization had previously held ownership. MassDevelopment, Blue Hub Capital, and Coastal Enterprises provided additional financing. Since opening, Commonwealth Kitchen has helped launch 150 businesses — 70 percent owned by people of color, 75 percent owned by women — created more than 400 jobs, and invested $1.5 million through its Common Table pandemic meals program, distributing more than 200,000 meals. Fagel described the past 18 months of negotiations as "truly one of the most difficult, grueling and exhausting" of her career.