Joseph E. Corcoran

Joseph Corcoran wrote the book:

Wasn’t That a Time: A Corcoran Family Memoir, 1925-1950. By Joseph E. Corcoran. (Boston, 2008)

The Boston Globe, June 4, 2020

Joseph E. Corcoran, a pioneer of developing mixed-income housing, dies at 84

By Bryan Marquard Globe Staff,Updated June 4, 2020, 7:09 p.m.

Joseph E. Corcoran looked no further than his own childhood to find inspiration for his pioneering vision for building mixed-income housing.

He had grown up in Dorchester’s Upham’s Corner, where during the Great Depression the families of college professors lived side-by-side with households led by police officers, firefighters, laborers, and, inevitably, the unemployed.

“We lived in a triple-decker,” he once said, “and I found out later that we were almost evicted because my parents had a hard time paying the rent, but we never had an inkling we were poor.”

Mr. Corcoran, who was chairman of Corcoran Jennison Companies, a firm whose successes include turning Boston’s floundering Columbia Point housing projects into the Harbor Point mixed-income development, died at home Wednesday of congestive heart failure. He was 84 and lived in Milton.

What Mr. Corcoran and his firm accomplished revitalizing Columbia Point “was an incredible achievement,” said Michael S. Dukakis, who was governor of Massachusetts when Harbor Point was built.

 

The Dorchester Reporter

Dorchester native Joseph E. Corcoran, visionary builder and philanthropist, has died at age 84

By Staff
June 4, 2020

Joseph E. Corcoran, a Dorchester native, devoted philanthropist and developer who transformed the Columbia Point peninsula, died on Wed., June 3 at age 84 of heart failure.

According to his family, Mr. Corcoran died at his home surrounded by children and grandchildren.

Joe Corcoran grew up during the Great Depression in Dorchester, the youngest of eight children of Irish immigrants.

In 1973, he founded the real estate development company Corcoran Jennison, which would build $2.5 billion in properties nationally. He made it his mission to bring people from different incomes together and provide social services for those of humble means. He ignored naysayers who doubted that market rate renters would live with poorer people.

“I knew it would work because I lived it growing up,” he said.

Corcoran Jennison earned a national reputation by transforming a Boston neighborhood now known as Harbor Point from a blighted housing project into a safe, vibrant mixed-income community that the residents are proud to call home.

Joe blazed the trail for mixed-income developments by helping to enact state legislation, chairing the real estate registration board, and founding a nonprofit to revitalize distressed urban neighborhoods.

“People don’t grow up in poverty,” he says, “they grow up in neighborhoods.”

“Everyone looked out for each other, and that was my concept of what a neighborhood should be,” he said.

Mr. Corcoran’s obituary from the Dolan Funeral Home in Milton follows:

Joseph E. Corcoran passed away on June 3, 2020 peacefully in the company of his children, grandchildren, and great grandchild at his home in Milton. He was 84.

Since founding Corcoran Jennison in 1971, he built and managed 20,000+ housing units and thousands of acres of real estate, including housing, hospitality, office, retail and mixed-use projects in more than 15 states. A pioneer in advancing the concept of mixed-income housing and converting troubled public housing projects into successful communities, he led the partnership that transformed Dorchester’s Columbia Point into Harbor Point, a community that became a national model for the federal government’s HOPE VI program. In 1994, he founded The American City Coalition to advocate for innovation in urban revitalization. In addition to housing, Mr. Corcoran developed and owned Ocean Edge Resort and Golf Club on Cape Cod, and CJ Hospitality continues to manage the property.

A 1959 graduate of Boston College and former board member, Mr. Corcoran created the Joseph E. Corcoran Center for Real Estate and Urban Action at the Carroll School of Business at Boston College in 2014 to educate and inspire the next generation of professionals to use real estate as a catalyst for turning struggling neighborhoods into stable, flourishing communities. He is recognized for his abundant philanthropic pursuits and leadership positions with many organizations, including with the Boston Foundation, the YMCA of Greater Boston, Boston College, Boston College High School, the American Ireland Fund, the Board of Registration of Real Estate Brokers and Salesmen for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the Urban Land Institute, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Dorchester and St. Mary’s Center for Women and Children in Dorchester. He was a US Army veteran of the Korean Era.

Joe was predeceased by his wife, the former Rosemarie Gildea of Dorchester and is survived by his sister Frances Richer of Milton. He is also survived by his children, Joseph J. Corcoran, and Gayle (Donovan) Corcoran of Milton; Suzanne Corcoran Early and Dennis J. Early of Alexandria, VA; Michael J. Corcoran and Linda (Donovan) Corcoran; Tricia (Corcoran) Chapple and Paul Chapple of Milton, MA; Kathryn Corcoran and Russell Deane of Quincy, MA; Sean Gildea Corcoran and his partner Alisa Kasmer of Los Angeles, CA; and Patrick Corcoran of Arlington, MA. Joe leaves 16 grandchildren; Rosemarie Corcoran; Jennifer Corcoran; Joseph Corcoran; Olivia Corcoran; Owen Corcoran Early; Cole Joseph Early; Mari Corcoran Egan; Kayla Corcoran; Michael Corcoran; Rachel Corcoran; Aiden Corcoran; Samantha Chapple; Nicola Chapple; Mickey Chapple; Kelly Chapple; and Charles Deane. He also has one great-grandchild, Alexis Egan.

Cause of death was congestive heart failure. Funeral services will be private.