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May 20, 2004

Mayor’s housing plan calls for 10,000 units

Yawu Miller

When Mayor Thomas Menino announced his 10,000-unit, four-year housing plan, last week, he chose a vacant lot soon to be built on by Crosswinds Construction, a Roxbury-based firm with an impressive portfolio of both low-income and market-rate housing development.

Given the numbers in the new plan, Crosswinds will likely be doing a lot less low-income and a lot more market-rate. The new plan calls for the construction of 2,100 affordable units, just 20 percent of the total.

But city officials say the affordable percentage is realistic, given the tight funding conditions and lack of federal and state aid.

“The problem right now reaching the lowest income levels is the lack of Section 8,” said Sheila Dillon, deputy director of the Department of Neighborhood Development. “To reach the lowest-income levels is more and more difficult.”

Leading the Way II, as the mayor’s program is called, will seek to develop housing for people earning 30 to 120 percent of the median income.

But Dillon said the program may do better than its stated goals.

“We see the goals as floors, not ceilings,” she commented.

The production of market-rate housing also may have a hidden benefit for moderate-income renters and buyers. The addition of 10,000 new units to the city may reduce pressure on the housing market, according to Madison Park Community Development Corporation Executive Director Jeanne Pinado.

“It really is a supply and demand equation,” she said. “It eases the regional housing crunch. You can’t look at affordable housing and not look at what’s going on with market-rate housing.”

While income levels can be factored into the equation, the efforts of other communities to house low-income people cannot, as Menino pointed out during his remarks. Boston remains the leader in both overall housing production and production of affordable units. Chapter 40 B, a state law that mandated affordable housing development in all Massachusetts communities, has been considerably weakened by the state Legislature.

“Nobody’s producing housing like Boston is,” Menino said. “You hear a lot of rhetoric, but Boston’s doing it.”

While the program is somewhat limited in the production of new affordable units, it does call for committing $375 million in resources for both production and preservation of affordable units. It also calls for the preservation of 3,000 affordable units in so-called expiring use developments.

The plan also calls for renovation of dilapidated properties, a home buyer investment fund for moderate-income residents looking to buy in Boston and expanded foreclosure prevention efforts. The plan has earmarked $10 million for homeless programs.

The production of new affordable units will be financed in part by $25 million in funds generated by the sale of city assets. The current inclusionary development requirement which now mandates that all large developments set aside 10 percent of their units for low-income buyers is being increased to 15 percent. Developers who do not wish to incorporate affordable units into their buildings are required to pay into an affordable housing fund.

Corporate executives who attended the press conference said the mayor prevailed upon them to pony up funds for the program. Bank of America is in for $200 million in neighborhood development financing while Citizens Bank has pledged $84 million in housing finance. Keyspan Energy has pledged $500,000 over four years in matching grants for the replacement of heating systems for elderly home owners.

Menino expressed confidence that the initiative would be successful.

“We’ve set some real high standards for ourselves,” he said. “We’re motivated. We’re determined. Together we’re going to get this done. Together, we’ll keep Boston as a city that is open and affordable to everyone.”

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