Bigs say Hub should demand more
‘Affordable’ homes still priced beyond reach for many
expected.
“It’s a primary, and if you’re not drawing contrasts between candidates, you’re not doing your job,” Ferson said.
Community activists and elected officials say Boston needs to be “demanding more from developers” to help slow the tide of gentrification threatening to displace residents struggling to keep up with rising rents.
“We need to be demanding more from developers when they come in and want to build a building of luxury studios or a building at 9 units so they don’t have to do the IDP,” said City Councilor Lydia Edwards, referring to the city’s inclusionary development policy that requires at least 13% of units in any new development to be deeded affordable.
Edwards’ district of East Boston is facing a rising threat from “climate gentrification” where green building projects using expensive techniques to allow for new structures to withstand the effects of climate — like the ones along East Boston’s Jeffries Point — drive up prices and threaten to further displace residents already struggling to keep up with the rising rents.
And as the needle on what is considered a market-rate apartment in Boston inches forward, housing advocates say it becomes harder and harder for low-income workers in Boston to keep up.
Boston Tenants Coalition President Kathy Brown previously told the Herald that an effort needs to be made to make affordable housing “truly affordable” to Boston residents.
The average black family in Boston earns $44,700, compared with $52,800 for Asian families and $32,500 for Latino families, data shows. Yet most housing being created under the city’s IDP is aimed at households earning around $55,000 a year.
“We need to save our neighborhoods and our communities and protect the people that are here,” Brown said at the time.
Edwards said she sees another issue with the bigbox luxury high-rises that have inundated the shorelines in her district as well as other waterfront areas in Boston like Southie and the Seaport — there aren’t enough bedrooms for families. The vast majority of units built over the last decade are studio, one- and two- bedrooms, something she said is making it harder for families to find affordable housing in the city.
“I just don’t think that’s fair,” Edwards said.
Edwards said Suffolk Downs is an opportunity to “get it right.” The 10,000unit development that sits in both East Boston and Everett will be the largest in the city’s history. Edwards said an ongoing extensive community process has pushed up the number of affordable units the project is likely to include.
Developer HYM Investment Group has so far committed to building 1,430 affordable units — more than have ever been created in Boston by a single project.
“We are proud that the process worked — together, we will create 930 affordable units on-site and 500 offsite, making Suffolk Downs a 20% affordable housing development,” said Thomas O’Brien, founding partner and managing director.
The project is up for final approval by the Boston Planning and Development Agency next month.