Activists call for pause on new luxury housing
Housing activists are calling for a “pause” in luxury development in Boston, as they say the Hub simply has gotten far too expensive for normal people.
“We are saying today: Just halt, slow down, pause, moratorium — whatever you want to call it — this type of luxury housing that we do not need,” Michael Kane of the Massachusetts Alliance of HUD Tenants told a crowd outside the swanky The Smith development in the South End on Saturday. “Stop it, halt it, pause it and instead come up with a plan to build housing that the community needs.”
An analysis by the group found that developers built almost 13,000 new luxury units between 2014 and 2021. In contrast, the city only designated 770 units for the lowest-income households, those earning under $25,000, in the same time period.
One 2018 study found that 64% of high-end units didn’t claim a residential tax exemption, meaning that its owners potentially don’t call it home.
The tenants of 79 E. Canton St., an affordable housing complex, made the push, as they also aired specific grievances about The Smith. They said that aside from the sky-high prices, they negotiated with the developers of the partially completed luxury building to include community outdoor space and public parking, among other agreements.
In the words of developers Leggat and McCall in a 2019 press release, 36% of the 3.1-acre site was planned as open space, “including a portion dedicated to public park use, and improved thoroughfares and sidewalks that will enhance the way people move in and around the site, creating better access to the surrounding neighborhood.”
That has not been the reality, the activists said. Instead, the courtyard at The Smith is barred by an iron gate, and another public outdoor space has been used as an area for residents’ pets to relieve themselves. The group also alleges that the developers failed to save the mature trees on the street or repair the sidewalks.
Although the building has 30 affordable units out of 710 total, those 30 are designated for those earning 70% of the area median income. For a household of one, that’s $59,200.
The office did not respond to a request for comment. Nor did the Boston Planning & Development Agency.
One activist, Conrad Ciszek, noted the stark difference between the ultraluxury units on East Dedham Street and the situation at Mass & Cass just a few blocks away, where dozens of homeless Bostonians live, many of whom struggle with addiction.
“This is a tale of two cities,” he said. “You have a city for the rich, wealthy and powerful, and then you have people living in tents just right down the street from here. That is completely unacceptable.”