Housing Boston 2020 initiative to create 30,000 new units of housing in Boston
WASHINGTON, D.C. – May 23, 2013 – (RealEstateRama) — Mayor Thomas M. Menino today announced the members of an advisory panel that will help identify and address Boston’s new housing needs. The Housing Boston 2020 Advisory Panel is comprised of housing professionals who will work with key personnel from the city’s housing agencies to develop strategies to manage Boston’s current and future housing challenges. The group convened for their first meeting yesterday.
Mayor Menino announced Housing Boston 2020, a ten-year initiative that calls for the production of 30,000 new units in his annual address to the Boston Municipal Research Bureau in March. The new housing panel will be asked to create a comprehensive plan that will lay the groundwork for the creation of these 30,000 new units by 2020.
“We know the strength of Boston’s neighborhoods relies on a diverse, strong housing market, so I have asked these talented individuals to help us come up with a new plan to meet the challenges and opportunities we face today and in the future,” Mayor Menino said. “Today, I asked the panel to examine how we can best accommodate Boston’s growth and shifting demographics; make sure we have appropriate and affordable housing available for all of these demographics, and consider how best we can stabilize the middle class through housing solutions.”
Mayor Menino has been a leading advocate for housing since he took office in 1993. In 2000, he charged his housing agencies to work with an advisory panel to develop a new housing strategy for Boston, known as Leading the Way. The strategy addressed the city’s housing needs in several areas:
- Production of new market-rate and affordable housing;
- Raising + leveraging funding for affordable housing;
- Reducing homelessness;
- Reclaiming public housing stock;
- Increasing opportunities for homeownership;
- Preserving rental housing; and
- Expanding dormitory housing.
The Leading the Way housing strategy has created nearly 25,000 housing units in Boston – 5,000 more units than had been built over the previous 30 years. Leading the Way also injected more than $10 billion of investment into the local economy. Based on the success of the Leading the Way housing strategy, Mayor Menino has convened the Housing Boston 2020 Advisory Panel to develop a new strategy for this decade.
The members of the Housing Boston 2020 Advisory Panel are:
- Thomas Callahan, Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance
- Joe Kriesberg, Massachusetts Association of Community Development Corporations
- Gail Latimore, Codman Square NDC
- Lisa B. Alberghini, Planning Office for Urban Affairs, Inc.
- Thomas R. Gleason, MassHousing
- Mark Erlich, New England Carpenters Union
- Edward G. Nardi, Cresset
- Michael Roberts, Avalon Bay
- Tamara Roy, ADD Inc.
- Eric Belsky, Harvard University Joint Center for Housing Studies
Contact:
Lisa Pollack
lpollack.dnd (at) cityofboston (dot) gov
