Boston’s newest mayor is off to a good start on meeting the goals proposed in his Boston 2030 housing plan.
Released in October 2014, the mayor’s “Housing a Changing City” includes a plan to produce 53,000 new housing units in the city, increase housing policy transparency and a proposed new, city-wide master plan, the first in 50 years.
The mayor’s office last week announced that the city hit $1.65 billion in housing starts as of June 26, 138 percent higher than the same time in 2014 – and the first time the city has ever topped $1 billion in a six-month period. That figure encompasses 2,461 units permitted, a 40 percent increase over last year.
Boston and the Seaport District saw the highest number of units at 915, followed by East Boston (374 units) and Dorchester (337 units).
Of the total units permitted, 43 percent (or about 1,050) are “non-luxury units,” which includes deed-restricted affordable housing and units that will be priced to rent to the middle of the market.
However, the release from the mayor’s office notes that only 451 of the total permitted units are deed-restricted affordable housing. That leaves about 600 units – which at this point are permitted, not actually built and on the market – for the “non-luxury,” non-deed-restricted market. (That market, by the way, used to be known as the middle class – we’ll have to see what fancy new term the marketers come up with now.)
As we all know, Greater Boston is one of the most expensive housing markets in the nation. The single-family median price in Boston and surrounding cities and towns continues to climb and the inventory levels continue to drop. Condos in Boston are going for thousands of dollars, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars, over asking price and, increasingly, are changing hands before they ever hit the market.
Six hundred permitted middle-class units – while welcome and a very good start – are a finger in the dyke of Boston’s housing woes. And of course “permitted” does not mean “absolutely will be built,” and really doesn’t mean “once built absolutely will not become luxury rentals after all.”
If the city can keep permitting and developing at the rate it has started this year, the goals of 2030 will be easily achieved. The mayor’s office has noted that the proposals allow ample room to accommodate the ebbs and flows of the market and this year’s gangbuster permits are not necessarily – nor necessarily expected to be – the new normal.
So while we commend the mayor (and the city’s Inspectional Services Department, the Zoning Board of Appeals, the Office of Business Development, the inspectors and all of the other necessary city workers who have made this uptick in permitting possible) we also urge the city to continue on the path of permitting – and building – more affordable and middle-class units.
