Image courtesy of BPDA
Officials provided new details on how developers could receive approval for bigger projects in downtown Boston in exchange for bankrolling an assortment of community benefits, ranging from affordable housing to transportation upgrades.
The public benefits payments would equal 80 percent of the land value per square foot of bonus density, according to a presentation by BPDA staff Monday.
A public benefits fund would use the fees to pay for affordable housing, transit and mobility upgrades, historic preservation, small business support, open space and public realm projects and climate and resilience infrastructure.
“This is a means of supporting projects that a single one-off [community benefits payment] can’t do,” said Andrew Nahmias, a BPDA senior planner.
The PLAN: Downtown study is part of the Wu administration’s attempts to reinvigorate Boston’s urban core, including grants to support businesses filling vacant storefronts and a separate study of office-to-housing conversions.
The proposed rezoning would increase base building heights from 155 feet to 400 feet in portions of downtown, including the Ladder District sidestreets between Boston Common and Washington Street.
Building heights are ultimately capped by laws limiting shadow on Boston Common, and FAA regulations on flight paths which allow buildings up to 800 feet in the northwest corner of the district near Government Center.
Details on the administration of the public benefits as grants and subsidies have yet to be determined. But some members of the PLAN: Downtown advisory group Monday questioned whether city departments are best-suited to manage the fund, and whether nonprofits could play a role.
The density bonuses could play into the administration’s strategy for encouraging more multifamily development in neighborhoods such as the Financial District and Downtown Crossing.
In January, the BPDA approved a $100,000 contract with HR&A Advisors to complete a six-month study on potential for downtown offices to be converted into housing.
Fewer than 400 housing conversions have been completed in Boston in the past two years, according to Yardi Matrix data, trailing cities such as Chicago, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.
