ULI Boston and the New England Housing and Economic Development Council is in the process of analyzing the issue of middle-income housing in a forthcoming report titled “Building for the Middle: Housing Greater Boston’s Workforce.” The effort will supplement previous research efforts and will analyze in greater detail what constitutes this workforce demographic and what its housing needs are, and will be going forward. Some of the questions being considered include:
Where will the middle-income workers and retiring boomers reside as the working household numbers shift? Will they be forced out of the urban core?
Travis D’Amato
What is the quality of the housing product for this demographic?
What are the economic factors that make it difficult to produce this type of housing?
How will we meet the needs of these populations as their living situations change – the Millennials are growing up and the Boomers are getting older?
How will we encourage in-migration and prevent out-migration resulting from housing affordability?
Much progress has been made in identifying the various issues inherent with creating more housing in the city of Boston and the outer urban core (places such as Everett, Chelsea and Quincy). Several reports, including “Housing Boston 2030,” the Boston Foundation’s “Housing Report Card 2014-2015,” and the “Middle Income Housing” report prepared by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council in late 2014, all qualify the need for additional production as a result of economic factors and regulatory constraints. There are efforts underway to help the public and private sectors not only understand the magnitude of the problem, but also recognize how we might create a solution.
The recent shift to the development of economically viable, high-end, luxury housing highlights even more the need for increased production of affordable housing, which is defined as housing affordable to working families at or below 60 percent of the area median income (AMI). This cohort may be able to afford today’s market rents, but may not have the ability to afford rents in newly constructed buildings. Building in Boston is not getting any cheaper.
Another problem: Boston faces a shortage of housing for its middle-income workforce, as well as for a burgeoning number of retiring Baby Boomers who want to move downtown.
As we look to meet the long-term requirements of these demographic subsets, it is imperative that we create housing product that is affordable and adaptable, so it can satisfy the short-term needs of today’s single people and tomorrow’s families and retirees. We hope that the forthcoming report will add value to the present conversation as well as provoke new thinking within the development community and beyond. Boston is a growing and prospering city, and it needs to build more housing to accommodate the demand of people at all income levels.
Travis D’Amato is managing director at JLL. Matt Zahler is senior project manager at Trinity Financial Inc.
