A crane building WS Development's One Boston Wharf building is reflected in the windows of 101 Seaport Blvd. in Boston's Seaport District. Photo by James Sanna | Banker & Tradesman Staff

Boston Planning & Development Agency Director Arthur Jemison said project approvals won’t be delayed by developers’ disclosures about their diversity strategies, despite the agency’s elevated emphasis on increasing equity in the local commercial real estate industry.

Last August, the BPDA began requiring developers submitting applications to include information on representation by women- and minority-owned businesses in their project teams.

And in late March, the BPDA asked developers to submit examples of how their projects would support Mayor Michelle Wu’s goals of resilience, affordability and equity. Jemison said the agency has had a “relatively low response rate” and extended the deadline for submissions through the end of May.

“The questionnaire is voluntary and not evaluative,” Jemison said at a forum hosted by the commercial developers trade group NAIOP-MA on Thursday. “I want to say that again. If you have a project before us, I do not want you to be concerned that any feedback that you provide is going to affect your project in a negative way.”

The forum took place amid a backdrop of Wu’s efforts to reform the BPDA’s internal processes, as well as new requirements on developments to reflect the administration’s goals of resiliency, affordability and equity.

The changes include higher up-front costs for developers, and potential lower income streams at multifamily properties.

At Wu’s request, the BPDA raised linkage fees charged to major commercial developments to pay for affordable housing and workforce development. Wu is proposing an increase in the minimum percentage of affordable units in multifamily projects with seven or more units from 13 to 20 percent.

Some developers have warned that the change will discourage housing production, particularly for-sale condominiums, as projects become more difficult to finance.

Wu also backed Boston’s adoption of the state’s new opt-in stretch energy code, which requires tightly-sealed building envelopes and pre-wiring to prepare for electric building systems.

The changes have added another layer of uncertainty to projects’ feasibility after declines in office leasing, and increases in interest rates and construction costs.

NAIOP Massachusetts CEO Tamara Small said the BPDA’s announcement that the survey will be used to create a scorecard for projects prompted questions about how the data will be used.

“The word `scorecard’ got people within the development community a little bit nervous as you can imagine, particularly in a time where there have been a number of new initiatives announced or under way,” Small said.