Boston Mayor Michelle Wu speaks to reporters following her State of the City speech on Jan. 25, 2023. Photo by James Sanna | Banker & Tradesman Staff

Developers and housing activists alike had critiques of Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s proposed changes to affordable housing requirements in new developments.

At a public hearing Thursday, opponents predicted changes would make it harder to build home ownership units, particularly in lower-priced neighborhoods, and depress housing production in general by making projects unprofitable and difficult to finance.

“We’re going to get a whole lot less home ownership,” said Lee Goodman, whose Watermark Development firm received approval in 2021 to redevelop the former Doyle’s Cafe property in Jamaica Plain with 23 housing units.

Wu proposes increasing the minimum percentage of affordable units from 13 to 20 percent of a project’s total and lowering the threshold for projects subject to the policy from 10 to seven units. Proposed home ownership projects would be subject to the 20 percent requirement in two-thirds of Boston neighborhoods, representing areas with the highest real estate prices.

Smaller projects will be affected the most because developers can’t offset fixed costs over a larger number of units, Goodman said.

The Boston Planning & Development Agency’s PLAN: JP/Rox, which offers density bonuses in exchange for additional affordability, has done little to accelerate housing production in Jamaica Plain and Roxbury since it was adopted in 2017, he said.

Income requirements for home ownership units would remain unchanged at 90 percent of area median income.

But housing activists pressed for even more aggressive income and affordability requirements, citing a widening disconnect between incomes and housing costs in Boston.

The Coalition for a Truly Affordable Boston favors lowering the average median income requirement for affordable apartments to 40 percent, compared with 60 percent in the Wu proposal.

“This proposal will continue to fuel the racial injustice and displacement we are seeing at increasing rates,” said Sasha Goodfriend, a coalition representative.

Tamara Small, CEO of commercial developers group NAIOP MA, said Cambridge’s 2017 decision to raise affordable minimums from 15 to 20 percent has made housing production “nearly impossible.” Only 16 affordable units were permitted in the city during 2022.

“Housing will not be built in Boston if this proposal advances,” Small said.

The proposal requires approval by the Boston City Council, BPDA board and the Boston Zoning Commission. Before those votes, an additional hearing will be scheduled after a zoning amendment is submitted with the final version of the changes, BPDA officials said.