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Boston Mayor Michelle Wu named an advisory team ranging from affordable housing activists and labor union representatives to commercial developers to revamp the city’s real estate permitting process.
The group will recommend changes to the Boston Planning & Development Agency’s Article 80 process, which reviews major projects. Wu has repeatedly stated a goal of making the BPDA more predictable and transparent, and also is seeking to accelerate the approval process for housing developments.
Named to the panel today were the following representatives:
- Joseph Bonfiglio, business manager of the Massachusetts and Northern New England District Council since 2009;
- Anthony D’Isidoro, president of the Allston Civic Association, which successfully lobbied Harvard University and its development partner Tishman Speyer to increase affordability at its Enterprise Research Campus;
- Fernando J. Domenech Jr., president of DHK Architects, which specializes in affordable housing;
- Colleen Fonseca, executive director of the Builders of Color Coalition, which connects minority-owned construction companies with developers;
- Beyazmin Jimenez, director of Northeastern University’s Planning and Real Estate Department’s equity, Inclusion and culture;
- Matthew Kiefer, a land-use attorney at Goulston & Storrs and co-chair of the practice’s resilience task force;
- Steve Samuels, founder and chairman of Boston-based commercial development firm Samuels & Assoc.;
- Kairos Shen, executive director of the Center for Real Estate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and former director of planning at the Boston Redevelopment Authority;
- Kirk Sykes, a a Boston Civic Design Commission member and managing director of Accordia Partners, which is seeking approval for the Dorchester Bay City development.
The Article 80 process applies to developments that are 20,000 square feet or larger, or include more than 15 housing units.
