Photo by James Sanna | Banker & Tradesman Staff
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said Friday morning the city plans to offer 150 city-owned parcels and construction subsidies to developers in neighborhoods across the city for the construction of affordable housing.
The land was identified as part of a sweeping audit of city property Wu’s administration kicked off this summer.
The first 70 parcels will be offered through an RFP process that will launch early next year, her administration said in a statement. Developments planned for these parcels must be home-ownership projects, not rental projects, Wu’s office said.
“We are moving as fast as possible with every single lever that the City has, making land available in partnership with community developers and making the financing possible with increased down payment assistance to ensure every resident has access to affordable homeownership opportunities,” Wu said in a statement.
Wu’s office also announced she was dedicating $60 million in so-far-unspent federal pandemic aid to construction subsidies for projects proposed on the 70 city-owned parcels, along with financing for three programs that help first-time buyers purchase housing: the Boston Home Center First Time Homebuyer down payment assistance program, the Saving Toward Affordable Sustainable Homeownership (STASH) down payment match program from the Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance and the ONE+Boston down payment assistance and mortgage discount program run by the Massachusetts Housing Partnership.
“The additional funding for the STASH program and the ONE+Boston program will be necessary in allowing many first-time and first-generation homebuyers to continue their plans of buying in Boston, even as the market becomes increasingly difficult,” MAHA Executive Director Symone Crawford said in a statement. “During this time of historically high-interest rates and low inventory, our graduates have had to postpone their home-buying search or look farther away from the city. Mayor Wu’s investment is critical in keeping our homebuyers in Boston.”
Another portion of the $60 million in COVID funds will fund up to $75,000 in down payment assistance for 100 Boston Housing Authority project residents and Section 8 voucher-holders.
