人生一定要有的八個朋友：
推手(Builder)、
支柱(Champion)、
同好(Collaborator)、
夥伴(Companion)、
中介(Connector)、
開心果(Energizer)、
開路者(Mind Opener)、
導師(Navigator)。
chutze@bostonorange.com
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MAYOR WU TO INVEST $40
MILLION TO CREATE AND PRESERVE 718 AFFORDABLE HOMES IN BOSTON
New units across the City
will create rental and homeownership opportunities for Bostonians
BOSTON - Tuesday, January 25, 2022 - Today,
Mayor Michelle Wu announced $40 million in new recommended funding from the
Mayor’s Office of Housing, the Neighborhood
Housing Trust (NHT), and
the Community
Preservation Fund to
create and preserve over 700 income-restricted units of housing in Jamaica
Plain, Dorchester, Chinatown, Hyde Park, and Roxbury. This ambitious portfolio
of projects includes rental housing for families, seniors, and individuals with
disabilities, while also creating new homeownership opportunities for low- and
moderate-income Bostonians. These proposed projects comply with the Mayor’s
Office of Housing standards for zero-emissions buildings and represent
transit-oriented green development.
“Now more than ever, having a safe and stable
home is critical for the health of our families and communities. These housing
awards represent significant investments in neighborhoods across Boston, making
them stronger and more accessible for our residents,” said Mayor
Michelle Wu. “I’m grateful to the Neighborhood Housing Trust and the
Community Preservation Committee for their leadership and partnership with the
community.”
offering
funds for affordable housing developments. The Mayor’s Office of Housing, then
the Department of Neighborhood Development, the Community Preservation
Committee, and the Neighborhood Housing Trust evaluated the proposals and
prioritized 14 projects. These projects will promote City goals to
affirmatively further fair housing, and will efficiently utilize City resources
and/or land to increase the supply of housing available to low- and
moderate-income households.
Recognizing the role of housing development as a
building block to a more just economy. This year’s RFPs prioritized projects
that address income inequality and increase representation and financial
benefit to Black, Indigenous, and Persons of Color (BIPOC) professionals and
community members. To do this, preference was given to projects where a
Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) owned 20% or more of the project or received
20% or more of non-construction-related fees. The RFPs also prioritized projects
in neighborhoods that do not currently meet the city-wide average of
income-restricted housing. Finally, the RFPs required enhanced equity &
inclusion planning in terms of both hiring and resident services to support
economic stability and growth.
“The City’s award for the combined projects of
NUBA Homes and NUBA Apartments will be critical in building a cultural hub of
opportunity on the Parcel 8 site in Nubian Square,” said Kamran Zahedi,
President of Urbanica, Inc. “Together, these projects will create
both rentals led by our development partner the NHP Foundation and
homeownership opportunities for low- and moderate-income households, including
specific live and work opportunities for artists. We are also pleased that this
development embodies the City’s and our development teams’ shared interest in
job creation and wealth-building opportunities for Roxbury residents and
homeowners at multiple income ranges, both of which will be realized when these
projects are complete.”
“We are very grateful for the City’s partnership
on Hamilton at Mount Everett,” said Lisette Le, Executive Director of
Vietnamese American Initiative for Development, Inc. “This project will
create new homes for older adults with the deep services they need to remain in
their community. This award will deliver modern and sustainably-designed
apartments where residents can easily access transit and the resources of the
Bowdoin Geneva neighborhood.”
To ensure that all units receiving City funding
will remain affordable, developers are required to agree to long-term
affordability for all income-restricted units. All rental projects are
permanently deed-restricted, and all homeownership projects are deed-restricted
for 50 years. In addition, developers of rental projects are required to set
aside at least 10% of their units for homeless households, and projects that
offered additional units at lower AMI levels received priority in the
evaluation process.
The new funding for income-restricted housing
was made possible in part by more than $20 million in municipal and federal
funds administered by the Mayor’s Office of Housing. More than $7 million in
funds come from the NHT through the City's Linkage policy, which extracts affordable housing
funds from developers of large commercial projects. The Community Preservation
Committee is recommending more than $14.6 million for the proposed projects.
These projects are part of a larger award that includes affordable housing,
historic preservation, and open space projects. The final slate of CPA recommended
projects will go to the City Council for review and approval in February.
The Community Preservation Act (CPA) established a one percent property tax
surcharge, which was adopted by Boston voters in 2016.
The following is a complete list of the
proposals that are receiving funding from the Mayor’s Office of Housing and
NHT, as well as recommended projects for inclusion in the current round for the
CPA funding:
CHINATOWN
·$3,500,000 for Beacon Communities & Chinese
Consolidated Benevolent Association (CCBA) for the development of the 288
Harrison Residence. This 85 unit mixed-income development will bring new
affordable and income-restricted housing to Chinatown. The project is adjacent
to the existing Tai Tung Village apartments, which are income-restricted. This
is a unique opportunity to add a significant number of units to a high-cost
neighborhood. The project enjoys strong support among local resident
organizations and is co-sponsored by CCBA.
DORCHESTER
·$2,500,000 for the construction of VietAID’s
Hamilton at Mt. Everett in Dorchester, a four-story development with 36
one-bedroom income-restricted apartments, designed for individuals and couples
62 years and older. Supportive services will be provided on-site by Hebrew
Senior Life. There is a mix of car and bicycle spaces to promote transit
alternatives for both residents and caregivers.
·$2,100,000 for Codman Square Neighborhood
Development Corporation’s Talbot Commons II to create 42 income-restricted
rental units on two vacant city-owned parcels in Dorchester. This project
provides a variety of unit sizes to accommodate small and large
households.
·
$601,527 for Cruz Development’s DMH Housing at
Harvard Commons. Construction of four units on the Harvard Commons campus,
located on Harvard Street at Senator Bolling Circle. All units will be
service-enriched and reserved for the clients of the Department of Mental
Health (DMH). This project completes the developer’s commitment to providing
housing for individuals with disabilities on the campus. Supportive services
will be provided by a Department of Mental Health’s designated provider. The
developer is a certified Minority Business Enterprise.
·$885,818 for the Affordable Housing &
Services Collaborative’s Columbia West preservation development. This project
combines two at-risk income-restricted and supportive housing communities to
address deferred maintenance and secure their financial future. This project is
a currently occupied rehabilitation building for seniors, individuals with
disabilities, and formerly homeless individuals, and the redevelopment will
allow residents to continue to stay in their homes throughout the renovation.
HYDE PARK
·$4,500,000 for B’nai B’rith Housing’s
development of 1201 River Street in Hyde Park that will create 63 units of
sustainable, transit-oriented senior housing in the village center of Logan
Square. All 63 units are being developed by B’nai B’rith Housing, and will be
income-restricted for residents 55 years and older at a mix of incomes. The
development will also have approximately 1,130 square feet of first-floor
commercial space, a fitness center, community room, library, laundry center,
mail and package room, management office, 32 bike parking spaces, and up to 40
vehicle parking spaces.
JAMAICA PLAIN
·$4,800,000 for The Community Builders’ for
transformative redevelopment of the Amory Street Public Housing campus by
creating a new income-restricted building on the site of a former Boston
Housing Authority's (BHA) public safety building and garage with 96 units. This
phase of development will also create a central common that will serve as an
amenity for the entire campus, and will generate 30 new parking spaces.
·$3,950,000 to Jamaica Plain Neighborhood
Development Corporation and Traggorth Companies for the Stonley-Brookley
Homeownership Development, which will create 45 units of income restricted
homes with five units designated for artist live-work use.
ROXBURY
·$4,500,000 for Trinity Financial and Madison
Park Neighborhood Development Corporation’s 2085 Washington Street development
to create a 10-story, transit-oriented rental and homeownership building on a
gateway corner in Nubian Square, representing the final phase of redevelopment
of Parcel 10. This project leverages land owned by the BPDA and includes 32
homeownership market rate units with 64 income restricted
apartments.
·$2,500,000 to The NHP Foundation’s
development, NUBA Apartments is one of two affordable buildings to be
developed on the BPDA-owned Parcel 8. This 60 unit income restricted rental
project will help enliven a key corridor in Nubian Square and is reflective of
the community’s interests as outlined in the Parcel 8 RFP process.
·$2,000,000 to Nuestra Comunidad for the
development of Bartlett Station D, a new project that will create 44 new
income-restricted apartments and continue the revitalization of the vacant land
at the Bartlett Station site in Nubian Square. This rental development in Roxbury
will include a variety of unit sizes to accommodate both small and larger
households.
·$2,480,280 to Windale Development for Unity
Station Condos, a new affordable homeownership project to create a vital
opportunity on the Bartlett Station Campus. This 24 unit development will
offer for-sale units to working families at a mix of incomes.
·$4,581,020 for Urbanica’s development of NUBA
Homes that is one of two income-restricted buildings to be developed on the
BPDA-owned Parcel 8, along with NUBA Apartments. This new development will
create 49 new income-restricted homeownership opportunities, that includes
artist live-work units and first-floor retail. The developer is proposing a
crowdfunding campaign to allow local residents to build equity through direct
investment in the project.
·$1,083,632 for Nubian Ascends Partners LLC
Nubian Ascends Artist Housing that will create a new homeownership building
with 15 units, 10 of which are income restricted, and is part of the
redevelopment of the BPDA’s Blair Lot. The full development includes office
space, food court and restaurant space, parking, and an artist lab and
workspace, for which residents of Nubian Ascends have preference to use. The
development partnership is majority minority owned business.
To help choose appropriate developments for
funding and best achieve the City’s goals for an equitable recovery, the City
of Boston established funding priorities that were adhered to while making
these awards. Proposals submitted were expected to fall under at least one of
the priority criteria:
·Affordable housing developments that utilize
City-owned land.
·Affordable housing developments targeting a mix
of incomes: from units for homeless households to units targeted and restricted
to incomes representative of Boston's workforce. The City prioritizes
proposals that, in addition to the homeless set-aside, provide some portion of
units targeting extremely low-income tenancies.
·Affordable housing developments have reduced the
cost to build and/or efficiently use subsidies so that the project can move
into construction more quickly.
·Affordable housing developments that provide
units that serve the disabled community, elders, veterans, artists, aging out
youth, etc.
·Acquisition of unrestricted housing developments
to stabilize the tenancies, and provide long-term affordability for a mix of
incomes (i.e. unrestricted properties).
·Developments that are at risk of losing their
affordability within 5 years.
·Large projects with more than 50 units of
housing, of which at least 51 percent will be deed-restricted affordable units.
·Projects creating new affordable units in
high-cost neighborhoods where most of the IDP funds are generated.
·Projects that contain affordable units that
cannot be funded from other subsidy sources available under this RFP, or
through the NHT RFP.
Projects that can quickly
acquire existing unregulated units and convert them into long-term affordable
housing
MAYOR WU ANNOUNCES SECOND SET OF
CITY OF BOSTON JOB FAIRS OPEN TO ALL RESIDENTS, STARTING JANUARY 23RD
Several City of Boston Departments are
participating in job fairs for residents to learn more about city services and
apply to open roles across City departments
Building on her commitment to bring City Hall out of City
Hall and into each of Boston’s vibrant neighborhoods, today Mayor Michelle Wu
announced that the City of Boston is holding a second set of virtual job fairs
through the end of January for Boston residents to learn more about key
employment opportunities with the City.
“This initiative has already connected hundreds of residents
with City Hall,” said Mayor Michelle Wu. “Connecting with residents
directly is crucial to building an equitable and inclusive City workforce. I am
grateful to our City departments for working quickly to engage residents and
look forward to ensuring our workforce reflects the diversity and expertise
across our neighborhoods.”
"The City of Boston is a rich melting pot of various
cultures and heritages, and it is critical to attract, hire and retain a
workforce that is reflective of that diversity,” said Ceronne Daly,
Managing Director of Office of Recruitment, Cultivation, & Diversity
Programs for Boston Public Schools. “We stand united in joining the City of
Boston Job Fair program as we support constituents to answer this call of duty
to their fellow Bostonians - whether in the realm of arts and culture,
education, transportation, or housing - to continue delivering uninterrupted
vital services to our communities who need them the most."
The job fairs are open to all Boston residents with the goal of
reaching as many residents of Boston that are currently seeking employment
opportunities. This initiative will serve as an opportunity for individuals
across each of our neighborhoods who may not have considered working for the
City to gain a better understanding of what departments do and what roles are
available.
Through the end of January, several departments will participate
in one or multiple job fairs, including: Boston Public Schools (BPS),
Department of Innovation and Technology (DoIT), Boston Fire Department, Office
of Police Accountability & Transparency, Environment, Parks and Recreation,
Age Strong, and Operations
The second round of Job Fairs are on the
following dates with the corresponding departments:
The first round of Job Fairs was held virtually on January 10
with the Department of Innovation and Technology (DoIT), a key City
department that builds and maintains the technology tools that improve residents’
experience and keep the City running. With over 600 individuals registering to attend, the DoIT Job Fair
provided an opportunity for residents to learn more about City’s use of
technology to deliver city services and get connected to employment opportunities.
In addition to participating in various job fairs, Boston Public
Schools launched the BPS Community Recruitment and
Hiring Campaign in November 2021. The campaign is a targeted community-focused
recruitment and engagement effort that provides members of the community with
information about and support to begin and complete the BPS hiring process. These sessions will be
offered on evenings and Saturdays and are available to support multilingual
individuals. Our goal through the campaign is to provide “one-stop” hiring support available to candidates
at all phases of our hiring process.
If an individual is unable to attend the upcoming January job
fairs virtually, please complete this form to
schedule a conversation with a relevant department’s Human Resources (HR)
representative.
For questions regarding participation in the various job fairs,
your principal point of contact with the City will be:
