Back in April, Mayor Walsh was interviewed by Bloomberg during which he expressed an embryonic idea for more workforce housing in Boston. The Boston skyline is not only riddled with skyscrapers, but luxury housing developments and cranes working to build more as well. Boston real estate is already worth well over $100 billion but that doesn’t mean workforce housing was a fleeting idea.
On Wednesday, December 10, Mayor Walsh expressed a more concrete idea for workforce housing during an address to the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce. As part of Boston 2030, a plan to build 53,000 more housing units in Boston over the next 15 years, Mayor Walsh hopes to create what he’s calling growth zones – middle-income housing oriented along two major transit lines.
The mayor intends on building these growth zones next to the Red Line, between Broadway and Andrew stations, and the Orange Line, between Jackson Square and Forest Hills. If all goes according to plan, these two designated areas could constitute 20,000 housing units.
Melina Schuler, a spokeswoman for Mayor Walsh, said the growth zones will help incentivize the market.
“To that end, we’re instituting these growth zones, where we will institute zoning relief in locations with good transit that are affordable to the middle class,” Schuler told me. “This will allow for more efficient development at significant densities.”
Instituting zoning relief, allowing for a less strict upholding of zoning codes, is far from an issue in this case. Earlier this month, Robert Shortsleeve, chairman of Boston’s Zoning Board of Appeal, resigned willingly thereby opening the door for Mayor Walsh to tap someone who shares his vision for growth zones if he so desires.
Zoning relief, according to the City of Boston, is granted through the Zoning Board of Appeals.
Mayor Walsh also made mention of LogMeIn’s rapid growth and how the City of Boston is doing its part to help expand its global headquarters here in The Hub. The mayor suggested to the City Council, which approved the measure, that LogMeIn enter into a Tax Increment Financing Agreement, a tax break that’ll save LogMein $2.5 million over 13 years.
Schuler reiterated that there’s no timeline established yet for these two growth zones, no developer yet charged with undertaking the project and no price tag – Boston 2030 estimates $21 billion overall for public and private construction – but we’ll be sure to keep you updated as more information rolls out.
